Republication from heritagetribune

One of the Shipwrecks in the Hoornse Hop, Scan/ image RCE

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By Sebas

Dutch archaeologists have found at least a stunning 34 shipwrecks near the Dutch town of Hoorn. These ships are presumed to be for a large part 16th century Spanish war ships which were sunk during the Battle on the Zuiderzee. This major naval conflict turned out pivotal for the Dutch to gain their sovereignty from Spanish rule in 1573. The ships were found using combined methods for sonar scanning.

A first scan over an area of approximately 73km2 using side scan sonar resulted in an initial batch of dozens of potentially interesting sites. Interestingly, the research team also used available data which had been gathered by amateur divers and voluntary archaeologists in previous years. These sites were then scanned in more detail using a multibeam echosounder, a more advanced form of sonar using soundwaves.

The ships were found at the bottom of the Hoornse Hop, the creek directly surrounding the town. There appears to lie at least 10 ships in good shape there and 24 more consisting of remnants only.

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