Texas researchers will freeze-dry and rebuild 17th century shipwreck

[UnrepentantLiberal]

Associated Press
August 15, 2012

BRYAN, Texas --More than three centuries ago, a French explorer's ship sank in the Gulf of Mexico, taking with it France's hopes of colonizing a vast piece of the New World - modern-day Texas.

Researchers at Texas A&M University will try to reconstruct Rene-Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle's vessel with a gigantic freeze-dryer, the first undertaking of its size.

By placing the ship - La Belle - in a constant environment of about 60 degrees below zero, more than 300 years of moisture will be safely removed from hundreds of European oak and pine timbers and planks. Researchers will then rebuild the 54 1/2-foot vessel.

From a historical perspective, it's "an icon of a small event that dramatically changed the course of Texas history," said Jim Bruseth,who led the Texas Historical Commission effort to recover the remains.

More: http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Texas-researchers-restore-French-ship-3791960.php

[HooptieWagon]

1. Ill have to follow this story.

While freeze-drying the wood would eliminate the water, the article doesn't mention about salt and other minerals left behind. And the water actually supports the structure of the wood, remove it and the wood collapses. They will have to inject something to support the cell structure of the wood. And even if the wood is preserved, Im skeptical that any recognizable section of the ship can actually be rebuilt - it would be like rebuilding an entire skeleton from a few fragments of a jaw bone. They can guess, but...
Def worth following.

[Submariner]

2. Texans with French ancestry would have been a hoot

when those idiot future teabillys renamed their food Freedom fries and Freedom toast.

I wonder if those goons still order freedom fries. Ever since the republicans lost the Iraq war so badly, I haven't heard the freedom fries story around lately.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Dunno about French Toast, but

French Fries has nothing at all to do with France. In fact, the practice is from Belgium.

[fromwyoming]

3. Fifty Four Feet?

Is this true? Was this ship fifty four feet (plus six inches) long? The only image I can draw up of sailors traveling from France to what is now Texas in a ship fifty four feet (plus six inches) long is not pleasant. I can't wait to hear what the Texas Historical Commission discovers! Rock On THC! Keep us posted about the physical nature of the ship so we can continue to speculate and marvel about the strength of the people who sailed on it. Amazing! Wonderful!

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Columbus's ships were 60, 56 and 50 feet long (deck length) (nt)

[HooptieWagon]

7. Yes, those old ships were surprisingly small.

And just crammed full of men and supplies.

[bhikkhu]

9. This one wasn't so small:

http://www.china.org.cn/photos/2012-07/07/content_25843218_2.htm

...it will be pretty cool to see when they get the Zheng He replica ship finished.

[HooptieWagon]

10. Some of the Viking longships neared 100 feet,

about 50% longer than other European ships of the time (and the next several hundred years). They used lapstrake construction, where the planks overlapped, as opposed to the caravel construction of other ships where the planks butted against each other with caulking between. Thus, the Viking ships were lighter for their length, which allowed them greater speed and ease of hauling up on land, greater strength and durability, and more efficient to build.

[MNBrewer]

8. There are replica ships of the Jamestown colony ships at the Jamestown museum

http://www.historyisfun.org/jamestown-settlement.htm

It is amazing that they could cross an ocean.

[HooptieWagon]

13. Its not just that they're small.

Smaller boats have crossed the ocean and even sailed around the world. It's that those old ships had such poor sailing qualities. They've been described as floating haystacks blowing downwind. They aren't able to sail against the wind, their stability is poor, and they manuver about as well as a barn. A great many sunk or were wrecked, its amazing that ANY made it.

BTW, on small boats... the smallest to sail around the world was Trekka, 21 feet long, in the 50s. It was home-built by a Canadian guy in his early 20s, and he sailed by himself. No electronics, no auto-pilot, and he even survived a cyclone off Australia.

[Javaman]

4. is calling Tom Delay a 17th century ship wreck really called for?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. It is NOT the first time a shipwreck was freeze-dried

The Swedish ship Vasa, which sank in the 17th century, was raised and preserved by freeze-drying in the 1960s. You can still see it in a marvelous museum in Stockholm--and yes, those old ships were surprisingly small.

[HooptieWagon]

12. Vasa wasn't freeze-dried.

A sprinkler system was installed, and a glycol-based solution was sprayed throughout for many years. However, the ship has serious deterioration problems since then.

[MADem]

14. Oooh la la!!! Sacré bleu!!!! Mon Dieu!!!

Seriously, I think this is cool as hell!!! I'm posting to give this a kick for more visibility!

[IrishAle]

15. Balderdash!!

Everyone knows the world wasnt created until 1734!


More of that wicked science evilness!