Historical information

This sheet of copper sheathing or Muntz metal has been recovered from the sea. It has been damaged by the reaction of the metals to the sea. It also has encrustations from the sea such as sand. Other damage, such as movement of the sea or objects in the sea, has caused the edges to break away or fold over.

The hulls of early timber sailing ships had a problem of being eaten through by the marine animals called Teredo Worms, sometimes called ‘sea worms’ or ‘termites of the sea’. The worms bore holes into wood that is immersed in seawater and the bacteria inside the worms digest the wood.

Shipbuilders tried to prevent this problem by applying coatings of tar, wax, lead or pitch onto the timber. In the 18th and 19th centuries, ships were built with their hulls sheathed in sheets of copper or a combination of 60 per cent copper and 40 per cent zinc (called Muntz metal). The ships would be re-metalled periodically to ensure the sheathing remained effective.

In more recent times the ships are protected with a toxic coating.

Significance

This piece of Muntz sheathing is representative of building methods and materials used in late 19th and early 20th centuries for ship building.

Physical description

Muntz or copper sheathing. Irrectangular shape, with about a fifth of the piece missing from a corner. Another corner is bent upwards. Salvaged from a shipwreck.