Hanover (ship)

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Use British English|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image | image= | image_caption= }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career | hide_header= | country= Great Britain | flag= {{Shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|civil}} | name= ''Hanover'' | namesake= | owner= | operator= | registry= | route= | ordered= | awarded= | builder= | original_cost= | yard_number= | way_number= | laid_down= | launched=1757 | sponsor= | christened= | completed= | acquired= | maiden_voyage= | in_service= | out_of_service= | renamed= | reclassified= | refit= | struck= | reinstated= | homeport= | identification= | motto= | fate=Wrecked, 13 December 1763 | notes= | badge= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics | hide_header= | header_caption= | class= | type= Brigantine | displacement= | tons_burthen= | length= {{Convert|100|ft|m|abbr=on}} | beam= | height= | draught= | depth= | hold_depth= | decks= | deck_clearance= | sail_plan= | speed= | range= | boats= | capacity= | crew= | armament= | notes= }} }} thumb|right|One of a pair of 17th-century Spanish cannons salvaged from the ballast of the Hanover, now installed in Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand. '''''Hanover''''' was a two-masted brigantine packet ship owned and operated by the Falmouth Post Office Packet Service,<ref name="ACHWS98">{{cite web |url=http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/EBDCAADC-BB76-45CB-A2B3-1791FCA39EBA/0/his_wrecks.pdf |title=Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites: 1997 Annual Report |work=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk |year=2012 |access-date=30 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070802162951/http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/EBDCAADC-BB76-45CB-A2B3-1791FCA39EBA/0/his_wrecks.pdf |archive-date=2 August 2007 }}</ref> which operated between 1688 and 1852.<ref name="ACHWS98" />

On 13 December 1763, under the command of Captain Joseph Sherbourne and en route from Lisbon to Falmouth, she was driven ashore by a gale.<ref name="ACHWS98" /> There were only three survivors out of 27 crew and 40 passengers.<ref name="ACHWS98" /> The location, near Perranporth has become known as Hanover Cove as a result.<ref name="ACHWS98" /> At the time she was carrying a large amount of gold and valuables; historical evidence suggests that this was mostly recovered around the time of the wrecking.<ref name="ACHWS99">{{cite web |url=http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/F47CA311-8CA4-4F43-9DE1-A1FE323AA934/0/achwsreport19992000.pdf |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080306170456/http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/F47CA311-8CA4-4F43-9DE1-A1FE323AA934/0/achwsreport19992000.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 March 2008 |title=Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites: Report for 1999-2000 |work=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk |year=2012 |access-date=30 August 2012}}</ref>

The wreck made legal history, when in 1765 an iron trunk containing bullion was recovered. The insurers had already paid out on the loss and the case established that where insurers paid out on cargo and the owners subsequently recovered their property, the insurers were entitled to a refund.<ref name="Fenwick">{{cite book |last1=Fenwick |first1=Valerie |last2=Gale |first2=Alison |title=Historic Shipwrecks, Discovered, Protected and Investigated |year=1998 |publisher=Tempus Publishing Limited |location=Stroud, Gloucestershire |isbn=0-7524-1473-9 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

The wreck was discovered by local diver Colin Martin in 1994 following changes in the seabed and was identified by means of recovery of the ship's bell.<ref name="Fenwick" /> The Post Office Limited, previously the General Post Office, as owners of the wreck paid for an archaeological investigation and recommended in 1996 that it should be protected under the Protection of Wrecks Act.<ref name="Fenwick" /> However, protection was not granted.<ref name="Fenwick" /> It was not until 19 July 1997, that the wreck site received emergency designation following the recovery of some fifty guns and the destabilisation of the wreck by a salvage rig set up next to it.<ref name="ACHWS98" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Hanover Protected Wreck: Marine Assessment for Possible De-Designation Historic England Research Report 80/2017|url=https://research.historicengland.org.uk/Report.aspx?i=15954&ru=/Results.aspx?p=1&n=10&rn=80&ry=2017&ns=1|last=Patrick Dresch|first=Sally Evans|date=2017|website=research.historicengland.org.uk|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-05-09}}</ref> The finder was subsequently licensed to excavate under archaeological supervision with the intention of displaying finds in a local shipwreck museum.<ref name="ACHWS98" /> Musket, shot, ship-fittings and the Captain's ring have also been brought to the surface.<ref name="ACHWS98" /> The wreck site has since been protected by return of the sand covering.<ref name="ACHWS99" />The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England. <gallery> File:Hanover, Falmouth Packet, drawstring bag for gunpowder.JPG|Drawstring bag for gunpowder File:Hanover, Falmouth Packet, cannonball.JPG|Six pound cannon ball File:Hanover, Falmouth Packet, wadding from loaded cannon.JPG|Wadding found inside a loaded cannon File:Hanover, Falmouth Packet, ship's bell.JPG|Ship's bell marked "HANOVER PAQUET 1757; the suspension lugs were torn off when the ship was wrecked </gallery>In 2016, Cotswold Archaeology was commissioned by Historic England to use marine assessment to investigate the possible de-designation on three designated wreck sites, including the ''Hanover''.<ref name=":0" /> Some doubt had been raised in earlier reports as to the definitive identification of the wreck as the ''Hanover,'' and criticism was made of the way the salvage from the wreck had been undertaken, with a failure to record finds and information in a professional manner.<ref name=":0" />

==Citations== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite web |url=http://www.swmaritime.org.uk/article.php?articleid=396&atype=r |title=SW Maritime History - The Falmouth Packets |first=Richard |last=Larn |work=swmaritime.org.uk |access-date=30 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619095425/http://www.swmaritime.org.uk/article.php?articleid=396&atype=r |archive-date=19 June 2012 |url-status=dead }} * [https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000072 "''Hanover''" National Heritage List for England]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanover (Ship)}} Category:Protected wrecks of England Category:Cornish shipwrecks Category:1994 archaeological discoveries Category:Maritime incidents in 1763 Category:1763 in England Category:Packet boat Category:Falmouth Packets