# Sunken wooden ships question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823 "2005-12-09T03:52:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/21 "2005-12-09T20:43:29Z")
Okay, here’s a stupid question (in a world in which stupid questions are in really short supply). But why does a wooden ship sink in the first place? Wood floats, after all. I can understand if the wood were waterlogged, but wasn’t the wood coated with pitch or something to keep it from getting waterlogged? And if the wood _was_ waterlogged, wouldn’t everything in the interior of the ship be soggy? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/22 "2005-12-09T20:48:24Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > When did he do that? The closest thing I recall (from _Desolation Island_) is a stirring engagement with the Dutch ship _Waakzamheid_, which ran Aubrey’s _Leopard_ far south of the Cape of Good Hope before he was able to sink her with a shot from his stern chaser. It’s a better man than I who can spell that. Indeed, she was a Dutch ship of the line. He threw the water and the guns overboard fleeing from her. He and the gunner, I believe, were firing his remaining brass stern chasers at her with cigars, the only thing that would stay lit in the spray. 🙂 They apparently hit something that held up a mast or supported a sail under particular stress and she broached in the storm and sank with all hands. It was dangerous to carry so much sail in such a storm. Aubrey speculated that they had killed the Captain’s son or some friend with a chance shot to provoke him so. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/23 "2005-12-09T21:28:50Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > Okay, here’s a stupid question (in a world in which stupid questions are in really short supply). But why does a wooden ship sink in the first place? Wood floats, after all. I can understand if the wood were waterlogged, but wasn’t the wood coated with pitch or something to keep it from getting waterlogged? And if the wood _was_ waterlogged, wouldn’t everything in the interior of the ship be soggy? Well, the ships are made of wood, but they contain large portions of space which, when filled with water, won’t float nearly as well as they would were they filled with wood. Add to this things like cannons, shot, various supplies and tools, etc., and there is lots of stuff that won’t float. Also, while the wood is normally coated with leak-retardent stuff (including tar, pitch, and something called Oakum, which I think is a mixture of loose threads and tar to act as a space-filler inbetween the planks. Sometimes you might have maintinance that turns out to be lacking, or rotting wood that ends up falling apart, letting the water in, or the ship might get tipped over in a storm or bad weather, allowing the water in through the top. Tip the ship far enough over, and many of the heavy things stored inside, if not stored properlly, will all slide to one side, making the ship off balance and cause it to lean farther over in that direction. And of course, a well maintained and well built ship made from the finest ship-building materials could also sink because another ship sailed up to it and punched many holes in it with cannons at unreasonably close ranges, as often was the fate for ships during times of war. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/24 "2005-12-09T22:53:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Hornblower didn’t have a diving bell as I recall, nor precussion cap anti shark weapons. 🙂 > > Besides, who would _you_ want to sail with, Hornblower who would take on the entire French navy from a rowboat with those double barrelled pistols his wife gave him, or Lucky Jack Aubrey who threw his guns overboard to outrun the Swedish ship of the line in the arctic? Aubrey, of course; he has enough sense to run away. That dern Hornblower is just going to get you killed. Like he got Bush killed ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/25 "2005-12-09T23:17:56Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I was watching the Discovery channel the other night and they were showing a wooden ship sunk for centuries in the North Atlantic somewhere (I believe it was up around Finland IIRC). Just popping in to make a geographical nitpick; neither Finland nor Sweden have contact with the North Atlantic. Norway does. Waters off of them would have to be the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia or the Gulf of Finland. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/26 "2005-12-10T01:36:55Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > Aubrey, of course; he has enough sense to run away. That dern Hornblower is just going to get you killed. One of my favorite scenes in Hornblowerdom is the scene in the church when (Admiral?) Hornblower is asked to capture the muntineers. His first comment as I recall is, “I’ll have Bush.” ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/27 "2005-12-10T02:08:56Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > Aubrey, of course; he has enough sense to run away. That dern Hornblower is just going to get you killed. Like he got Bush killed I am still very upset over that. I had entirely forgotten and there you go bringing it up again. 😭 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/28 "2005-12-10T02:25:42Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I am still very upset over that. I had entirely forgotten and there you go bringing it up again. 😭 Did no one tell you about Bonden? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/29 "2005-12-10T02:55:37Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It’s a better man than I who can spell that. It turns out I spelled it wrong - it’s actually _Waakzaamheid_. I’m told it means “Alertness” or “Vigilance”. > [@](#): > > Indeed, she was a Dutch ship of the line. He threw the water and the guns overboard fleeing from her. He and the gunner, I believe, were firing his remaining brass stern chasers at her with cigars, the only thing that would stay lit in the spray. They apparently hit something that held up a mast or supported a sail under particular stress and she broached in the storm and sank with all hands. It was dangerous to carry so much sail in such a storm. Aubrey speculated that they had killed the Captain’s son or some friend with a chance shot to provoke him so. I’d say your memory is better than mine. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/30 "2005-12-10T03:01:02Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > …something called Oakum, which I think is a mixture of loose threads and tar to act as a space-filler inbetween the planks. It’s still in use, as [this site](http://www.pollardwater.com/emarket/Pages/P642oakum.asp) indicates. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/31 "2005-12-10T09:57:41Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I am still very upset over that. I had entirely forgotten and there you go bringing it up again. 😭 _sigh_, I feel so sorry for Hornblower’s sidekick officers. You can be a sidekick common sailor (such as Brown, or if you watch the movies, Matthews and Stiles) and you’ll more or less be fine. But if you’re a sidekick with a commission, you’re suddenly wearing a red shirt under your blue jacket. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/32 "2005-12-10T17:05:36Z")
the [Black Sea](http://www.abc.se/~m10354/uwa/wreckblk.htm) is a good place to find preserved wood because of the low oxygen levels at the bottom of the sea. Shipworms can’t live there. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/33 "2005-12-10T18:29:12Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Did no one tell you about Bonden? I only have the first 15 books in the Jack Aubrey series; so tell me… …what happens to Barret Bonden? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823/34 "2005-12-10T18:58:12Z")
> [@galen](#): > > the [Black Sea](http://www.abc.se/~m10354/uwa/wreckblk.htm) is a good place to find preserved wood because of the low oxygen levels at the bottom of the sea. Shipworms can’t live there. Wooden ships on the bottom, shipworm freeeee, … in deep-sea in deep-sea, you know we’ll let them beeeee Ballard’s searchers from the dive-boats, come and seeeeee talkin’ bout shipworm free … and airless [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunken-wooden-ships-question/334823.md?page=1)