'It's a unique find': Rudder of a rare 18th-century warship, HMS Invincible, found in the Solent

In a major excavation project, the rudder of a warship that sank in the Solent off the coast of southeast England in 1758, was spotted 200ft away from the main shipwreck, BBC reported.

During a geophysical survey, the rudder of the HMS Invincible, which is a 74-gun warship, was found.

HMS Invincible is said to be one of the most significant warships of its time. It was built by the French in 1744 and was captured by the British in 1747.

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Referring to the recently discovered flat piece, Dan Pascoe, who is a marine archaeologist from Bournemouth University, said, "We weren't particularly looking for it."

He added, "A feature had showed up in geophysical surveys, 60m off the stern. It looks like it's in pretty good condition and is complete from top to bottom."

The 11m-long intact rudder was spotted during a routine inspection of the site near Portsmouth. Pascoe and his team plan to protect the rudder from erosion of the sea floor with sandbags.

Researchers from Bournemouth University and the Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust recovered a gunpowder barrel, swivel guns, a bottle of corked rum, and woodworking tools so far from the shipwreck site.

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A BBC report mentioned that the warship was lost when the rudder jammed. Later, it was capsized, however, no lives were lost. Pascoe further said as quoted by the media outlet: "The ship was highly manoeuvrable and the rudder was critical to its design."

He added, "It's the last piece of the jigsaw that tells the story of Invincible. It's a fantastic, wonderful find and extremely rare - it only survived because it was buried."

"It's a unique find - there are no other examples from warships of this era. Its future depends on whether it is financially viable to raise and find somewhere to display it," he added.

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