In the same auction that I purchased the above coin I also purchased this. There was surprisingly little competition for either item. I guess people are looking to buy pretty stuff and that is not my first concern....most time. It came with a Sedwick COA. The below is the write up for the lot. Lots of words for very little bids. I'm thinking of putting it in a shadow box with similar items and a picture of the ship. "H.M.S. Invincible" Shipwreck Piece of Oak ND (1700's), 62x55x12mm. (Piece of Oak). The Piece of Oak is accompanied by a COA and a Sedwick Auctions tag. According to accompanying document, "The wooden artifacts found on the buried lower decks include gunnery spares, cannon tompions which were placed in the cannon muzzle when not in use and crow blocks which were used under a crow bar to lever the cannon from side to side. Also found were wooden lids for gun powder cartridge carriers, parts of powder barrels and remarkably the complete hanging powder magazine which is now in Chatham Historical dock yard. Other items included breeming brushes, deck bumpers, ligament barrels and bowls, also spares for the running of the ship, parrels, dead eyes, pulley blocks and spare pulley sheaves. Sheaves are made from lignum vitae, a very hard dense wood, and many were cut from tree trunks, the size of which no longer grow today." The 74-gun warship L'Invincible was captured by the British from the French at the Battle of Cape Finisterre on 3 May 1747 after fiercely resisting six British warships while escorting a large merchant convoy, only surrendering when most of her crew were dead or wounded. Renamed HMS Invincible, she became the Royal Navy's first ship of her kind and revolutionized British naval design with her larger size, heavier guns mounted higher above the water, greater sail-carrying ability, speed, and maneuverability, influencing the dominance of 74-gun ships by the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. In February 1758, while anchored off the Isle of Wight as part of a fleet preparing for a long voyage, HMS Invincible struck the Horse Tail Sandbank, was briefly refloated, but grounded again as worsening weather drove her back onto the bank; despite desperate efforts to lighten and free her, the strain caused severe damage and she finally rolled onto her side and sank on 22 February 1758. Buried beneath the sand for over 200 years, the wreck remained remarkably preserved due to anaerobic conditions that protected many wooden artifacts, until it was rediscovered in 1979 when a fisherman snagged his nets, leading divers to uncover and eventually identify the wreck as HMS Invincible.
