17th century French ship to be reassembled in Texas

The remains of La Belle, a French frigate which sank off the Texas coast in 1686, are set to be reassembled after undergoing conservation work.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s like a dinosaur, big and dynamic and magnetic,” said Peter Fix, one of the assembly team members and chief conservator for Texas A&M University’s Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation. “Once we get the framing up it’s going to look like a big beached whale, a bone carcass. And that’s dynamic and hopefully it will pique curiosity.”

The keel and other large structural pieces of La Belle—resembling old railroad ties—were discovered in 1995 by Texas Historical Commission archaeologists. Researchers built a dam around the site, pumped it dry, then retrieved the nearly intact hull that had been preserved in up to 6 feet of mud.

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Story: Phys.org | Photo: Eric Gay