Documentary evidence suggests that this is the wreck of a wooden steamship, built no later than 1862. The results from Wessex Archaeology’s geophysical and dive surveys have narrowed the identification of the vessel and suggest that it is either the Lioness or the Florence: both steamships with single boilers. The wreck of the vessel includes a scotch boiler, a four-bladed iron propeller, and a dish reportedly found on the site marked with, “made exclusively for the United States Line”. This artefact is likely to be intrusive to the site since none of the 53 ships of the United States Lines were of composite or wooden construction, or sank off the English coast.
The wreck is located 634m NE of the Nab Tower in the deep draught vessel approach to the Nab Channel; the main shipping lane to Portsmouth and Southampton. It lies in 13.6m deep water (CD) on a sandy seabed.
In August 2002 Wessex Archaeology carried out a geophysical survey of the site, using sidescan sonar and magnetometer. Two brief assessment dives were also undertaken that month, detailing the condition of the wreck site and the visible components of the wreck.
In June 2003, further geophysical surveys were conducted using multibeam sonar, sub-bottom profiler and magnetometer. No dive survey was completed that year due to the site’s location in the shipping channel, Wessex Archaeology being advised not to dive by Southampton VTS (Vessel Traffic Services).
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