Yahoo News 500-year-old shipwreck found in almost perfect condition at bottom of Baltic Sea
A ship which is thought to have sunk around 500 years ago has been discovered in almost perfect condition in the Baltic Sea.
The vessel's hull was intact and all of its masts were in place in when it was inspected by a team of international scientists.
Archaeologists from the University of Southampton formed part of the team which used state-of-the-art underwater robotics.
Swivel guns were also found intact along with a tender boat which would have been used to ferry crew to and from the ship.
The University of Southampton has said it is "probably the best preserved shipwreck of its period to be discovered in recent times".
It was found off the coast of Sweden where the Baltic Sea's cold, salty waters have helped keep it in "remarkable" condition.
It has been named okant skepp, which is Swedish for "unknown ship".
The vessel was first detected with sonar by the Swedish Maritime Administration in 2009, but it was identified as having great archaeological and historical significance by survey specialists MMT earlier this year.
Dr Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz, MMT's maritime archaeologist and deep sea archaeological expert, led the inspection of the vessel.
He said: "This ship is contemporary to the times of Christopher Columbus and Leonardo Da Vinci, yet it demonstrates a remarkable level of preservation after five hundred years at the bottom of the sea, thanks to the cold, brackish waters of the Baltic.
"It's almost like it sank yesterday - masts in place and hull intact.
"Still on the main deck is an incredibly rare find - the tender boat, used to ferry crew to and from the ship, leaning against the main mast. It's a truly astonishing sight."
Dr Pacheco-Ruiz said more samples will have to be taken to determine which type of crew was on the vessel and why it went down.
He added that those on the boat may have been killed by disease and the ship left to sink, or the vessel may have simply been abandoned.
An archaeological survey has suggested the shipwreck dates back to the Early Modern Period between the late 15th and early 16th century.
This would make it older than the warship Mars, which sunk after an explosion in the First Battle of Oland in 1564, and Henry VIII's Mary Rose which sank in 1545.
The ship's bowsprit, which extends out of the front of the vessel, as well as the wooden capstan and bilge pump are also still intact.
Dr Pacheco-Ruiz carried out the work in collaboration with the Centre for Maritime Archaeology (CMA) at the University of Southampton, Deep Sea Productions, and the Maritime Archaeology Research Institute of Sodertorn University (MARIS).
