Roman Ship, “De Meern 1”, was wrecked in a winding tributary of Rhine, 190 AD, due to navigational error

Roman ship

This is a Roman ship named De Meern 1 which has been discovered in Veldhuizen, The Netherlands in 1997. The ship was left alone in the ground to preserve it but in 2003 it was decided to dig it up to prevent it from decaying because of the ground water.

The ship lies exactly on the border of the Roman empire and Germania and dates back to around 200AD. The ship is 25 meters long and made from oak trees that grew in the Netherlands. The oak trees were cut down around 148AD.  Evidence suggests that the ship wasn’t sunk in battle against the Germanics but sunk by accident.

More Roman vessels have been discovered around the Dutch city Utrecht indicating that people at the borders of Germania were quite busy trading. Another found ship, De Meern 4, is even longer in length with 35 meters. It was a freight ship built with wood from the Netherlands around 85AD. Interestingly the ship has both Roman shipbuilding traditions and Germanic.