The Nautical Archaeology Society is dedicated to delivering innovative, quality, fit for purpose research into all aspects of maritime archaeology. Whether investigating standards, competency or training in maritime archaeology, or individual archaeological sites, the NAS is committed to sound, equitable, evidence-based research for the advancement of the discipline.
Our Member's Research Group meets regularly at the National Archives in Kew, London.
As part of the original NAS Training Programme the NAS Part 2 report provides a great opportunity for people to put their learning into practice in the field. The NAS hold a library of many of the NAS part 2 reports submitted over 20 years.
Working with the Malvern Archaeological Diving Unit (MADU) researching shipwrecks in the north end of Cardigan Bay in north west Wales. Please note that now that the "www Research Project" is winding down, we are not inviting any more volunteers onto the project. Discover more here... Read more
In 2019-2020 the NAS project managed a feasibility study for a scheme of recovery, recording and reburial of "at risk" objects and diagnostic structural elements of the wreck of the London, lost in the Thames Estuary in 1665. Discover more here... Read more
The object of this research by NAS Fellow, Ed Cumming, has been to identify and, if possible, to give extra detail to total loss incidents incurred by the major ships of the English (later British) East India Company, 1600 to 1834. Discover more here... Read more
NAS member and fellow, Ed Cumming (MIBEC Publications) has created an invaluable "A Compendium of Potentially Missing Vessels recorded in the British Press in the 19th Century". You can freely search the entire index of 822 pages. Discover more here... Read more
This maritime compendium covers the archipelago of the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall. It also covers the surrounding sea areas which use Scilly as a focus, i.e. incidents, usually referred to as ‘off Scilly’. The Seven Stones are certainly included and some incidents may cover an area nearer to the Wolf Rock and Land’s End. Discover more here..... Read more
During the winter months a group of NAS members gather at The National Archives to garner information about varied projects. Some work on their own projects, others photograph documents for NAS members who cannot get to London easily. Discover more here. Read more
One and a half miles off the coast at Weymouth in Dorset, 20 metres below the surface, lies the wreck of the Earl of Abergavenny. Built by Thomas Pitcher at his yard in Northfleet, Kent in 1796 she was one of the largest classes of merchant ships chartered to the United East India Company. Abergavenny’s commander was John Wordsworth, brother of poet William Wordsworth. Read more
The 'Nancy', East India Company packet, wrecked at the end of February 1784 in the Isles of Scilly. This historical report, which includes the story of the infamous London actress Mrs. Ann Cargill & the East India Company Captain, John Haldane, is a fascinating piece of research and a major contribution to the maritime history of the Isles of Scilly. Read more
The Benchmarking Competence Requirements study published in 2009 looked at what makes someone a competent maritime archaeologist and made recommendations for how to make competency of skills the key for future participation in maritime archaeology in the UK. Discover more here...... Read more
In 2012 the NAS was commissioned by English Heritage to undertake a study looking at the value of a protected wreck to a local economy. This study, which was published in 2013, looked at the visitor diver trail on the protected wreck of the Coronation in Plymouth Sound in Devon which has proved to be very successful in attracting a large number of visiting divers every year since its inception. Discover more here.... Read more