1996 expedition
Between 31 January and 23 February 1996, the sixth Queensland Museum expedition to the Pandora was carried out. It was funded by the Museum, with financial assistance from the Pandora Foundation and the Commonwealth Government's Historic Shipwrecks Program. The expedition was led by Peter Gesner. In addition to five staff from the QM's Maritime Archaeology and Photography Sections, it included a number of specialist and professional personnel, who had either volunteered, been contracted, been seconded from other government departments interstate or from the Western Australian Maritime Museum's Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology.
Professional supervisory diving services and equipment-including a twin-lock recompression chamber and surface-supplied diving plant-were hired from the Townsville-based diving academy "The Dive Bell". Overall dive supervision was performed by the Museum's honorary dive officer Colin Hodson. Medical supervision was provided by honorary medical officer Dr Tom Fallowfield, seconded to the expedition by Townsville General Hospital's Hyperbaric Medicine Unit.
Summary
The Pacific Conquest departed from Townsville at 18.30 on 31 January and arrived in Pandora Entrance on 3 February at 06.45. The vessel spent the first three days in Pandora Entrance anchored near the wreck while the expedition team completed various scuba diving tasks to locate, buoy and attach mooring lines to the four-point mooring system, established around the wreck in December 1994. At 15.35 on 5 February the Pacific Conquest was safely moored directly over the wreck, enabling the start of surface-supplied breathing (SSB) diving operations.
Diving operations-using SSB equipment as well as scuba gear-were subsequently carried out between 6 and 20 February. In this period, the 16 diver excavation team completed 244 dives during which, in addition to performing a variety of diving tasks related to site maintenance, moorings maintenance and excavation preparation, 418 registered artefacts were archaeologically recovered.
During this period, tropical cyclone "Dennis" passed approximately 100 miles south of Pandora Entrance, interrupting diving for 36 hours on 15 and 16 February. Notwithstanding this, as well as other minor setbacks, which (ironically) arose due to extremely calm sea conditions and strong currents, the diving program was carried out safely and effectively.
Findings
Excavators worked in grids 87 and 89, and uncovered part of the Pandora's gun powder stores (the magazine) as well an area of the lower deck thought to coincide with the first lieutenant's cabin.
An intact partition was discovered in the magazine, as well as two intact tiers of powder kegs. The partition was expected to extend a considerable depth into the seabed and was considered a definite indication that the wreck was substantially intact on its lower starboard side. This confirmed earlier indications that approximately 30% of the original hull was preserved as an intact structure.
A diverse collection of material was retrieved from the lower deck area (assumed to coincide with the first lieutenant's cabin) Of particular note was a cache of Polynesian artefacts, especially seven wooden war clubs carefully stowed for the voyage back to England.
In addition to the objects of Polynesian manufacture, the collection included personal belongings that would have been used for professional purposes (e.g. an octant) as well as for private purposes (e.g. a chamber pot and a brush/shoehorn). All artefacts recovered in 1996 were accessioned into the QM's Maritime Archaeology collection under numbers MA 4500-4999.
Human skeletal remains were also discovered in the cabin area. These were more complete than the remains recovered in 1986 from the adjacent grid 70 and, upon further examination, they were determined to be of a second individual.
A considerable amount of site maintenance work was also completed. This included consolidation of cardinal grid reference points, a general clean-up of the site, and establishing swim lines from the four corners of the site to each of the mooring points placed around the site in December 1994.
Conclusion
In continuing excavation in the stern area of the wreck, another collection of material was recovered from the part of the vessel primarily used by the Pandora's officers. The discovery of a cluster of material in grid 89, similar in diversity and function to a cluster found on a previous occasion in the adjacent grid 70, attested that a high degree of spatial integrity, both horizontally and vertically, had been maintained in the ship's fabric.
It was clear that complete collections of artefacts would be found in arrangements that correspond precisely with the inboard divisions, especially those at lower and platform deck levels, such as the captain's storeroom.
To date, representative collections of material culture associated with the surgeon and the lieutenants appeared to have been recovered. Awaiting retrieval from relevant storerooms and cabin spaces would be collections attributable to other officers (e.g. the third lieutenant) and petty officers (e.g. the gunner, bosun, sailmaker and carpenter), all of whom had their stores towards the bow of the ship.
Although it was clear that the material from upper deck levels (e.g. the captain's quarters) had suffered considerable scrambling as the wreck was disintegrating, this was clearly not entirely the case with material from the lower deck (officer's cabins and living spaces), and especially not the case with the storerooms in the hold spaces. It was therefore evident that future expeditions would encounter undisturbed object assemblages-from the very platform deck storerooms where they had been stowed for use in 1791.
As excavation progresses towards the bow area, it can be expected that similarly complete and undisturbed collections would be encountered reflecting the material culture of the ordinary sailors. After all, the conditions within the wreck appeared to be such that they perhaps would offer the appropriate environment for the preservation of sea chests.
The expedition team* had once again worked together splendidly as a cohesive and effective unit. This again underscored the value of being able to rely on a core group of site-experienced individuals offering the required specialist know-how in such specific areas as dive supervision, recompression chamber operation, hyperbaric medicine and underwater photography, as well as marine archaeology.
* 1996 expedition team: Gesner, Delaney, Campbell, Bruce and Cranitch (all QM), Dr Tom Fallowfield (TGH), Bill Jeffery (Heritage SA), Mike Nash (Tasmania NPWS), Kieran Hosty (ANMM), Dena Garratt and Geoff Kimpton (WAMM), Peter Veth (JCU), Colin Hodson (The Dive Bell), Len Zell, John Reid, Howard Smith, Peter and Libby Illidge (volunteers).