Find Spot MPM2099 - Rudder, Portsmouth Harbour

Rudder recovered from Portsmouth Harbour. The rudder measured 1100mm high and had a maximum width of 750mm. It had a wooden core with a copper alloy strip running around the edge. The outside had been plated with a sheet of copper alloy, possibly Muntz metal (also known as yellow metal) which is made up of approximately 60% copper and 40% zinc. Muntz metal was invented in 1832 as a cheaper alternative to copper. The rudder blade was a balanced spade rudder, commonly used by inshore cruising yachts, boats and racing yachts. This type of rudder is attached via a rudder stock at the top of the blade.

This was an isolated find with no evidence of any associated wreckage at the location.

UID: BWL1_0057 in Queen Elizabeth Class Capital Dredge Project report.

Wessex Archaeology, 2018, Queen Elizabeth Class Capital Dredge Project Her Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth: Archaeological Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SPM646.