HMS Invincible: National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth given 8,000 artefacts from era of Nelson and Napoleon

The Royal Navy has formally transferred ownership of the objects recovered from the 18th Century wreck of HMS Invincible in the Solent.

The ship foundered after running into a sandbank off Eastney in 1758, leading to her wreck being forgotten until fisherman Arthur Mack snagged his nets on her in 1979.

A wide variety of items have been raised from the wreck site, including Invincible’s rudder, tobacco pipes, hair curlers, shoes, plates, tankards.

Even after the passage of more than 250 years since she sank, the shipwreck and her objects had remained the property of the Crown – until now.

The Royal Navy has decided to give all of the items to the National Museum of the Royal Navy, which is based in Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard and has branches in Chatham and Hartlepool, which will preserve, curate and display the ship’s many treasures.

Many more will be preserved in the archive in Portsmouth, where they were shown to Brigadier Jock Fraser RM, the Royal Navy’s deputy director of heritage, as he signed the ‘deed of gift’, the document transferring ownership.

He said: ‘HMS Invincible and her artefacts fill a ‘missing link’ in naval history between the 16th and 18th Centuries.’

‘The unique collection allows visitors to the travelling exhibition in Chatham – and other locations – to learn about this fascinating chapter in our naval history.

‘It was a real privilege to be able to observe some of the artefacts under preservation by the museum staff so they can join the remainder of the collection once this highly-skilled work is complete. The Royal Navy is proud to work with the National Museum of the Royal Navy to ensure that our naval maritime heritage is preserved for future generations.’

Dominic Tweddle, director general of the National Museum, said the transfer of the Invincible artefacts was ‘a special day’.

He continued: ‘The handover concludes a remarkable project, Diving Deep, over three dive seasons to excavate, recover, conserve and publicly display material from the wreck.’

Some of the objects recovered are currently being displayed at Chatham Historic Dockyard.