Wood-borers in Historic Ships

Using evidence of wood-borers in several of the National Museum of the Royal Navy’s historic ships, this article will examine the threat posed to the historic fabric by non-marine species and the reasons that we struggle to eradicate the problem. The relationship between fungal attack and beetle activity will be discussed, and the need for supporting research into this and other aspects of damage due to wood-boring species. HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and HMS Trincomalee all suffer from attack by wood-boring species, though the infestations are in different stages of development on each vessel. By investigating and employing an integrated pest management strategy on Trincomalee, we hope to learn more about the most effective means of combatting the much more widespread infestation of death watch beetle on Victory. Other wood-borers including weevil, furniture beetle and wharfborer are also present across our collection of ships, and all these species are facilitated by the damp conditions which can never be truly resolved as the ships are located in open coastal environments.