Integrated geophysical surveys of the French Frigate La Surveillante (1797), Bantry Bay, Co. Cork, Ireland

Between 1998 and 2000, a series of geophysical surveys were conducted over the site of La Surveillante, a French Frigate wrecked in 1797 in Bantry Bay, Co. Cork, Ireland. The objectives of the surveys were to accurately relocate the wreck-site, delineate the extent of site, map the seafloor and subsurface lithologies in the wreck-environs and provide basemaps for more detailed diver investigations. The integrated surveys employed a suite of equipment consisting of a digital echo-sounder, side-scan sonar, Chirp sub-bottom profiler and an Overhauser-effect magnetometer. Integration and interpretation of the geophysical data indicate La Surveillante was wrecked on a fine-grained substrate in a low energy environment, with site distribution limited to an area measuring 50 × 25 m centred on the wreck. Integration of geophysical-and diver-survey data, with tidal and sediment records, indicates site formation is dominated by biological and chemical processes.