Leather Hide
Description
Dark grey leather hide folded in three sections, fragments in a separate bag.
Amongst the more unusual finds recovered from Invincible were these sheets of leather or rawhide. The actual reason for carrying them aboard the vessel remains unclear. Protecting the gunpowder and particularly the ship’s magazine was paramount aboard ship. All possible measures were taken to avoid accidental ignition. When the powder had been loaded into the magazine the scuttle was closed and then covered with a sheet of rawhide for added ‘flash’ protection. Use in damage control is another possible reason for carrying the sheets. At the order ‘’clear the ship for action’’ the carpenter and his crew would prepare their tools and supplies ready to repair any battle damage. This included leather hides. The hides were to nail over any larger holes at or below the ships waterline. The leather could also have served as the raw material when ‘leathering’ ropes. Leathering was the practice of stitching lengths of leather around a rope in order to protect it from wear by friction.
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Object Detail
Width: 590mm
Depth: 140mm (5 1/2")