Historical Watercraft as Source Material for Maritime History Research

This paper discusses the usability of historical watercraft as source material for maritime history research. The author discusses how various preservation concepts have direct consequences on the source value of a ship for historical research and the prerequisites for a researcher to use ships as source material. Finally, the article introduces the concept how historic ships can be used to study and preserve intangible maritime history and evaluates if the high costs of preservation of historic ships can be justified by their use as source material for maritime history research alone, or if there is a need for other uses to justify preservation and the related costs.