Research divers uncover 16 British cannons off Germany's Heligoland

Marine archaeologists have discovered 16 British cannons scattered across the rocky seabed near Germany's North Sea island of Heligoland.

The finds include 12-pounder cannons and carronades dating from around 1800, when Heligoland served as a British base during the Napoleonic Wars.

"They are clearly of British origin, recognizable by distinctive features such as the so-called Blomefield ring," said underwater archaeologist and project leader Florian Huber on Thursday.

According to Huber, the new discoveries complement earlier recoveries from the 1990s and confirm the significance of the island as a former British military outpost.

The cannons were located during systematic surveys conducted by the Kiel-based research diving company Submaris, with support from the Marine Geophysics and Hydroacoustics group at Kiel University.

High-resolution sonar mapping and 3D modelling allowed researchers to measure and document the weapons.

The researchers suspect the British Navy deliberately sank the cannons off Heligoland before the island was transferred to the German Empire in 1890, as the guns were already technically obsolete.

Heligoland, originally settled by Frisians, was part of the Duchy of Schleswig from 1402, later controlled by Denmark and then Britain, before being ceded to Germany in exchange for trading interests in Africa in 1890.

"The discovery of these 16 cannons deepens our understanding of Heligoland's maritime history and underscores the island's role during the Napoleonic Wars and in British naval history," Huber said.