Summer 2013 lecture/tours of the hull of the DeBraak, a shipwrecked 18th-century British warship

Artistic rendition of the capsizing of the DeBraak by Peggy Kane, 1990.Beginning on June 3, 2013 and continuing through Oct. 14, 2013, the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs will offer regularly scheduled Monday lecture/tours of the hull of His Majesty’s Sloop DeBraak, a British warship that was escorting and protecting a convoy of British and American merchant ships en route to the United States when it was capsized and lost off the Delaware coast on May 25, 1798.

 Lecture/tours, which are limited to 10 visitors per program, will take place at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the following Mondays during 2013: June 3, 17 and 24; July 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29; Aug. 5, 12, 19 and 26; Sept. 9, 16, 23 and 30; and Oct. 7 and 14. (No programs will take place on June 10 or Sept. 2.)

 All lecture/tours begin at the Zwaanendael Museum, located at 102 Kings Highway in Lewes, DE 19958, where a lecture on the ship will be presented in conjunction with “A Seaborne Citizenry: The DeBraak and Its Atlantic World,” an exhibit that has been on display at the museum since Dec. 1, 2012. The exhibit tells the story of the vessel, its crew and the historical context within which it operated in the late 18th century. Ticket holders will then be transported, via van, to the DeBraak hull facility in nearby Cape Henlopen State Park for a curator-led tour of the surviving section of the ship’s hull.

 Nonrefundable tickets for the lecture/tours are $10 per person (restricted to persons aged 10 and above) and are available through the Shop Delaware website (http://shop.delaware.gov/). For additional information, call 302-645-1148.

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Contact:
Jim Yurasek
Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs
Phone:  302-736-7413
E-mail:  Jim.Yurasek@delaware.gov
Web:   http://history.delaware.gov