№ 4482

Leather handbag with neccessaires, found in the wreckage of the ship SS Kerwood 1919

This handbag was found in the wreck of the SS Kernwood that sank north of the Dutch island Terschelling on December 1, 1019. The KERWOOD was originally a vessel of the Hungarian Atlantic Sea Nav. Ltd, built in England in 1911 as s.s. BUDAPEST at the Richardson, Duck & Co yard, Stockton on Tees. The ship initially sailed mainly with wood and trees from the ports of Braila and Galati on the Danube River to ports in Western Europe and the USA. Because of WW I the ship was assigned to the USA in 1918 and renamed SS Kerwood. The ship was used to transport mail and relief supplies from the US to Europe at the end of World War I. November 13, 1919 the ship again departs from New York with, among other things, food and clothing that was sent by mail by family of people in hard-hit Europe. The cargo also consisted of 600 tons of lead and 300 tons of copper in bars and plates. On December 1, 1919, the ship struck a naval mine laid during World War north of Terschelling, broke in two and sank. The crew had gone into the sloops and were rescued by a German fishing vessel. In 2002 the wreck was discovered by the Dutch dive team de Zeester.The handbag was donated by the Wreck museum to the Museum of Bags and Purses. The bag is similar to collection no. 309.
USA, 1919