Reasons
There are many reasons why underwater archaeology can make a significant contribution to our knowledge of the past. In the shipwreck field alone individual shipwrecks can be of significant historical importance either because of the magnitude of loss of life (such as the Titanic), or circumstances of loss (Housatonic was the first vessel in history sunk by an enemy submarine). Shipwrecks, such as Mary Rose, can also be important for archaeology because they can form a kind of accidental time capsule, preserving an assemblage of human artifacts at the moment in time when the ship was lost.
Sometimes it is not the wrecking of the ship that is important, but the fact that we have access to the remains of it, especially where the vessel was of major importance and significance in the history of science and engineering (or warfare), due to being the first of its type of vessel. The development of submarines, for example, can be traced via underwater archaeological research, via the Hunley which was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship (Hunley also had unique construction details not found in previous vessels and was one of the only historic warships ever raised intact), the Resurgam II, the first powered submarine, and Holland 5, which provides insight into the development of submarines in the British Navy.
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