Monday tours of DeBraak hull start June 3

Beginning June 3 and continuing through Oct. 14, 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 capsized and was lost off the Delaware coast 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: 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 June 10 or Sept. 2.

All lecture tours begin at the Zwaanendael Museum, 102 Kings Highway in Lewes, 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 people age 10 and above, and are available through Shop Delaware at shop.delaware.gov. For more information, call 302-645-1148.

The Zwaanendael Museum and the curation of the DeBraak hull and its associated artifact collection are administered by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, an agency of the state of Delaware. Primary funding for division programs and services is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Park Service, a federal agency.