On 8 October 1962, wooden fragments of a ship were found in the Weser River during dredging operations.

They turned out to be remnants of a cog that seems to have sunk during a storm flood after drifting away from a shipyard before completion.

Based on the dendrochronological analysis of the oak timber from which the cog was built, the ship was dated to about 1380 AD.

The large parts were measured, registered, and stored in water basins in a pier shed in Bremen to prevent the wood from drying and shrinking.

A further search with the aid of a diving bell ship in 1965 retrieved more than 2,000 additional parts, which also were stored.