Mysterious shipwreck unearthed at bottom Gulf

Times Picayune ^ | March 08, 2009 | John Pope

[BBell]

Nearly 200 years ago, a ship sank in the Gulf of Mexico, about 35 miles off Louisiana's coast. It stayed, undiscovered, on the seabed, about 4,000 feet below the surface, until 2002, when a crew happened upon the wreckage while checking out a pipeline.

An expedition led by Texas A&M University found no skeletal remains and nothing to indicate the vessel's name, where it came from or how it sank. But underwater sleuths discovered plenty of artifacts, including a telescope, pottery, French bottles, swords, English mustard jars, hourglasses, a cast-iron stove and a Scottish cannon, Louisiana State Museum spokesman Arthur Smith said.

About 500 of those pieces are to be transferred today to the Louisiana State Museum and the state Division of Archaeology.

Archaeologists will study the pieces, Smith said, and eventually the museum will display them.

In addition to receiving the artifacts, the state will assume the responsibility of solving this mystery of the deep.

"It's a tantalizing mystery," Smith said. "Who knows who was on that ship and what they were up to?"

Coin dates to 1810

So far the only clue researchers have about the vessel's age is a coin marked 1810. That means it might have gone down during the War of 1812, Smith said, but no one is certain about that yet.

Based on the styles of the artifacts found at the site, the wreck could have occurred as late as 1820, experts said.

Not much of the ship remains. There are some sections of the hull, but marine animals have eaten most of it, said Jack Irion, a marine archaeologist with the federal Minerals Management Service.

Even though little of the vessel remains, Irion estimated that it was a two-masted schooner, 55 feet to 60 feet long.

The discovery of the

[BBell]

This ship was discovered by chance. I'm sure there are thousands just like that will never be discovered.

[BBell]

ping

[jwparkerjr]

I wonder what will happen in a couple of hundred years when they uncover one of those businesses that sell grave stones! Just imagine the confusion they will face when they find over a hundred different head stones, all grouped together in way too small an area for anyone to be buried under them, and all of them blank! Not to mention that many of them are the same as others nearby!

Almost makes it worth the effort to go around burying all sorts of odd and miscellaneous objects, just for joke it will on those who find them in a thousand years or so!

And my family says I have too much time on my hands!

[bikerman]

USS OBAMA???

[CodeToad]

“Here lies dad...11 January 1312”

lol.

[Constitution Day]

Cool article. Thanks for posting it!

Here’s a site with some photos:
http://www.flpublicarchaeology.org/mardigras/pictures/

[BenLurkin]

Pirates? Perhaps Jean Lafitte?

[SlowBoat407]

I helped document the Jamestown Rediscovery project when they were digging up the first human remains that they had found. Once they had the skeleton out, and before they filled in the 8-foot deep hole, they threw in candy wrappers and coins with the current year to show that the ground had indeed been disturbed, and when it had been disturbed.

(I think a note would have been more helpful)

[BBell]

Thank You. Their were pictures in the local paper but I did not see any at the local paper’s site.

[grobdriver]

I can see the coins with the current date and wouldn’t the paper of a note decompose over time... but why a candy wrapper???

[jwparkerjr]

re: I think a note would have been more helpful

That would make sense to you and me, but to those who go after these finds it would take all the fun out it!

[BBell]

The cannon is lifted out of its storage vat and prepared to go into electrolytic reduction, the standard conservation treatment for iron artifacts used by the Conservation Research Lab. The cannon would have fired a 6-pound ball and, according to markings found on the gun, was made at the Clyde Iron Works in Scotland in 1797.

The spyglass/telescope recovered from the seafloor has already revealed the name and place of its manufacture. This information, inscribed on the brass lens tube under the wood sheath, was found by X-ray.

John is cleaning the surface of the cast iron stove to remove excess corrosion products and to determine how much is left of the original iron.

telescope

Weapons Chest

[Red Badger]

That was my thought, too.............

[Big_Harry]

You know, that was my first thought also! The era was right also, wasn’t it? What would a French pirate have been carrying that would give it away? One thing that would be conspicuously absent would be deoderant.

[Leg Olam]

“Pirates? Perhaps Jean Lafitte?”

It’s possible but most likely it was a coastal trading boat. Firing that six pounder on a small schooner would have taken a bit of nerve for sure.

[BBell]

That is funny. I never though about a grave stone business being discovered in hundreds of years. The archaeologist would be in a tizzy looking for bodies.

[SunkenCiv]

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[JimRed]

Not giving out the exact location to protect the site seems a bit much; darned few salvors can operate in 4,000 feet of water!

[Constitution Day]

Excellent. Thanks!

[jwparkerjr]

You don't see them as much now as you did in the 50’s, but there used to places that sold all sorts of lawn goodies. Like the colored glass ball on stands, birdbaths, lawn jockeys, etc. Imagine finding one of those in a thousand years.

[Mike Darancette]

Almost makes it worth the effort to go around burying all sorts of odd and miscellaneous objects, just for joke it will on those who find them in a thousand years or so!

Think of when they dig up graves that gave two plastic packages of silicone in them

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

” they threw in candy wrappers and coins”

Shoulda thrown in some Twinkies! They stay fresh forever.

[stockpirate]

They say the Med has thousands of ships and in fact in some areas they don’t allow diving because there are so many.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Nah, a better tombstone to bury would be:

John Smythe
Born October 4 1467
Died October 8 1976

Several hundred years from now that would put archeologists into a real tizzy.

[DesertDreamer]

The archaeologist would be in a tizzy looking for bodies.

And finding none, they would conclude that the stones were memorials created by a cannibal society to commemorate the contributions of their special dinner 'guests'.

[mcshot]

A helicopter finds a wreck in 4,000 ft of water. Now that’s chance. Water must be very clear or there was something closer to the surface.

[MamaTexan]

Not giving out the exact location to protect the site seems a bit much; darned few salvors can operate in 4,000 feet of water!

But those that can, will come.

Ever watch Treasure Quest? It's a very interesting show about shipwreck salvage, and they always keep the exact location secret.

Must be SOP.

[Deaf Smith]

D B Cooper.

[Rebelbase]

50 million years from now I look forward to seeing the Empire State Building exposed in a new road cut.

[Big_Harry]

I remember a place near Jacksonville, Fla called the black river. Legend had it that there was a pirate ship scuttled in that river in 60 feet of water that had 30 feet of cypress logs over it. One fellow that I knew made a successful dive that required taking off his tank and threading down through the maze of logs in pitch black water. He was lucky because numerous men died in that mess.

[Rebelbase]

Didn’t Laffite go missing after the war of 1812?

[ConservativeMind]

You would love this book, “Motel of the Mysteries”

http://www.amazon.com/Motel-Mysteries-David-Macaulay/dp/0395284252/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236607356&sr=8-1

[painter]

Bump for later.

[Leg Olam]

Not exactly... I found this on wikipedia so judge for yourself the accuracy. I seem to remember reading something similar.

“In February 1823, Lafitte attempted to take what appeared to be two Spanish merchant vessels. The ships were actually Spanish privateers or warships and returned fire. Lafitte was wounded in the battle and died just after dawn on February 5. He was buried at sea in the Gulf of Honduras. Two obituaries have been found for Lafitte; the Gaceta de Cartajena wrote that “the loss of this brave naval official is moving”. No American newspaper ever carried an obituary for him.”

[DieHard the Hunter]

> No American newspaper ever carried an obituary for him.”

Seems like one Helluva opportunity for some newspaper somewhere in the US to commemorate a great American hero...

(Pinging STAR — would Jean Lafitte of the War of 1812 merit a mention in one of your Hero threads? Maybe even a proper Obituary?)

[Conan the Librarian]

Great Book! Highly recommend it.

[Cold Heart]

Tossing in coins and candy wrappers sounds pretty unprofessional. The big excuse used by archaeologists for keeping the great unwashed away from archaeological finds is they are not the trained professionals as they are.

Glad you disaprove.

I forgot the quote a Freeper made, something like plunderers & grave robbers with degrees.

[Hot Tabasco]

English mustard jars,

Had they been mayonnase jars I would have suspected they found the wreck of the Cinco de Mayo.......

[Hot Tabasco]

Shoulda thrown in some Twinkies! They stay fresh forever.

Maybe they could add a couple cans of spam and a Christmas fruitcake......

[ken in texas]

You have a perverse sense of humor. I really like that. :-)

[afraidfortherepublic]

Once they had the skeleton out, and before they filled in the 8-foot deep hole, they threw in candy wrappers and coins with the current year to show that the ground had indeed been disturbed, and when it had been disturbed.

What! They defiled my ancestor's grave?

[TXnMA]

"A helicopter finds a wreck in 4,000 ft of water. Now that’s chance. Water must be very clear or there was something closer to the surface."

Almost certainly, the find was not visual. Probably used a "dipped and towed" proton magnetometer ("Magnetic Anomaly Detector" ,AKA "MAD") -- as used by the military for detecting submerged submarines. (I expect that they were using MAD to locate the pipeline...)

[Sam Cree]

55-60 feet...don’t know if that qualifies her as a “ship” or not. More of a boat.

[wildbill]

Check with Jean Lafitte

[gleeaikin]

There are rat footprints set in cement near my city home. I have been imagining a science fiction story where civilized rats from many millenia in the future discover the broken cement in the devastated city, and speculate on why a rat was running around with bare feet.

[BBell]

New light shed on shipwreck mystery