New light shed on shipwreck mystery

Times Picayune ^ | March 10, 2009 | John Pope

[BBell]

Details match those of 1813 privateer

The mystery surrounding the wreckage of a ship at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico may have moved a few steps closer Monday toward being solved.

Details that investigators have been able to piece together about the vessel match those of a ship that capsized in the Gulf in November 1813 after being chased by a British ship that was part of a naval blockade during the War of 1812, said Jack Irion, a marine archaeologist with the federal Minerals Management Service.

In that incident, all eight crewmen were rescued by the British ship and put ashore near the mouth of the Mississippi River, about where Pilottown stands today.

The new information "fits in with all the other information" about the sunken ship, Irion said. "It's the best fit that we have."

Although he said he and his colleagues are "incredibly excited" by this news, which a researcher sent via e-mail, Irion declined to release details about the ship, including its name. He said it might not turn out to be the vessel whose remains rest 4,000 feet below the water's surface, about 35 miles off the Louisiana coast.

But, he said, "if we can tie down a name, all sorts of other documents start appearing. We can run down the individuals on the crew and find their descendants."

--- Descriptions match ---

The information about the ship that Irion learned of Monday matched his description of the vessel on the Gulf's floor. It was a two-masted schooner, 55 to 60 feet long that, Irion said, was "a pretty typical size" for vessels in the Gulf at that time.

The ship that was already under study was a privateer, a private vessel whose home port was in South Carolina.

"A privateer

[BBell]

A follow up from yesterday.

[BBell]

More information about something I posted yesterday.

[null and void]

Thanks.

[VaBthang4]

Any FReeper Naval archaeologists or historians that may know the name of this ship? We're FReepers, we should have been done tore this whole thing open.

[Kenny Bunk]

Previous charter customers' comments to the contrary, I want to assure you I had absolutely nothing to do with the loss of this ship.

CC:
Lloyds

[Islander7]

Ping

You may like this.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BBell and Islander7. All, here’s the one from yesterday BBell mentioned above:

Mysterious shipwreck unearthed at bottom Gulf
Times Picayune | March 08, 2009 | John Pope
Posted on 03/09/2009 5:57:30 AM PDT by BBell
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2202401/posts

[SunkenCiv]

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