Posted on 05/19/2012 3:52:18 PM PDT by Ron C.
NEW ORLEANS – An oil company exploration crew's chance discovery of a 200-year-old shipwreck in a little-charted stretch of the Gulf of Mexico is yielding a trove of new information to scientists who say it's one of the most well-preserved old wrecks ever found in the Gulf.
"When we saw it we were all just astonished because it was beautifully preserved, and by that I mean for a 200-year-old shipwreck," said Jack Irion, maritime archaeologist with the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in New Orleans.
Video shows muskets and gin bottles littering the Gulf bottom, along with sea life mingling in the wreck.
Scientists say the ship is about 200 miles off the northern Gulf coast and about 4,000 feet deep. The depth has kept it largely undisturbed during two centuries of storms and hurricanes. And although most of the ship's wood dissolved long ago, the copper hull and its contents remain in place.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I’m a bottle collector. Those pics are making me drool. To bad it’s 4000 feet down!
Yet collectors would probably pay for the cost of the discovery, replacing public funds used so far!
I think “Throck” is watching this because...”The Sea Remembers”.
This is a wreck. Unless it is determined to be a war ship salvage rights belong to the finder.
I love digging. Problem is I can never let go of the things I dig. LOL!
Just what does your post add to the topic?
It is simple semantics. "200 year old shipwreck" versus "200 year old wrecked ship".
For your files.
Muskets and gin bottles... I wonder how many British ships went missing in those waters during the War of 1812? I’ll bet they can narrow it down to a few likely vessels.
THAT is one hell of an interesting collection! What makes it best, you found it all by yourself. I’m jealous... lol
Weren’t the Brits the major fanciers of gin? You might be on to something.
200 years ago would be the War of 1812. I wonder if it was a British Man o’ War.
“Here are a few of many bottles I have dug up in Portland, Maine”
Cool bottles! Exceptionaly well preserved. I got my bottle bug digging up old stuff in my neighborhood as a boy as well. Wish I had been smart enough to keep them like you did! Happy digging!
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