1800s-Era Shipwreck Discovered Near Port ofSt Augustine
When Tropical Storm Eta overlooked Florida previously this month, it aided to discover the remains of a wood shipwreck hidden under a dune along Crescent Beach near the port ofSt Augustine. The wreckage is most likely the remains of a vendor ship from the 1800s, according to theSt Augustine Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LIGHT).
A regional citizen was strolling along the coastline on Saturday and also saw the revealed woods. Returning on Sunday, he saw even more of the woods discovered by the waves, and also he connected to LIGHT’s supervisor,Chuck Meide The LIGHT group started evaluating and also recording the shipwreck on Sunday.
The LIGHT group assumes that the ship was likely an American seller ship lugging fundamental assets, like equipment or flour.Over 70 percent of all understood historical shipwrecks shed in Florida are seller vessels that were taken part in seaside profession, relocating products from one port to an additional along the Atlantic shore. Dating the ship is challenging, yet Meide thinks it to go back to the 1800s. “Everything we’ve seen on it so far fits that hypothesis – wooden planking, wood timbers, iron fasteners. They look quite similar to other ships from the 1800s that we have seen.”
According to LIGHT and also the Fort Matanzas National Monument, the wreckage can be the remains of the seller vesselCaroline Eddy “In late August 1880 the Caroline Eddy left Fernandina bound for New York with a cargo of lumber. She sailed into a hurricane, was driven south and went ashore near Matanzas. Her crew survived after clinging to the rigging for two days and a night,” the nationwide monolith’s team claimed in a social networks upgrade.
As the research study arm of theSt Augustine Lighthouse & & Maritime Museum, LIGHT has actually aided to determine numerous shipwrecks throughout the years. Its group will certainly proceed their study job and also take examples of the woods and also iron job from the website. Students from close-by Flagler College will certainly additionally be dealing with LIGHT to file and also videotape the shipwreck, acquiring area experience in archaeology.
“[St. Augustine’s] maritime past is America’s story as the nation’s oldest port, dating back to the first Spanish landing in 1565. The St. Augustine Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program is committed to saving our maritime history and passing these stories on to our future generations,” claimed Kathy Fleming, the gallery’s exec supervisor.
