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Researchers scouting the York River
for Revolutionary War shipwrecks believe they’ve found another one — complete
with cannons, "a historic diver's dream," said one of the explorers.
Like most of the 10 wrecks
previously discovered, this one is entombed in the muck, a ghostly witness to
America's fight for freedom, shrouded with a mound of silt and oyster shells.
The wrecks are a reminder that
Yorktown played a pivotal role in our country's first chapter.
Sure, Philadelphia can claim the Declaration
of Independence, adopted there on July 4, 1776.
But this small town on the York
River was the scene of the bloody bookend, the last major battle of the war.
The wrecks are the remnants of Lord Charles Cornwallis’ fleet, sunk in 1781
during the Siege of Yorktown, a 25,000-man slugfest that finally broke the back
of British rule in the colonies.
As many as 40 British ships were
lost here, forgotten for hundreds of years. Explorations in the 20th century
located the bulk of the known sites, leading the area to become the first
underwater listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Diver Bill Waldrop was the first
diver to find a cannon on a newly discovered site — the 11th wreck
located.
But with no comprehensive surveys
done in decades, it’s been a long time since any new discoveries have been
made, especially ones including cannon.
“It’s just incredible,” said Ryan
Johnston, one of the partners in JRS Explorations, a Yorktown-based outfit created
to try to map and preserve what’s left of the ships.
Only a few of the known wrecks have
yielded any kind of cannon. When these were found June 19, Johnston said, the
team could only think "you're kidding me."
The wreck, tentatively identified as
the remains of a troop transport named the Shipwright, was first detected when
sensors scanning the bottom indicated a likely target in about 23 feet of water
near the Gloucester side of the river.
Divers descended two weeks ago.
Feeling their way along in near-zero visibility, probing into the river bed,
they discovered a partially-buried iron cannon measuring more than 7-feet long.
"We kind of stumbled into
it," Johnston said. "It’s so encrusted you can’t even put your hand
in the muzzle.”
They found another, and possibly a
third buried even deeper. They also detected what they think is the hull of the
ship, resting a foot or more down in the mud.
An excavation, which must wait for
the proper permits and conservation plans, is the only way to be certain of the
ship’s identity. But every wreck in the river tells its own piece of the
Yorktown story. Several clues point toward this one being the Shipwright.
Old records provide a decent
accounting of Cornwallis’ vessels, not to mention the battle that consumed
them. Dozens were intentionally scuttled by the British commander to keep them
out of enemy hands or blockade the harbor. Three are known to have gone up in
flames.
The most famous of those:
Cornwallis’s largest warship, the HMS Charon. French batteries firing heated
shot hit the Charon, setting it ablaze. The blow wasn't as bad as it sounds,
since most of the Charon's 44 guns had already been moved ashore to
support the ground battle. But when the fire burned through the ship's anchor
rope, it drifted into two large transport vessels, compounding the loss. All
three burned to their waterlines.
The Charon, one of the first wrecks
ever located in the York, was excavated in the 1930s. The site of the other
burned ship has also been long known.
This wreck is close enough to those
two to be the third, the Shipwright.
Transport vessels were known to carry a
few cannon for self-defense.
The clincher: Divers brought up a
chunk of charred-looking wood.
“It literally still smells like
fire, believe it or not,” Johnston said.
The Yorktown shipwrecks belong to
the state. The quest to save them is largely volunteer. New finds provide
priceless fuel.
"It's an inspiration for the
crew," Johnston said. "Geez, we'd be happy to find even one cannon.
This is huge."
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Once the research team has received the necessary permits to excavate and raise and conserve some of the artifacts, they will more likely be able to more certainly identify the find, and should Maritime Maunder learn of it, we will bring you up to date.
Until next time,
Fair Winds,
Old Salt
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