GALVESTON, TEXAS—Three ships thought to have been sunk during the same storm are being mapped in the Gulf of Mexico. Discovered by an oil company surveying potential drilling sites, the first nineteenth-century ship rests under 4,300 feet of water, making it the deepest wreck under investigation in the U.S. at this time. A team of researchers from three federal agencies, two state agencies, three universities, and three non-profit organizations have been working at the site, dubbed the “Monterey Shipwreck.” They have spotted the navigator’s working slate, leather-bound books, and a ledger that may help them learn more about the crew and the purpose of their journey. Less than five miles away, the other two targets identified by the oil company turned out to be a copper-clad ship with two anchors, a steering wheel, and a bell, and a wooden ship that may have been carrying supplies for the Monterey Shipwreck. “The photo mosaic maps of all three wrecks are to a new standard never before seen in U.S. maritime deep-water archaeology,” said James Delgado, director of maritime heritage with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and a member of the expedition.
