PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND—According to a report by the Associated Press, a cannon has been recovered from a shipwreck believed to be the USS Revenge, a schooner commanded by Oliver Hazard Perry that sank in 1811 after it struck a reef off the coast of Rhode Island. Perry, known as the Hero of Lake Erie, is remembered for his decisive victory over the British navy during the War of 1812. The cannon will be desalinated and conserved at the Washington Navy Yard. Underwater archaeologist George Schwarz of the Naval History and Heritage Command said foundry marks on the cannon could help scholars identify the shipwreck. “There aren’t any other U.S. Navy vessels lost, as far as we know, right in this area, and there aren’t too many other armed vessels, as far as we know, lost here,” he explained. For more on underwater archaeology, go to “Shipwreck Alley.”
