Shipwreck Washes Ashore in Florida

ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA—The St. Augustine Record reports that a 50-foot-long section of a ship’s hull washed ashore from the Atlantic Ocean in north Florida. Maritime archaeologist Brendan Burke of the St. Augustine Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program said the ship was probably built in the mid-nineteenth century and has likely been buried in sand offshore for more than 100 years. Recent storms and wave action are thought to have released the ship from the sandy ocean bottom. Burke noted that trunnels, the wooden pegs securing the hull and wooden ribs, are visible on the wreckage, along with Roman numerals carved on its ribs, and copper tack heads that would have been used to attach copper sheathing to the hull. Burke and other experts are photographing the wreckage for a 3-D model, and collecting measurements and other information. “This is a community effort,” Burke explained. Florida’s state property and resource managers will have the final say over what happens to the shipwreck. To read about other discoveries in Florida, go to “Florida History Springs Forth.”