Thursday, October 23, 2008

Shipwreck Blog: Followup To Oct. 08 Post

In a follow-up to my October 8th post on a shipwreck found on the Florida Atlantic coast, the following is provided.

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- Researchers think they may have identified the shipwreck discovered in the shallow waters off St. Augustine Beach several weeks ago.

The Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) has been studying what they can, and have found enough clues to give them a preliminary identity.

While it's very tough to study the ship because of its location in the surf and the fact that it's largely buried, clues like the exposed hull are helpful.

The hull is metal, and that's their biggest clue thus far. LAMP says that indicates a turn-of-the-century, 19th turning to 20th, construction.

Based on what they know, and comparing it to a database of known shipwrecks, researchers now believe the ship could be the Fortuna II. There is not much certainty, though.

LAMP is going to try to probe the sea floor to find out how large the wrecked ship is. The Fortuna II was 80 feet long, so getting a measurement will be a key step toward eliminating or validating the theory.


So it's not a treasure galleon, anyway. Darnit.

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