The Sea Research Society :: Finding Shipwrecks

Shipwreck

RESEARCH SIMPLIFIED

Dr. E. Lee Spence

SHIPWRECK RESEARCH

CAN BE CHEAP AND EASY:

With a little knowledge, anyone can research shipwrecks simply and cost effectively. You don't have to go to Lloyd's of London (the big marine insurance association) in England, nor do you have to read archaic Spanish and travel to the Archives of the Indies in Seville, Spain. You can do your research here in the good old United States. You can do it at the National Archives, at the Library of Congress, at your local library, or even over the phone or through the mail. There have been over one hundred thousand wrecks in United States waters, so there are plenty of valuable and exciting wrecks still waiting to be salvaged. The trick is to pick the ideal wreck to research.

First get a reference book on shipwrecks. Some of the more useful books are Bruce Berman's Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks; Bob Marx's Shipwrecks of the Americas; John Potter's Treasure Hunter's Guide; and the various editions of Spence's List™. If you are interested in the Civil War and live in North Carolina, North Carolina or Georgia, you should probably get a copy of my book Treasures of the Confederate Coast: The real Rhett Butler & Other Revelations. Copies can be purchased through Sea Research Society (http://shop.searesearchsociety.org/collections/e-lee-spences-items/products/book-treasures-of-the-confederate-coast-the-real-rhett-butler-other-revelations-2nd-printing-of-1st-edition). Part of the money goes to the Society. You can usually get copies of all of those books through interlibrary loan, Ebay or Amazon.com. Read and pick out several wrecks, which interest you (points to consider are location, age, historical, archeological or monetary value, and availability of research materials). From those wrecks, pick a wreck to research and go after. Don't necessarily select a famous wreck like the steamer Central America, which sank in 1854 with literally tons of gold aboard, you would just be asking for unwanted competition. At the time the Central America was found at least a half dozen expeditions were underway trying to find her. Only one of them walked away with the gold. At least one other group was searching the right area and was, in effect, "only" a day late. There are plenty of valuable shipwrecks out there. No one has ever even looked for most of them. Use your imagination and try to pick one of those "sleeping" wrecks. And, while you are at it, pick a wreck with specific qualities that will make your job easier, not harder.

THE IDEAL WRECK

The ideal wreck to research would have been:

(a) sunk prior to the Civil War [Prior to the Civil War divers and salvage equipment were scarce. But during the Civil War, hundreds of military men were trained to dive, and tons of equipment was put into use. Divers were needed to put down and/or remove obstructions, clear channels, salvage sunken ships and their cargos, etc. After the Civil War these now skilled, but unemployed, men equipped with the now surplus salvage and diving gear, quickly found that money was to be earned in scrapping the hundreds of wrecks, which had occurred during the war. Wrecks, which had taken place before the Civil War (and prior to the resultant build up of suitable salvage companies) remained largely forgotten and untouched. Note: Despite the surge in salvage activity and capability that began after the Civil War (and continues to this day), a surprisingly high percentage of Civil War wrecks, post war and even modern wrecks still remains untouched. There have always been more wrecks than serious salvors. If you are particularly interested in Civil War wrecks an excellent source of information is a set of books called the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. There are over one hundred and fifty books in the set and each book contains between eight hundred and twelve hundred pages of information. The books have been divided into army and navy records, but shipwrecks are frequently mentioned in both. Information is usually quite detailed with some maps included. I have found many valuable wrecks using these volumes. These books are available through most large libraries. You might also try reading some of my books on shipwrecks of the Civil War. The wrecks are divided up by geographic area and are arranged chronologically. Each entry is heavily footnoted. Because of space limitations the entries are abridged and leave out some details that you might find interesting, so refer back to the original sources.]

(b) built in the United States [Carpenters certificates for tens of thousands of American built vessels still exist and are stored at the National Archives. Carpenter's certificates were prepared even if the vessel had an iron hull. Date and place of construction and/or launching will be found on these certificates and on the registers, enrollments or licenses of the vessel. Newspapers printed in the hometown area commonly told of the completion and launch of a vessel. These articles usually describe the speed, capacity, beauty, furnishings and amenities of the vessel.]

(c) owned in the United States [American owned merchant, passenger and fishing vessels were normally registered, licensed or enrolled. New certificates were issued every time a change took place in the homeport, ownership, captain, rig or tonnage of a vessel. Certificates attesting to such facts were usually made in duplicate. In most cases at least one certificate has survived and can be located in the National Archives. During the New Deal days of President Roosevelt, data on many of these certificates was abstracted and recorded into volumes on particular ports or districts. Copies of all of these abstracts can be found in the Library of Congress, while duplicate volumes of some are located in the National Archives and in some regional libraries. Thousands of registers, licenses and enrollments have been microfilmed for university library collections. These certificates normally give the tonnage, length, breadth, depth of hold, number of decks, number of masts, names of master and owners, date and location of construction, and other important facts relating to the vessel. Usually they will tell what type of figurehead the vessel had, if any, and whether the vessel had a round, square or elliptical stern. Often on the back of the final certificate there will be a handwritten note telling what happened to the ship and where it was lost. Many thousands of vessel logbooks of privately owned American vessels have survived. Logs for privately owned vessels are not usually found in the Library of Congress or the National Archives. However, such logs are frequently found in public and private library collections such as the Phillips Library, which is part of the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Even if the logbooks are from earlier voyages, and don't tell about the loss of the vessel, they can shed some interesting light on the vessel's past activities, and, in many cases, can provide important clues to help you research and the wreck. Logbooks of private or government vessels, which assisted in saving passengers or cargo from the wreck are often the best source of information on the wreck. Vessel logs typically give course headings, names or descriptions of other vessels observed, and precise weather data (such as barometric pressure, wind velocity and direction, wave height, drift and current) all of, which was usually recorded hourly during the vessel's voyage. The importance of that information to researchers is obvious. Over seventy thousand logs of United States naval vessels and stations still exist and are kept at the National Archives. Logs are also available at the National Archives for many other government owned or chartered vessels such as those used by the Revenue Service, Army, Coast Guard, etc.]

(d) steam propelled [The advantage of searching for a steam powered vessel are many fold. Steam engines, with their giant boilers and their huge pistons and drive shafts make excellent search targets when using remote sensing gear such as magnetometers and side scanning sonar. Some steam engines weigh many tons and stick up over thirty feet off the ocean floor. If had not been for the Central America's enormous boilers and machinery it would have cost many more millions to locate her. The artificial reefs created by wrecked steamers are real attractive to fish, especially on a flat sandy bottom. Fishermen view these wrecks as hot fishing spots, and they can frequently help you locate the particular wreck you are after. General types of engines changed over the years allowing a rough date to be assigned to the wreck immediately upon discovery. Stroke length of piston and cylinder sizes were usually listed in insurance publications such as American Lloyd's and Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Those publications, listed virtually every vessel engaged in the shipping or passenger trade with America and were produced annually. Copies of the registers can be found in many libraries, including the Library of Congress and the Mariner's Museum at Newport News, Virginia. Steam engines were, more often than not, ornately decorated, trimmed with polished brass, and well marked as to the date and place of manufacturer. Frequently the steam engine's associated tools were marked with the actual name of the ship to reduce theft. All of these factors can help in identifying a wreck once it is located. Rapid identification helps save money, which might otherwise be wasted in a prolonged investigation of the wrong wreck. So steamers make good wrecks to go after.]

(e) bound from a U.S. to a foreign port [Vessels bound from one American port to another did not have to go through the same volume of red tape required for vessels engaged in foreign commerce. Since less paperwork was generated, fewer documents have survived. The largest amount of red tape was required for "registered" vessels (those engaged in foreign trade). Since some of the paperwork stayed in the port of embarkation, surviving documents are more readily available to a United States based researcher for vessels on voyages originating in the United States. Thousands of copies of crew lists and cargo manifests for vessels bound from a United States port to a foreign port are in the collection of the National Archives. There are significant gaps in the time periods for, which these documents are available and for some ports none exist at all. It is extremely rare that any of these documents were retained for "enrolled" or "licensed" vessels. Those vessels usually operated entirely in United States waters.]

(f) built of wood [In a marine environment, the wooden hull of a wrecked ship is rapidly destroyed by the action of the sea as well as by such creatures as the teredo navalis (which eat the exposed wood). One advantage is that it means there is less danger of a diver getting trapped inside a shipwreck, as there is rarely anything left of the hull to enter. It also means that less time and money will have to be spent to get to the cargo, since digging through sand is cheaper and faster than cutting through steel. Both are major advantages. The obvious drawbacks to going after wrecks with wooden hulls are that light-weight fragile artifacts are more likely to have been scattered and/or destroyed, and the wreck will be harder to find and to identify than an iron, steel, concrete, or aluminum hulled vessel.]

(g) carrying a valuable non-perishable cargo [Even a cargo of salt was valuable before the ship was lost. Don't automatically assume that a vague reference to the loss of a "valuable" cargo means that the cargo would still be valuable today. Common cargos, which would have little or no commercial salvage value today would include foodstuffs, lime, sand, cotton, and thousands of other everyday items of commerce. Cargos of hardware, merchandise or sundries may or may not have commercial salvage potential. Single cargos of hundreds of tons of glassware, ceramics, wines and liquors were routinely shipped in or out of almost every American port. Such large valuable cargos frequently survive in near perfect condition and can bring a fortune to the salvor when sold on the already well-developed antiques market. Bulk cargos of certain metals or their natural or partially refined ores can make attractive salvage targets. Cargos of weapons or money are among the most sought after prizes. Weapons retrieved from salt water seldom bring high dollars and are expensive to preserve, but they have a great deal of romance attached to them, and are fun items to find. Cargos of coin, bullion, and or precious jewels usually bring the greatest monetary rewards. There used to be no instant "wire transfers" of money and paper money was unsuitable for trade between different countries. So coin and bullion was shipped back and forth across the seas. Ships carrying gold sank just as readily as those carrying guano. I would rather go after gold. It has been estimated that up to two thirds of all of the gold and silver mined in history now lies on the ocean's floor. Ninety percent of all shipwrecks lie in salvageable depths. Gold is virtually impervious to saltwater and is the only truly non-perishable cargo. The age of steam merely changed the way gold, silver and other valuable cargos were transported. In fact, even during the hundred years it took for world shipping to change over from sail to steam, coins and bullion were more likely to have been shipped on steamers, as steamers were quickly recognized as more reliable than sailing vessels. So some of the easiest wrecks, to go after and find, are also some of the richest. Remember, the larger the cargo was originally, the more likely that some portion of it remains to be recovered. But, when picking a cargo to go after, don't forget to consider the historical or archeological importance of the wreck. Such importance could affect the value of the cargo, which will be found and of course the methods by, which it should be recovered. Please don't ever sacrifice historical or archeological data to save on salvage costs. If you aren't prepared to cooperate with the authorities and do the necessary archeology, please don't even consider going after a historically or archeologically important wreck. Although I always advise salvors to try to cooperate with the authorities, I also understand that some States unwisely restrict divers. By doing so those states effectively encourage limited reporting, fast work and looting.]

(h) sunk immediately outside a harbor [Vessels sunk within a harbor were more likely to have been salvaged than those outside the harbor. This was for several reasons. The first reason being that wrecks within a harbor were potential hazards to navigation and needed removal for safety reasons. The second reason is that salvage efforts within the confines of a protected harbor were cheaper and were also less vulnerable to interruption by sudden storms. Furthermore, wrecks within a protected harbor remained intact and therefore salvageable for a greater period of time than wrecks, which were on a sandbar or reef in the exposed ocean. The longer a wreck remained intact the more likely it was salvaged by contemporary salvors. The further a wreck was from a harbor the less likely it was to have been salvaged. The closer the wreck was to a harbor, the more accurate and detailed the information will be on the location, cargo and nature of the wreck. The ideal location for your target wreck would therefore be immediately outside of a large harbor. Reports of the wreck will usually be contained in contemporary newspaper accounts (see your local library for microfilm copies), admiralty court records (which can often be found in state archives), auction notices for sale of salvaged goods (which were published in the newspapers), light house and life saving station reports (which can be found at the U.S. National Archives), etc.]

(i) sunk in less than 130' of water [Although mid and late 19th century salvors could work in depths of over one hundred feet of water, due to costs and safety factors, they rarely worked wrecks outside of a harbor or deeper than fifty feet. Today's salvors should probably put a limit of one hundred and thirty feet on their targets to avoid nitrogen narcosis or the expense of a mixed gas diving operation. Most divers will prefer to search for wrecks that allow for extensive non-decompression diving. Since the majority of all wrecks were lost from stranding or grounding on shoals or reefs, depth is normally not a critical factor. Commercial fishing trawlers have already located thousands of "hangs" (the identities of, which are usually unknown). The loran positions of many of these "hangs" have been recorded and published as part of a Sea Grant study by the University of North Carolina. Searches (called wire drags) for reported obstructions or hazards to navigation are frequently conducted from scientific survey boats by the National Oceans and Atmosphere Administration branch of the United States government in conjunction with the preparation of new coastal charts. Wrecks are frequently located during these wire drags and are marked upon the new charts with a wreck symbol and/or a wire drag symbol. The placement of a wreck symbol on a chart is only a warning. It does not mean that the wreck has already been salvaged. Note: There would be little purpose in conducting wire drags in extremely deep waters as the deeper wrecks present little if any hazard to shipping.]

(j) sunk with a significant loss of life [Although it may seem ghoulish, try to pick a wreck, which involved a large or particularly heart rending loss of life. Newspapers were more likely to write in detail of shipwrecks, which touched their readers’ emotions. Furthermore, a large loss of life would have certainly prompted an official investigation into the loss of the vessel. Steamship losses involving loss of life were frequently studied in more detail than those involving sailing vessels. The annual reports of the Board of Supervising Steamship Inspectors are a good place to search for this type of information. Copies of these annual reports can be found in many university libraries, which are frequently official repositories of government documents. Copies of the individual reports are stored at the U.S. National Archives.]

CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ARE THE BEST SOURCE:

Once you have selected a wreck to go after, go to the microfilmed newspaper section of your local library to continue your research. Some newspapers, such as the New York Times have been indexed. Such indexes can make it easier to locate articles relating to "your" wreck. Your librarian can tell you, which indexes and newspapers your library has. Do not forget that in the same way your local newspaper today will carry the story of a ship, train or plane wreck on the other side of the world, the newspapers of yesteryear did also. Don't ignore foreign newspapers, such as the London Times when you are researching wrecks. I mention the London Times, as microfilm copies of that newspaper are frequently contained in university libraries, and the Times carried much of the same data, as you would find in the much scarcer marine insurance newspaper Lloyd's List. However, the Times is harder to use than Lloyd's List due to the Times inclusion of numerous pages of non-shipping related material. As an example, the loss of the steamer Central America was chronicled in newspapers all over the world. The New York Times, the Burlington, Vermont, Free Press, and the San Francisco Daily Alta are only a few of the many newspapers that carried front page stories of that tragic loss.

Colonial American newspapers are excellent sources of information on early wrecks of all nations. Newspapers were published in virtually every major port and city in America. Many of those newspapers still exist and copies are available on microfilm. When checking newspapers for a particular shipwreck, always remember that information about a loss traveled slowly before the invention of the telegraph and the wireless radio. The distance, between the wreck and where the newspaper was published, determined the lag between the actual loss and subsequent newspaper accounts. The time lag can be from as little as one day to several months.

The Boston papers survive from as early as 1706. Philadelphia newspapers are around from almost as early. Charleston, South Carolina, papers are available from as early as 1732. In 1715 the Boston paper told of the loss of an entire fleet of Spanish treasure galleons off the coast of Spanish Florida. The same newspapers told of the subsequent Spanish salvage efforts and of the attack on the Spanish salvage camp by English pirates. In 1717 the Boston News-Letter told of the wreck of "Black Sam" Bellamy's infamous pirate ship Whydah off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Modern day salvors used the accounts contained in the Boston papers to help them determine that the treasure was never fully recovered and to help them actually find the pirate wreck. The loss of the 1733, 1750, and 1768 Spanish treasure fleets were also described in newspapers of the British colonies. The 1733 fleet was lost in the Florida Keys, the 1750 fleet along the shores of North Carolina and Virginia, while the 1768 fleet was lost on the coast of present day Louisiana. New York papers told of the loss of the British payroll ship Huzzar in 1777 and they told of its attempted salvage almost five decades later. Newspapers also told of the loss of the British privateer DeBraak off the Delaware coast in 1798. Contemporary newspaper accounts of the DeBraak's loss were instrumental in the recent finding of that vessel.

Vessels of all nations could carry treasure and newspapers frequently reported their loss. Some extremely rich vessels were wrecked as far north as Canada on the east coast, and as far north as Alaska on the west coast of North America. In fact, I am presently researching a wreck, which sank with a large quantity of gold and silver coins off the coast of Canada. The very first newspaper account about the wreck that I came across gave the name of the rocks upon, which the ship was wrecked. That one treasure could be worth well over sixty million dollars today.

When searching for a newspaper account of a wreck, look under the marine headings in the business section, and in the news section. Under the marine heading, check the items relating to the port nearest the wreck or the port to or from, which the vessel was bound. Checking auction announcements in the advertising section of the newspapers for a few weeks after the first announcement of the loss of a vessel, frequently turns up lists of salvaged materials being auctioned for "the benefit of those concerned." Legal notices or other warnings were sometimes published in local newspapers in an attempt to keep people from looting wrecks for their own benefit. Looting was illegal then just as it is today. Just remember, salvage is not looting.

Newspapers give you the clues needed to continue the rest of your search. A typical report under the marine heading might read: The brig rigged steamship City of Savannah, Rogers, 1200 tons, of Boston, from Liverpool, 28 days, for Charleston, 800 hhds, 500 bbls. ass. merchandise and hrdwr., Adger and Cummings,was run ashore on Tybee Bar on the 1st instant. Rigging, sails, crew and passengers saved, vessel hulled and cargo totally lost. The term "steamship" usually referred to propellor driven vessels rather than a sidewheel or sternwheel steamers. "Brig rigged" meant that the vessel had three masts and carried sail mounted in the pattern designated as a brig. "City of Savannah" was the name of the vessel. "Rogers" was the vessel's master (captain). "1200 tons" was the vessel's cargo capacity. "Of Boston" signifies the vessel's homeport, "from Liverpool" her last port of call, and "for Charleston" her port of destination. "28 days" was the length of the trip from Liverpool to where she was lost. "800 hhds., 500 bbls. Ass. merchandise and hrdwr." was the quantity and type of cargo she carried (eight hundred hogsheads and five hundred bushel barrels of assorted merchandise and hardware. Hogsheads were large barrels used for shipping all types of goods. Frequently the information will be far more detailed.). "Adger and Cummings" were the cargo's principal consignees. The vessel was lost on "Tybee Bar", which is a shoal at the entrance to the Savannah River. A vessel of 1200 tons would have had a draft of at least eighteen feet, which would mean that it would have "run ashore" at least a half-mile from the beach even if it was lost at high tide. "Vessel hulled and cargo totally lost" meant that her hull had broken open. The vessel's decks were probably completely underwater, which would have prevented saving of the cargo. The fact that the crew, passengers, sails and rigging were saved indicates that the vessel probably stayed intact for a while. Any money carried aboard the ship was probably saved, although that was not necessarily the case as large shipments of money was frequently hidden beneath heavy cargo. "1st instant" referred to the date of loss. "Instant" was another way of saying "the present month. The previous month would have been referred to as "ultimo" while the following month would be called "proximo." Each word can be a clue to follow up on, so when picking a wreck try to pick one for, which numerous lengthy accounts exist. Then read all of the accounts word for word. Analyze them very carefully and think about what they would have actually meant at the time of loss.

IN CONCLUSION

As stated earlier, there have been over one hundred thousand wrecks in United States waters, so there are plenty of worthwhile wrecks out there. Following the guidelines given above, select a wreck and then research it.

Dozens of valuable tips have been given in these pages. Study them, and then use them to research your ideal wreck. Remember, your ideal wreck is not only one that you can find, it is one that no one else has found, and it is one that is worth finding.