Showing posts with label artifacts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artifacts. Show all posts
Friday, September 8, 2017
Some More On the Army Gunboat Picket-- Part 2: Artifacts Recovered
The shipwreck has shifted over the years due to hurricanes and now points northward. Many divers have brought up many artifacts. Many artifacts were damaged or destroyed many years ago when the Tar River by Washington, N.C., was dredged. Most of those items were plates and other breakable items.
Artifacts like muskets, bayonets, ship's compass, a brass megaphone type horn, cleats, bullets, etc. have been recovered.
When the ship exploded, the heat must have been extremely intense as the compass is partially melted in a couple of places.
The Picket was also at the Battle of Tranter's Creek in North Carolina on June 5, 1862. Its captain Sylvester D. Nicholl also commanded there.
--Old B-Runner
Thursday, August 6, 2015
USS Monitor Turret Out of the Water-- Part 2
The turret is usually found submerged in a 50,000 gallon treatment tank. While the tank is drained, it will be inspected. Periodic sprinkles of hyperpurified, reverse osmosis water will be sprinkled on it to guard against rust.
However, unfortunately, the turret will again be immersed in the tank come August 7th. That's tomorrow. i wonder if i have time to catch a plane out to Newport News, Virginia.
Flanking te turret tank are two smaller ones containing two different-sized Dahlgren cannons, also undergoing preservation.
Other items preserved in plastic containers in the wet lab are a stanchion, coat, silver fork and a Navy-issue mustard bottle.
There is one item that no one, even John Quarstein, knows what it is. However, Quarstein's very favorite artifact is a long thermometer which he knows was often looked at by the Monitor's crew as the ship was "hot, hotter and hottest" during the summer months.
They also have the red lantern which was the last part of the ship seen before it plunged beneath the waves. It was also the first item discovered when the shipwreck was found.
The USS Monitor Foundation is currently attempting to raise $5 million in the next two years in order to continue its work with the ship. John Quarstein offers private tours of everything for $100+.
--Old IronRunner
However, unfortunately, the turret will again be immersed in the tank come August 7th. That's tomorrow. i wonder if i have time to catch a plane out to Newport News, Virginia.
Flanking te turret tank are two smaller ones containing two different-sized Dahlgren cannons, also undergoing preservation.
Other items preserved in plastic containers in the wet lab are a stanchion, coat, silver fork and a Navy-issue mustard bottle.
There is one item that no one, even John Quarstein, knows what it is. However, Quarstein's very favorite artifact is a long thermometer which he knows was often looked at by the Monitor's crew as the ship was "hot, hotter and hottest" during the summer months.
They also have the red lantern which was the last part of the ship seen before it plunged beneath the waves. It was also the first item discovered when the shipwreck was found.
The USS Monitor Foundation is currently attempting to raise $5 million in the next two years in order to continue its work with the ship. John Quarstein offers private tours of everything for $100+.
--Old IronRunner
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Navy Diving Unit to Raise Artifacts from the CSS Georgia-- Part 1
From the May 27, 2015 Naval History Blog "Year of the Military Diver: MDSU to Continue Raising the CSS Georgia/"
The old saying goes, "The South Will Rise Again." Well, parts of the Old South anyway as Navy divers are preparing to bring up pieces of the CSS Georgia from the bottom of the Savannah River near that city. Navy divers from the Mobile Diving Salvage Unit (MDSU-2) will be hard at work freeing parts of the ship from the murky, muddy water of the Savannah River channel.
They are working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and will be on site June 1st to July 20th as part of the Savannah Harbor Expansion which will be making the channel deeper, from 42 to 47 feet. Savannah is a major port for container ships, but would like to be able the even larger ones. We saw a lot of them going up and down the river when we were there in late April.
They will be bring up the ship's iron armor, steam engine components and all four cannons which went down with the ship. In addition, preliminary searching have revealed at least 50 projectiles.
--Old B-Runner
The old saying goes, "The South Will Rise Again." Well, parts of the Old South anyway as Navy divers are preparing to bring up pieces of the CSS Georgia from the bottom of the Savannah River near that city. Navy divers from the Mobile Diving Salvage Unit (MDSU-2) will be hard at work freeing parts of the ship from the murky, muddy water of the Savannah River channel.
They are working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and will be on site June 1st to July 20th as part of the Savannah Harbor Expansion which will be making the channel deeper, from 42 to 47 feet. Savannah is a major port for container ships, but would like to be able the even larger ones. We saw a lot of them going up and down the river when we were there in late April.
They will be bring up the ship's iron armor, steam engine components and all four cannons which went down with the ship. In addition, preliminary searching have revealed at least 50 projectiles.
--Old B-Runner
Friday, August 24, 2012
Navy Divers Start Recovering Items from the Modern Greece 50 Years Ago
From the August 14th Wilmington (NC) Star-News Looking Back column.
AUGUST 2, 1962
Navy divers from Charleston, SC, began a ten-day effort to recover items from the sunken blockade-runner Modern Greece off Fort Fisher. This is part of a continuing effort to explore all known ships sunk off the Cape Fear River during the Civil War and to find new ones.
This is the 50th anniversary of that effort, and that effort was on the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking in the first place.
I've seen drawings of Fort Fisher during the war that show sunken ships by the fort. This very likely was one of them.
The Modern Greece, the Ship That Rocked Maritime Conservation. --Old B-Runner
AUGUST 2, 1962
Navy divers from Charleston, SC, began a ten-day effort to recover items from the sunken blockade-runner Modern Greece off Fort Fisher. This is part of a continuing effort to explore all known ships sunk off the Cape Fear River during the Civil War and to find new ones.
This is the 50th anniversary of that effort, and that effort was on the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking in the first place.
I've seen drawings of Fort Fisher during the war that show sunken ships by the fort. This very likely was one of them.
The Modern Greece, the Ship That Rocked Maritime Conservation. --Old B-Runner
Friday, July 6, 2012
Well, We Missed It, But Anyway...
From the June 16th Island Gazette "Open House at Fort Fisher Underwater Archaeology Branch June 27" by Super User.
I've already mentioned this in this blog, but the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) hosted a rare behind-the-scenes tour June 27th, the 150th anniversary of the loss of the blockade-runner Modern Greece, whose discovery in 1962 led to the founding of the unit. This ship was the first major runner lost in the Cape Fear River area.
That same day, a wayside sign was unveiled at the Fort Fisher North Gazebo, which is just inshore from the wreck of the Modern Greece.
On June 27, 1862, the Modern Greece ran aground right by Fort Fisher and was completely destroyed. The wreck was rediscovered in 1962 and thousands of artifacts removed from it.
Sure Would Have Liked to Have Been There. --Old B-R'er
I've already mentioned this in this blog, but the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) hosted a rare behind-the-scenes tour June 27th, the 150th anniversary of the loss of the blockade-runner Modern Greece, whose discovery in 1962 led to the founding of the unit. This ship was the first major runner lost in the Cape Fear River area.
That same day, a wayside sign was unveiled at the Fort Fisher North Gazebo, which is just inshore from the wreck of the Modern Greece.
On June 27, 1862, the Modern Greece ran aground right by Fort Fisher and was completely destroyed. The wreck was rediscovered in 1962 and thousands of artifacts removed from it.
Sure Would Have Liked to Have Been There. --Old B-R'er
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Watch What You Kick in the Water
From the Jan. 27th Channel 9 CBS WNCT Greenville, NC "Men make Civil War-era discovery in waters near Oriental."
This past Wednesday, two men found a Civil War era explosive device in the water near Oriental, NC. It is about the size of a soft drink bottle and weighs about five pounds. They handed it over to the military bomb squad at Cherry Point and was blown up Friday.
Before turning it over, they hit it twice with a hammer and then took to one of their homes in New Bern. (Smart move.) Nearby homes were evacuated.
The Jan. 27th WITN reports that it was determined to be a 3.1 to 3.5-inch mortar shell from the Civil War-era. It was covered with barnacles and oysters.
Don't Go Messing With Civil War Ordnance. --Old B-Runner
This past Wednesday, two men found a Civil War era explosive device in the water near Oriental, NC. It is about the size of a soft drink bottle and weighs about five pounds. They handed it over to the military bomb squad at Cherry Point and was blown up Friday.
Before turning it over, they hit it twice with a hammer and then took to one of their homes in New Bern. (Smart move.) Nearby homes were evacuated.
The Jan. 27th WITN reports that it was determined to be a 3.1 to 3.5-inch mortar shell from the Civil War-era. It was covered with barnacles and oysters.
Don't Go Messing With Civil War Ordnance. --Old B-Runner
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