Was the Wreck of Robert Small's Planter Found at Cape Romain?-- Part 2

Bruce Terrell, a maritime archaeologist and historian,  said scientists used old maps and newspaper accounts to identify the general area where the Planter was thought to have been wrecked by a storm in 1876, eleven years after the war ended.

Using a magnetometer, an instrument that can detect metal beneath the ground, they found a number of objects seeming to correspond to the wreck.  The report said more studies  will be needed before the wreck is positively identified.

The Planter, built in 1860, wrecked when the storm came up as it was trying to tow a grounded schooner  to sea at Cape Romain.  In the following days, many items on board were salvaged.

"We're not sure how much was left of the Planter because contemporary accounts indicate it was pretty well stripped down -- all the way to cushions and blankets and doors," Terrell said.  "It looks like the engines and paddlewheels were taken out."

The items buried in the sand could be boilers  because they would have corroded by the salt water and not much good after the Planter sank, Terrell added.

--Old B-Runner

North Carolina's Underwater Archaeology Unit-- Part 3" Magnetometers and Sidescan Sonar

Underwater archaeologists use a variety of means to locate and document shipwrecks and other submerged sites.  Occasionally, sites can be visually observed in shallow water (The blockade-runner Beauregard, off Carolina Beach can be seen at low tide) and are reported by fishermen, boaters or recreational scuba divers.

To locate shipwrecks in deeper water, archaeologists rely on remote sensing equipment such as magnetometers and sidescan sonar (as used in locating the Agnes E. fry)  The remote sensing equipment is operated from a research vessel that systematically searches the survey area.

Ideally, an electronic positioning system is used to maintain and record the vessel's position during the survey.

--Old B-Runner