A pirate ship that exploded in 1748 may have finally been found
A team of researchers on the ground and students rediscovered the probable remains of a Spanish pirate ship lost long off the Côte de la Caroline du Nord. Found not far from the remains of three other historical shipwrecks, the old wood of centuries seems to be linked to FortunaA corsair that exploded after a bad attack on the colonial city of Brunswick in the middle of the 18th century. But experts warn that additional recovery efforts must occur quickly before it remains to be recovered.
The first days of September 1748 were difficult for Brunswick, in North Carolina. For years, the Spanish corsairs made a descent into British ships from top to bottom of the eastern coast in the middle of the war of King George. But on September 3, the pirates aboard the Fortuna Finally managed to attack and occupy Brunswick. At the time, Brunswick was the most frequented port in North Carolina and housed a major community which included the governor of the province. The foray was however uncovered. The local militia led a counterattack against the Spanish the next day, forcing them to return to their ship where they then returned Cannonfire. But at one point of all chaos, the historic accounts indicate a fire of fiery powder inside the Spanish ship, resulting in an explosion that killed FortunaThe captain, officers and most of his crew.
Aside from the discovery of a 18th century cannon in 1985, nothing else has surfaced that can be bound with confidence Fortuna in 277 years. The excursion on the field of this summer on the historic site of the state of Brunswick Town / Fort Anderson (BTFA) by the professors and students of the University of Caroline de l’Est (ECU) seems to have finally changed this. The potentially major discovery occurred completely by accident, explains Cory Van Hees, a graduate student in maritime studies.
“My diving boyfriend, Evan Olinger, and I take widen width measures to help delimit the site,” he said in the ECU’s announcement. “Visibility is still quite low in the Cape Fear river. Evan tried to find the northern extent of the quay but had become disoriented because of the conditions.”
Disorientation continued even after changing role. There was even a time when Van Hees got lost, but all the persistent frustrations dissipated after noticing several curved and ultra-unusual wooden frames and ships of ships coming out of the clay mud.
“I did not understand what I was looking at at that time, but I knew that I had to relay the wooden structure at the faculty,” said Van Hees. “Later in the day, [team leader] Jason Raupp was able to confirm that it was a wreckage, which can be Fortuna. “”
A subsequent analysis of wood samples showed that materials from Monterey or Mexican cypress (H. Macrocarpa Or H. Lusitanica). Historically, the ranges of the two trees are respectively limited to Southern California and Central America, which implies that the naval manufacturers used in wood only available for the Spanish Colonies of the Caribbean in the 18th century. Combined with the discovery of Cannon nearby 40 years ago, the evidence strongly indicates the wreckage of Fortuna.
The field work of the season has also produced three other wreck sites. We seem to have been used for the restoration of land by the water given its positioning next to the site of a colonial quay, while another can be a colonial flat boat traditionally used to transport people and materials between the port and local plantations. The fourth, however, is barely exposed above the mud and remains a mystery.
While the team has managed to make an emergency recovery for more than 40 shipwrecks of the four sites, the time is not on the side of the Conservatives. The BTFA coast has endured in -depth erosion in recent years due not only to the energy of the waves expected, but also dredging projects and storms stronger than the average. For the moment, experts intend to analyze more the Timbers of the sinking of Greenville at the northern office of the Revenge Bureau Conservation of the Bureau of the North Carolina of the Archeology of Anne archeology at the ECU. Based on historical evidence and geography, there is a good chance that Van Hees and his diving boyfriend closed the case on an old pirate mystery of a century.
“It was a bit overwhelming and a little emotion, once he settled,” said Van Hees.
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