What might prove to be the oldest ship ever recovered from the Graveyard of the Atlantic is expected to be moved next week to property behind the Currituck Beach Lighthouse on property owned by the Outer Banks Conservationists and used by Whalehead Club and Currituck County as the site of a maritime shed complete with shad boats.
"We are tentatively planning to try to move the wreck next week," said Nathan Henry, conservator at Office of State Archaeology Underwater Archaeology Branch located in Kure Beach.
Henry met on Monday with Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) staff at the site of the remains of the wooden ship on the beach near Corolla. "It's taking a pounding and heading north again."
Ray Midgett, who reported the beaching of the ship to the State, said that the ever-diminishing remains of the vessel have traveled up and down the beach over a range of more than two miles since he first spotted it several years ago.
WRC crane operators and engineers who visited the site think that they can build a sled and drag the ship off the beach. "That's the most gentle way of doing it," said Henry. "If we can minimize the lifting so that it doesn't break apart, that would be the best way.
"This could be the oldest ship found in North Carolina," said Henry. "The associated artifacts suggest the 17th or 18th century - probably late 17th."
State archaeologists have a few possibilities in mind as to the identity of the vessel.
"A number of small pins have been found around it," said Henry. "They date to 17th and 18th century so that gives a tight period to look at. The closer we get [to the date of construction], the easier it will be to identify. We've got a couple of candidates that it could possibly be."
Thus far, the oldest ship found in the state is Queen Anne's Revenge, which is from 1718.
"This ship in Corolla is probably older than that," said Henry. "The wooden pegged ship is typical of English construction in that time period which had the keel attached. It probably was built of live oak - maybe white oak. It might have been built here in the colonies since we were English then."
The ship may have had a long dry burial on the beach, said Richard Lawrence, Richard Lawrence,
deputy State archaeologist in the Underwater Archaeology Branch.
"These vessels are not always washed ashore - sometimes they are hidden under the dunes - some times for years or even decades. When we first looked at it in January to was pretty much covered, and it might be that erosion uncovered it. And it keeps wanting to float."
Usually ships that surface on the beach are documented by archaeologists and then left but, in this case, they want to take a closer look at this particular find that Lawrence estimates weighs between 10 and 15 tons in its water-logged condition.
The decision was made to move what remains of the vessel so that more assesment may be done to try to better determine the time period. "There was concretion found that contained a coin from the 17th century," said Lawrence, explaining the increased curiosity.
The vessel is State property and is an important cultural resource, said Lawrence.
Source: Outer Banks Sentinel
