As See on CNN
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has just returned from a mission off the Gulf Coast of Mexico in search of a shipwreck that occurred nearly 200 years ago. The wreck which occurred about 200 miles off the coast was located by a sonar detector by Shell Oil when an unknown blip came off from the bottom of the sea. The ship which was full of glass bottles, ceramic plates and boxes of muskets was made with copper plating over wood. While the wood has disintegrated, the copper shell is still in perfect condition other than the blueish greens that now appear.
“Artifacts in and around the wreck and the hull’s copper sheathing may date the vessel to the early to mid-19th century,” Jack Irion, a maritime archaeologist with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), said in a statement.
The research team also explored four shipwrecks on the ocean bottom. One, explored on April 19, was first discovered in the 1980s, but has only been investigated by deep-sea archaeologists twice. This wooden-hulled ship dates between the mid-19th and early-20th centuries, though its story is currently a mystery. An exploration of another wreck, this one near the mouth of the Mississippi River, revealed that what was once thought to be a ship cannon was actually a bilge pump.
But the most scientifically interesting ship explored was the copper-plated wreck found 200 miles off the coast, according to Frank Cantelas, a NOAA maritime archaeologist. The ship was full of interesting artifacts, a remotely operated vehicle exploration revealed.
“Some of the more datable objects include what appears to be a type of ceramic plate that was popular between 1800 and 1830, and a wide variety of glass bottles,” said BOEM’s Irion. “A rare ship’s stove on the site is one of only a handful of surviving examples in the world and the second one found on a shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“Artifacts in and around the wreck and the hull’s copper sheathing may date the vessel to the early to mid-19th century,” Jack Irion, a maritime archaeologist with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), said in a statement.
But the most scientifically interesting ship explored was the copper-plated wreck found 200 miles off the coast, according to Frank Cantelas, a NOAA maritime archaeologist. The ship was full of interesting artifacts, a remotely operated vehicle exploration revealed.
After 200 years under sea and the copper remains in good condition thrills us as hearing the news verifies something we have known all along. The fact that a natural metal sitting in hard conditions such as sea water for almost 200 years proves that copper is an excellent material for sustainable spas and can hold up almost any type of weather elements.
