Colonial-era shipwreck moved to Hatteras museum

COROLLA, N.C.

After surviving perhaps 400 years in the sand and surf off the North Carolina coast, the 12-ton remains of a shipwreck are making their final port-of-call.

What could be the oldest wreck ever found on the North Carolina coast was loaded onto the back of a truck Monday for a 90-mile trip to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras.

Salvaged from the pounding surf in April, the wreck has rested under the shade of an oak tree near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse for the past three months.

But the massive beams have shrunk a little and cracked in the hot, dry weather. Experts plan to place the wreck on a concrete slab next to the museum and soak the 17-by- 37-foot remains in hopes of arresting the deterioration.

One possible preservative is a mixture of water and Elmer's wood glue, said David Moore, curator of nautical archaeology for the North Carolina Maritime Museum.

Moore was in Corolla on Monday observing the move.

Some local beachcombers had been aware of the wreck over the years, but it did not draw much attention until last December when Corolla property owner George Browne found the wreck completely exposed on the beach as if ready for launch.

Based on Browne's photos and description, state shipwreck experts came for a closer look and realized the wreck had not been recorded and was very old.

Since then, the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology, East Carolina University and now the North Carolina Maritime Museum have had roles in trying to decipher the wreck's age and origin.

Wooden pegs fastened beams to planks, a sign that dates the wreck to about the early to mid-1600s. Some of the beams turn upward naturally, made from trees found with just the right bend, Moore said. Faint rust discoloration on a few beams indicates iron fasteners secured the bottom beams to the keel, he said.

While the wreck was still mostly buried, locals found French coins dating from as early as 1603 on the wood. Others have found parts of what is assumed to be the same wreck and turned them over to Joseph Schwarzer, director of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.

So far, theories have the ship being made in the early to mid-1600s. It could have been built in Britain or France, given the coins found on the wreckage.

Centuries ago, ships were measured for taxes in how many barrels of wine, or "tuns," it would hold, Moore said.

This ship was large, possibly 500 tons and 100 feet long, Moore said. In comparison, Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was 300 tons.

Likely a merchant ship, its owners would have missed it and its cargo and might have recorded its loss. Solving the mystery could mean searching shipping archives in Richmond, Raleigh, London and Paris, Moore said.

Monday morning, crews from the National Park Service and Barnhill Construction connected chains to a wooden sled under the wreck.

Using a front-end loader, the remains were pulled from the small lot to the road. About two hours later, the wreck was raised while a truck backed a long trailer beneath it for its final trip down the highway to Hatteras.

The trek southward was scheduled to begin about 10 p.m. Monday night, with escorts from the North Carolina Highway Patrol and local law enforcement, and was to end in Hatteras about 3 a.m.

Once the wreck is settled on the concrete pad near the museum, plans are to construct a building around it.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com