Well-preserved ship remnants found in Outer Banks

HATTERAS, N.C.

The powerful winds of a blustery winter have uncovered the rusted metal and weathered wood of a previously unknown shipwreck on an isolated soundside beach of Hatteras Island.

The 20-foot mystery vessel has emerged from the side of an eroded dune, where recently uprooted trees attempt to shield the exposed wreck from curious eyes. Evil-looking spikes - presumably the bolts that once held the vessel together - reach upward from their former tomb of sand and seaweed.

Definitive answers about the vessel's age and origin will have to wait for historians and scientists to analyze the find. In the meantime, there's no shortage of excited speculation.

Could it be a Civil War transport ship that failed to navigate Hatteras Inlet on its way to attack Confederates on Roanoke Island in 1862? Or is this a World War II barge later converted into a ferry for transporting people between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands?

Or is it something else entirely?

"Someone's life may have been saved or someone may have died holding on to that wreck," said author and documentary filmmaker Kevin P. Duffus, who is considered an authority on Outer Banks maritime history. "All of these shipwreck remains deserve a tremendous amount of respect."

But even the term "shipwreck" is a guess at this point.

"It looks like it was parked," said 33-year-old Matthew Farkas, who discovered the vessel last week with friend Scott Dawson, 32. "It's beautiful."

One thing stands out, even to the untrained eye: By shipwreck standards, this vessel is in decent shape.

Hundreds of vessels over hundreds of years are thought to have wrecked on the Outer Banks, famously nicknamed the Graveyard of the Atlantic by historian David Stick in 1952. A museum of the same name in Hatteras Village tells the story of the area's maritime history.

But experts say that many, if not most, of the wrecks are significantly diminished by the time they are found and recovered from the sand. The oldest wreck ever discovered on the Outer Banks was recovered from Corolla last year. Dating to the early to mid-1600s, that wreck today is little more than a single row of wooden beams.

Dawson and Farkas, both island natives, said they were hoping to find something interesting when they ventured out last Thursday. A recent series of strong northerly winds has reshaped many parts of the soundside beach, where access is limited to those with four-wheel drive.

From the car window, "I saw a chunk of iron about the size of my couch," said Dawson, who also is a local historian.

Their discovery is less than 100 feet from the former site of Fort Hatteras, Dawson said. Nothing remains of the Civil War fort, though cannonballs are still occasionally found there.

Basing his theory on only a description of the wreck and its location, Duffus speculated that the vessel may be Civil War-related.

Before the Battle of Roanoke Island, Union Brig. Gen. Ambrose Burnside had to lead his ships through Hatteras Inlet in treacherous conditions. Many of the vessels sank, Duffus said.

Even if it turns out to be a ferry, he said, there could still be a Civil War tie.

"Because the Union Navy was short of suitable warships, they actually had brought down vessels of all kinds," Duffus said. "This very well could maybe be a New York City ferry boat."

Based on some recent photographs of the shipwreck, archaeologist Nathan Henry of the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch said he thinks the vessel is partly constructed of steel, rather than iron.

If that's the case, Henry said, the ship is likely much younger - possibly from the post-World War II era. Perhaps it was used for dredging after the war, Henry said.

"I'm not really positive," he said. "It's just hard to tell without getting down and looking at it really hard."

Erin James, (252) 441-1711, erin.james@pilotonline.com