A 19th century wreck was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico

A Shell expedition has ended with an unexpected result. While searching for oil, the expedition accidentally came across an almost 200-year-old wreck! The relevant authorities were immediately notified and went on a research mission. What makes the situation even more interesting is that this is one of the best preserved vessels found in the region.

-- Advertisement --

The origin of the wreck and the date of its sinking are not known. It could just as well be a military, commercial or… pirate vessel. Due to the dense traffic in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it will not be possible to determine such details without a thorough exploration of the find. From the preliminary findings of the expedition, which lasted 56 days, it is only known that the most probable cause of the sinking of the ship was a strong storm.

Thanks to photographs and recordings made using ROV robots, interesting materials were obtained, showing the excellent state of preservation of the finds and many interesting artefacts, such as anchors, cannons, muskets, navigational instruments, but also objects of everyday use in the form of glass bottles, plates and cutlery.

The find is of great historical value, because at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, no wooden wreck has a chance to survive for too long. Organisms living in those waters very quickly consume wooden elements of the structure, causing whole vessels to “disappear”. In this case, the copper plating makes the shape of the sunken ship still perfect.

The exact location of the vessel has not been announced for fear that the find would be plundered by treasure hunters. Scientists hope that the found wreck will provide a lot of valuable information and will significantly enrich the knowledge of boatbuilding and maritime engineering of that time.

noaanews.noaa.gov