Cannon Pulled From Mystery Shipwreck

(this story is from June 28, 2011)
News 4 Jax: Cannon Pulled From Mystery Shipwreck
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Artifacts from a mystery shipwreck about 200 years old pulled from underwater off the coast of St. Augustine are revealing details about the nation's past.

Archaeologists reeling in the artifacts said they possibly date back to the American Revolution. Now, they're working to solve the puzzle.

"It's just an exciting shipwreck. I mean, this is an exciting day," said Chuck Meide, director of the Lighthouse Archeological Maritime Program.

For Meide, a cannon raised from the second-oldest shipwreck was quite the catch. The artifact came from the vessel buried about 30 feet below the surface.

"It's a totally different world when you go from that silent dark world underwater, and you're just vaguely seeing these ghost-like outlines of these features, then all of a sudden we see it really clearly for the very first time," Meide said.

To lift the cannon, which weighs nearly 2,000 pounds, off the seafloor and out of the ocean, the team utilized a 36-foot former shrimp boat to pull the weight.

"It's very different than treasure hunting," said Kathy Fleming, executive director of the First Light Maritime Society. "We're after information, and it's also fun to look at cannons and to imagine life."

Fleming believes the story behind the ship the group found in 2009 can help guide historians and entertain tourists traveling to the nation's oldest port region.

"You really get a chance to look at how people lived, and I think people enjoy that," Fleming said.

While it's believed the ship may be British, American or Spanish, the true origin of objects found on board, including a second cannon, pewter spoons and copper cookware, remain a mystery, making it anyone's guess.

"I have a feeling that maybe this is a British loyalist vessel, so kind of a refugee vessel that was taking British loyalists during the American Revolution from other colonies down here to Florida, which was still a loyal British colony," Meide said.

Archaeologists hope the cannon with distinguishing markings will be the key to the secrets of the ship.

Although two of the cannons are back on land, there are still four more underwater, which means the discovery process is not over yet.