Robotic sub discovers centuries-old shipwreck in US

A robotic submarine has helped discover a previously unknown shipwreck, possibly dating to the American Revolution, more than a mile deep off the North Carolina coast of US.
Marine scientists from Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of Oregon found the wreck on July 12 during a research expedition aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) research ship Atlantis.
They spotted the wreck while using WHOI's robotic autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry and the manned submersible Alvin.
Among the artifacts discovered amid the shipwreck's broken remains are an iron chain, a pile of wooden ship timbers, red bricks (possibly from the ship cook's hearth), glass bottles, an unglazed pottery jug, a metal compass, and another navigational instrument.

The wreck appears to date back to the late 18th or early 19th century, a time when a young US was expanding its trade with the rest of the world by sea.
"This is an exciting find, and a vivid reminder that even with major advances in our ability to access and explore the ocean, the deep sea holds its secrets close," said expedition leader Cindy Van Dover, director of the Duke University Marine Laboratory.

"I have led four previous expeditions to this site, each aided by submersible research technology to explore the sea floor - including a 2012 expedition where we used Sentry to saturate adjacent areas with sonar and photo images," Van Dover said.

"It's ironic to think we were exploring within 100 meters of the wreck site without an inkling it was there," Van Dover said.
"This discovery underscores that new technologies we're developing to explore the deep-sea floor yield not only vital information about the oceans, but also about our history," said David Eggleston, director of the Centre for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST).
After discovering the shipwreck, Van Dover and Eggleston alerted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Marine Heritage Programme of their find. The NOAA programme will now attempt to date and identify the lost ship.
Bruce Terrell, chief archaeologist at the Marine Heritage Programme, said that it should be possible to determine a date and country of origin for the wrecked ship by examining the ceramics, bottles and other artifacts.

"Lying more than a mile down in near-freezing temperatures, the site is undisturbed and well preserved," Terrell said.
James Delgado, director of the Marine Heritage Programme, noted that the wreck rests along the path of the Gulf Stream, which mariners have used for centuries as a maritime highway to North American ports, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and South America.