Post by BasicPatrick on Dec 17, 2010 13:13:39 GMT -4
By Patrick Cassidy
pcassidy@capecodonline.com
December 17, 2010 2:00 AMCHATHAM — King Neptune has served up a shipwreck off North Beach Island.
Theodore Keon, Chatham's coastal resources director, is working with local and state officials to gather information about the wreck, which is just offshore and not far from a small shed the town has been using for storage.
"It's only in 8 or 10 feet of water at low tide," Keon said.
From an airplane overhead Thursday afternoon, the ship's outline was difficult to discern beneath the waves and shifting sands. Half of the ship showed up as a dark line while the other side appeared to be buried beneath the sand.
North Beach Island, once connected to the southern end of Nauset Beach, is located east of the Chatham Fish Pier.
Town officials saw the wreck in an aerial photograph of the area taken on Nov. 29. Based on the size of the nearby shed, Keon estimated the size of the vessel to be about 50 feet long.
After zooming in on the photo, officials noticed the "relatively intact" ship and hull, which appear to be wooden.
"It looked like a two-masted sloop," Keon said.
Erosion along the island likely exposed the wreckage, Keon said.
Video of shipwreck off North Beach Island
"The vessel would have been under the beach a couple years ago," he said.
The town's harbor master recently took a boat out to try and see the wreck but sun glare on the water prevented him from seeing it, Keon said.
There are no records maintained by the state that immediately indicate a known shipwreck in the exact location where the wreck was spotted, said Victor Mastone, director of the Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources.
The ship looks like it's on its side from the photographic evidence available so far, Mastone said.
If the weather permits and the wreck stays exposed, state and local officials may get a closer look at the start of next year using a diver or an underwater camera, Mastone said.
The ship's identity is a toss-up, said historian William Quinn of Orleans.
The fishing vessel Andover was wrecked in December 1938 and the Nova Scotia freighter Lutzen sank about 100 yards south of the Andover in February 1939, he said.
"If it's a steel hull it's the Lutzen, if it's a wood hull it's the Andover," Quinn said.
It is not uncommon for shipwrecks to become exposed on Cape beaches because of erosion.
The route around Monomoy Island off Chatham was once particularly notorious for its role in dooming passing ships.
In August, divers discovered the shipwreck of the Dorothy Palmer, one of the so-called "Unlucky Fleet," off Monomoy Island. The 14 ships were built by W.F. Palmer, a naval architect as well as businessman, and named after his children. Each ship succumbed to collisions, flames or storms over a 14-year period.
Last month, a shipwreck Quinn believes is a three-masted schooner that wrecked on the outer bars in 1927 became exposed on Nauset Beach.
Five men perished within site of shore when the Montclair went down just off Nauset Beach, according to Quinn's book, "Shipwrecks Around Cape Cod."
Staff writers Eric Williams and Jason Kolnos contributed to this report.
Copyright © Cape Cod Media Group, a division of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
pcassidy@capecodonline.com
December 17, 2010 2:00 AMCHATHAM — King Neptune has served up a shipwreck off North Beach Island.
Theodore Keon, Chatham's coastal resources director, is working with local and state officials to gather information about the wreck, which is just offshore and not far from a small shed the town has been using for storage.
"It's only in 8 or 10 feet of water at low tide," Keon said.
From an airplane overhead Thursday afternoon, the ship's outline was difficult to discern beneath the waves and shifting sands. Half of the ship showed up as a dark line while the other side appeared to be buried beneath the sand.
North Beach Island, once connected to the southern end of Nauset Beach, is located east of the Chatham Fish Pier.
Town officials saw the wreck in an aerial photograph of the area taken on Nov. 29. Based on the size of the nearby shed, Keon estimated the size of the vessel to be about 50 feet long.
After zooming in on the photo, officials noticed the "relatively intact" ship and hull, which appear to be wooden.
"It looked like a two-masted sloop," Keon said.
Erosion along the island likely exposed the wreckage, Keon said.
Video of shipwreck off North Beach Island
"The vessel would have been under the beach a couple years ago," he said.
The town's harbor master recently took a boat out to try and see the wreck but sun glare on the water prevented him from seeing it, Keon said.
There are no records maintained by the state that immediately indicate a known shipwreck in the exact location where the wreck was spotted, said Victor Mastone, director of the Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources.
The ship looks like it's on its side from the photographic evidence available so far, Mastone said.
If the weather permits and the wreck stays exposed, state and local officials may get a closer look at the start of next year using a diver or an underwater camera, Mastone said.
The ship's identity is a toss-up, said historian William Quinn of Orleans.
The fishing vessel Andover was wrecked in December 1938 and the Nova Scotia freighter Lutzen sank about 100 yards south of the Andover in February 1939, he said.
"If it's a steel hull it's the Lutzen, if it's a wood hull it's the Andover," Quinn said.
It is not uncommon for shipwrecks to become exposed on Cape beaches because of erosion.
The route around Monomoy Island off Chatham was once particularly notorious for its role in dooming passing ships.
In August, divers discovered the shipwreck of the Dorothy Palmer, one of the so-called "Unlucky Fleet," off Monomoy Island. The 14 ships were built by W.F. Palmer, a naval architect as well as businessman, and named after his children. Each ship succumbed to collisions, flames or storms over a 14-year period.
Last month, a shipwreck Quinn believes is a three-masted schooner that wrecked on the outer bars in 1927 became exposed on Nauset Beach.
Five men perished within site of shore when the Montclair went down just off Nauset Beach, according to Quinn's book, "Shipwrecks Around Cape Cod."
Staff writers Eric Williams and Jason Kolnos contributed to this report.
Copyright © Cape Cod Media Group, a division of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.