After erosion from recent storms, about a dozen of the HMS Somerset III’s timbers were found poking through the wet sand at low tide in the national seashore in Provincetown.
Posted on 04/12/2010 3:08:19 PM PDT by Palter
Officials order 3-D rendering of sunken boat
The wreck of the British warship HMS Somerset III, which was guarding Boston Harbor the night Paul Revere slipped by on his legendary journey to Lexington in 1775, has resurfaced in the shifting sands off Cape Cod.
Federal park officials, saying they may have only a limited window of opportunity, are seizing the moment and having the wreck “digitally preserved’’ using three-dimensional imaging technology.
“We know the wreck is going to disappear again under the sand, and it may not resurface again in our lifetimes,’’ said William P. Burke, the historian at the Cape Cod National Seashore, noting that the last time any part of the Somerset had been sighted was 37 years ago.
“Somewhere down the road, if someone’s researching the Somerset, or the effects of ocean currents on shipwrecks, or anything like that, they will have this record,’’ he said. “We’re in the forever business. We’re looking at tomorrow, but we’re also looking ahead indefinitely.’’
The Somerset fought in the American Revolution and had a crew of more than 400. In 1775, Paul Revere slipped past the ship before beginning his ride to Lexington to warn the colonials that the British were on the move. In his poem “Paul Revere’s Ride,’’ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called it “a phantom ship, with each mast and spar/Across the moon like a prison bar.’’ The ship sank on Nov. 2, 1778, off the Cape.
After erosion from recent storms, about a dozen of the HMS Somerset III’s timbers were found poking through the wet sand at low tide in the national seashore in Provincetown.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
There might be some treasure down there.
There could be. The British might have salvaged as much as possible but who knows what they might have missed.
How totally self-centered and GREEDY these green-heads are! They'll be a bad joke in 20 years, I bet.
“Mr. Revere may have to ride again.”
The Obamas are coming, the Obamas are coming..
You’re right on!
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Thanks KoRn. |
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The "double-deckers" (for two gun decks) were a perfect compromise between firepower and maneuverability. The Third Rates became the work horses of the Royal Navy in their era, the backbone of the fleet that defeated Napoleon.
With 64 mounted guns
and a crew of 400, the Somerset brought British power to
the North Atlantic and Mediterranean in the 18th century.
they managed to salvage a 16th century Spanish Ship from Matagorda bay by creating a dry chamber around it. couldn’t be harder when its up at the shore rather than 10 feet deep.
It's a sign from the gods about the demonstrations occurring tomorrow.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-rate
As a Third Rate Ship of the line, it was one of the workhorses of the fleet. The first and second rates were larger, but were fewer and, with a few exceptions like the H.M.S. Victory, were not very good as sailors.
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