NOAA news release;
http://members3.boardhost.com/Modiver/msg/1377632619.htmlThe hulking wreck has been a regular destination for divers but a riddle to
historians: What ship came to rest in 85 feet of water 10 miles off New Jersey’s
coastline?
Now, federal officials have an answer.
The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday that it has confirmed
that the ship is the Robert J. Walker, an iron-hulled steamer doing mapping work
for the U.S. Coast Survey that sank 153 years ago after a violent collision with
a 250-ton schooner.
Twenty sailors aboard the Walker died, making it the
worst accident in the history of the U.S. Coast Survey or its successor, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The wreck was
discovered by fishermen in the 1970s but its identity was a mystery until June
when a NOAA ship conducting surveys for navigation safety in the aftermath of
Superstorm Sandy made a positive identification. Retired NOAA Capt. Albert
Theberge and Joyce Steinmetz, a Ph.D. candidate in maritime archaeology at East
Carolina University, provided impetus for the project.
"It’s estimated
there are 3 million shipwrecks in the waters of the world," said James Delgado,
director of maritime heritage for NOAA’s office of national marine sanctuaries.
"You can’t go out and look for every one, but sometimes the situation arises
when you have an opportunity to do that. This was a perfect convergence of
opportunity."
Delgado said the Walker could be one of the last remaining
shipwrecks to be identified off the New Jersey coast. According to NOAA, the
ship’s unique engines and rectangular portholes were key identifying features.
It was still pointed toward Absecon lighthouse, where it likely was trying to
head before it sank.
Built in 1847, the Walker did survey work charting
the waters of the southern United States and contributed to the opening up of
many ports on the Gulf Coast to increased commerce, according to NOAA. Its work
also helped chart harbors that would become strategically important for the
Union Navy in the looming Civil War.
On the night of June 21, 1860, the
Walker was heading north to New York when it collided with the schooner Fanny,
headed from Philadelphia to Boston. In a newspaper interview, the ship’s
quartermaster described the scene as the steamer sank within about 30 minutes.
"The men stayed by the steamer until she was sinking, and then, without
confusion, such of them as could took to the boats," Charles Clifford told the
New York Herald. "Many of the crew went down with the steamer, however, clinging
to the spars and portions of the wreck. ... The captain stayed on board until
the steamer went down, and just before she disappeared from sight jumped into
the water, and was picked up by one of the boats."
Perhaps due to the
approaching Civil War, the U.S. Coast Survey didn’t conduct an inquiry into the
cause of the collision or assign responsibility, NOAA notes.
Delgado
said the wreck won’t be raised, and said he hopes it can be used as a tool for
educating the public on shipwrecks and creating interest in diving.