Hurrican Ike Mystery Ship

[boatbuddha]

I stumbled across this and thought everyone might find this interesting.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-92103

[TimH]

The plot thickens....

Hurricane Ike uncovered a ship on the public beach near mile marker 6 on Alabama Highway 180/Fort Morgan Road. A local historian from nearby Ft Morgan measured the wreck and found it to be some 136.9 feet long and 25 feet across. The wreck shows signs of being burned to the waterline. This means that at least three ships fit this bill:

The most popular story that local historians state with confidence that it is the wreck of the 136 foot long two masted schooner Monticello. She was a Confederate blockade runner that burned to the keel after being grounded June 26, 1862 when she lost a race with the Union navy gunboat USS Kanawha. The problem is that the wreck found on the beach has many woven steel cables as well as what looks like asbestos tiles - neither of which were used in shipbuilding in the 1860s. The Monticello was also a pure sailing ship, whereas the wreck appears to be steam powered and shows no characteristic signs of having been a mast-ed vessel. This would rule out the Monticello as a candidate.

Blockade runner naysayers state that the ship is most likely the 134 foot schooner Rachel lost in 1933 in Mobile Bay. She was a beautiful vessel with three masts, a diesel engine and a shallow draught. Popular legend has it that she was sunk not long after being built for the insurance money, burned off of Gulf Shores. The wreck found on the beach in Alabama has what looks to be connection rods for an expansion steam engine as well as a long central condenser pipe for the same type of power plant. Also the true waterline length of the Rachel was only 93 feet, her schooner bow giving her the longer overall length quoted above. This would seem to rule out the Rachel as a candidate.

The last of the at least three mentioned contenders for the title of "Name that Ship" is the rum runner Aurora. Found at sea with some 1400 cases of premium liquor at the tail end of prohibition. She was seized by the Coast Guard and ordered towed to Mobile with her crew and part of the cargo put aboard the cutter. The rum runner became separated and caught fire, sinking near fort Morgan on March 12, 1933. The Aurora was a coaster registered in British Honduras (now Belize) but little other information is available on her. The New York Times of the day lists that she only had eight crewmembers aboard, making the ship unlikely to be a labor-intensive steam vessel.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Let me assure you that plenty of small steam vessels have operated with crews of eight or fewer.

[TimH]

I missed that. Apparently sailing vessels require smaller crews :)