In the marshes of Brunswick County, North Carolina, archaeologists hit the jackpot.
Over just two months, researchers from East Carolina University unearthed the remains of four long-forgotten vessels along the shoreline of the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, also known as BTFA, a place rich in colonial history.
The crown jewel of the find might be La Fortuna, a Spanish ship that was reportedly blown to pieces during a local uprising in 1748, back when King George’s War made peaceful coastal life a lot more dangerous.
Samples from one of the wrecks revealed Monterey or Mexican cypress, a wood native to either Southern California or Central America, hinting at Spanish colonial origins. Conveniently, La Fortuna is the only documented Spanish shipwreck in the area.
Even more conveniently, the site of the wreck is just a cannonball’s firing away from where an 18th-century cannon (maybe La Fortuna’s) was pulled from the riverbed back in the ’80s.
Four Shipwrecks Just Turned Up Off North Carolina, Including a Spanish One From 1748
Graduate student Cory van Hees and his dive partner were out measuring colonial wharf timbers when they saw something weird poking out of the mud—planks and frames, too symmetrical to be common driftwood.
They called in Dr. Jason Raupp, assistant professor in the Department of History and maritime studies, who confirmed it was a shipwreck, and possibly the La Fortuna’s.
The other three racks are a little less glamorous, but still chock-full of historical value. One sat next to a colonial wharf, another might’ve been a flatboat hauling goods before the Revolution, and the last one…well, they have no idea what’s going on with the last one.
Beyond the boats, the team also uncovered colonial waterfront infrastructure, including wharves and docks, which proves that BTFA was once a busy 18th-century port.
The only downside of suddenly discovering centuries-old, historically significant ships is that now nature is trying to destroy them. The sudden exposure of these sites leaves them vulnerable to erosion from tides and storms.
The team documented as much as they could as quickly as they could before the sites were compromised. They hauled over 40 timbers from the suspected La Fortuna back to the lab for preservation,
It’s hard to keep history hidden for long.
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