1 of 2 1819 painting of the SS Savannah by Hunter Wood — Photo: Savannah Morning News via AP 1819 painting of the SS Savannah by Hunter Wood — Photo: Savannah Morning News via AP
Some wreckage that washed up off the coast of upstate New York in the US after a storm last year likely belonged to the SS Savannah, the first partially steampowered ship to cross the Atlantic in 1819 and ran aground two years later. and decay.
Pieces measuring approximately 4 square meters were discovered near Fire Island in October and are now in the care of the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society.
The company will work with National Park Service officials to identify the wreck and put it on public display.
Betsy DeMaria, a museum technician at Fire Island Parks Service, said experts should come to the site to “take a look and help us get a better picture of what we have here.”
2 of 2 Tony Femminella and Betsy DeMaria of the Fire Island Preservation Society on January 27, 2023 — Photo: Steve Pfost/Newsday via AP Tony Femminella and Betsy DeMaria of the Fire Island Preservation Society on January 27, 2023 — Photo: Steve Pfost/ Newsday via AP
It can be difficult to identify the wreck with 100% certainty, but park service officials said among the ships that have sunk near this stretch of coast, there’s a good chance the wreck was from the Savannah.
The remains of the Savannah have been searched for over two centuries, but so far nothing has been found that could definitely belong to the ship.
However, the newly discovered wreck could “very well” be a piece of the historic ship, said Ira Breskin, an associate professor at the Maritime College at the State University of New York in the Bronx.
The Savannah was built in 1818. It was a 30.5 meter long ship.
Wooden stakes holding boards from the wreck found are compatible with a ship of about 30 meters.
Also, officials said, the iron spikes in the wreck point to a ship built circa 1820.
Breskin, author of “The Business of Shipping,” asserts that the use of steam power on the Savannah was so advanced for her time that May 24, 1819, the beginning of her transatlantic voyage, is commemorated as National Maritime Day. ” It’s important because they were basically trying to show that a steam engine could cross the sea,” he said.
Breskin said a nautical archaeologist should be able to help identify the Fire Island wreck, which appears to have originated in Savannah. “It’s plausible, it’s important, and it’s living history when scientists confirm that’s what we think it is,” he said.
The boat was a sailing boat equipped with a 90 hp steam engine. He left Savannah, Georgia with his final destination in Liverpool, England. The voyage was powered primarily by sails steam power was used for 80 hours.
After Liverpool, Savannah sailed to Sweden and Russia. At both of these destinations, crowds cheered the ship as it docked in ports. After that, the boat returned to its homeport in the state of Georgia.
Despite its technological success, the ship was a financial failure, partly because people were afraid to travel on the hybrid ship. The Savannah’s steam engine was removed and sold after the shipowners suffered losses in a fire in 1820.
The Savannah was transporting cargo between Savannah and New York when she ran aground on Fire Island. It later broke up. The crew reached shore safely and the cargo of cotton was salvaged.