A team of marine archaeologists and postgraduate students from the University of Carolina del Este could have located fragments of the La Fortuna shipa Spanish private ship that participated in attacks against British ships in the 18th century and that exploded after being repelled by colonial forces.
The finding occurred during a maritime studies campaign in Brunswick Town, an old British colonial city located 12 miles south of Wilmington. There they identified remains of four, Including a set of 40 pieces of wood that could belong to fortune.
The discovery was casual. Two students diving in the Cape Fear River when turbidity reduced visibility. “I found several wooden frames that barely stood out from clay mud, with evidence of barely visible on the surface,” Cory van Hees said. “I did not understand what I saw at that time, but I knew I had to inform the faculty about the wood structure. ”
The tests indicate that the wood is from Ciprés de Monterrey or Mexican cypress, species present in southern California and Central America, What suggests. The place of the finding is close to where, in 1985, a cannon was recovered that could also come from the ship.
In September 1748, Fortune participated in an assault on British Brunswick port. LA crew landed to attack by land, but was repelled by a local militia. In the withdrawal to the ship, a polvorín would have exploded, causing the death of the captain, officers and much of the crew. Part of the recovered booty went to the construction of the churches of San Felipe in Brunswick and San Jaime in Wilmington.
In addition to the fortune, the team documented three other deposits: a possible coastal filling next to a colonial dock, a barge used for transport in the time and a fourth -fought still without identifying. “We are extremely excited about these important sites, Since each one will help us better understand BTFA’s role as one of the first colonial port cities in the state, ”said archaeologist and historian Jason Raupp.
