The York River Yields Another Piece of History
Another of ship of the sunken fleet that supported Cornwallis’s troops at Yorktown has been found in the York River, at a depth of 23 feet.
A little bit of the history: this was Cornwallis’s final battle against the Colonial Army. His surrender at Yorktown is shown in painting included in the article. The toll on the 25,000 troops was horrendous, but in the end, he gave up.
From the article: French batteries firing heated shot hit the Charon, setting it ablaze. The blow wasn’t as bad as it sounds, since most of the Charon’s 44 guns had already been moved ashore to support the ground battle. But when the fire burned through the ship’s anchor rope, it drifted into two large transport vessels, compounding the loss. All three burned to their waterlines.
The Charon, one of the first wrecks ever located in the York, was excavated in the 1930s. The site of the other burned ship has also been long known.
This wreck is close enough to those two to be the third, the Shipwright. Transport vessels were known to carry a few cannon for self-defense. – Article.
There are possibly 40 wrecks in the waters of the Yorktown River that were sunk during Conrnwallis’s last fight and surrender.
The Shipwright was carrying cannon for self defense, which the dive crew hopes to bring to the surface. They’ve located one cannon and will be working to bring it to the surface – unless, of course, Barry makes a nuisance of itself by making a right turn at St. Louis.
Category: Historical
That picture is of an squared rigged schooner. I doubt it can carry 44 guns in its broadsides.
That would mean 20 guns per broadside plus 2 fore chasers and 2 aft chasers?
Doubtful for any schooner, regardless of the type of guns.
Did you read the article at Navy Times? The wreck is believed to possibly be the Shipwright, not the Charon with the 44 guns.
I’m not sure what class the Shipwright was, but it was smaller than the Charon, Slow Joe, and carried only enough cannon for self-defense.
Charon was much larger.
The gun ratings of ships of that era do not necessarily reflect the actual number of guns mounted.
The Constitution, and her sister ships, had a revolutionary hull design that greatly reduced flex due to deck weight. (Aka “Hogging”). This allowed them to be significantly up-gunned compared to conventional-Hull ships. The British were somewhat annoyed at the appearance of far more guns than the official rating. Not exactly Cricket, you know. Those “super frigates”, were so far ahead of the typical British ship that they were worth at least double, or even triple, a conventional ship.
Live Oak hull planks were another rather nasty surprise, essentially being armor in effect. Shot had a distressing tendency to bounce off. (Thus, “Old Ironsides”) When Live Oak was breached, it didn’t splinter much, reducing casualties. British vessels, from the largely deforested home country, often had used large amounts of Pine. This is about the worst possible thing to be behind under cannon fire, as it shatters into jagged pointy things, which shred flesh.
They type of guns mounted also varied. Some ships were all “long guns” for range and ease of supply. Others had about half as “carronades”, quick firing large bore short range heavies for close in work. This arrangement was typical for a Ship of the Line, (versus the faster and far more maneuverable Frigates).
Thanks for that info, re: new hull design.
Building a plank-on-bulkhead model of Old Ironsides in on my bucket list to do before I go to my Maker. So, anything I learn about her is appreciated.
The key feature is how the ribs attach to the keel. Instead of 90 degree perpendicular, which seems logical, they swoop towards the center. Net effect is some downward force from load translates into fore/aft, which is opposed by its opposite load from the other side of center.
The hull is this less likely to flex over length as the ship rides waves.
It also allowed for long thin uniforms that were faster, for less weight. That weight could be omitted for speed, or used elsewhere for strength or guns or supplies.
She and her sisters were the battlecruiser of the era. A frigate’s speed and maneuverability with a punch nearly that of a ship of the line.
Constitution is magnificent.
Long thin -hull-forms-
Auto-corrupt, aye.
Even 238 yo crusty Artillery pieces cause excitement. You paying attention Pappy?
Good find.
So…
(puts on sunglasses)
is this Naval Gazing?