Blackbeard's ship and fame

A Maryland state laboratory has been reinvented as a media hotspot after remains of an ancient ship found near the World Trade Center last month were transferred there yesterday.

The 32-foot section of an unidentified wooden sailing vessel, which is believed to be more than 200 years old, was moved by truck from New York City to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory in St. Leonard, located near the Chesapeake Bay. The lab is part of the Maryland Department of Planning and is housed at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum.

Patricia Samford, director of the MAC Lab, as the facility is called, said the ship section arrived on two trucks "in containers that look like construction dumpsters." 

"Right now we are stabilizing it, cleaning the mud off the timbers and keeping the wood wet," she said. If the wood were allowed to dry, the timbers would "shrink, warp and fall apart."

The remains found in Manhattan join fragments of a ship that dates to the 16th century that blew up last year on Assateague Island during hurricane season and the remains of Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. The remains of Blackbeard's ship were found off the coast of North Carolina a few months ago by scientists armed with historical information about where the infamous pirate was captured and killed and sonar equipment, Samford said.

"The remains of Blackbeard's ship date to the early 1700s," she said. "Blackbeard was killed in 1718. He actually owned a home and property in Bath, North Carolina."

After the Manhattan find is cleaned and some preliminary information is recorded, the timbers will be submerged in tanks of water, Samford said. The company that has contracted with the Maryland lab, AKRF of New York City, the environmental, engineering and planning consulting firm that recovered the remains, will study and research the ship, she said. At this point, scientists are unsure how old the ship is or where it originated. Samford did not know how long the research will take.

Scientists "will do tests to determine the species of wood used to make the ship," Samford said. "Right now we don't know the name of the vessel or a date when it was constructed. Having scientists come in to determine the kind of wood will help us determine where the ship was made, the nationality of the ship. Then, they will do dendrochronology, or tree ring dating, to help us determine the date the ship was constructed or at least when the wood was cut down so that something could be made from it."

Despite projects like Blackbeard's ship, the 12-year-old lab, which is located in a rural region between Prince Frederick and Solomon's Island, and its employees have never been thrust into the spotlight, Samford said. Since news broke that it will house the ship section, officials there have been sought for interviews and information.

"It's very exciting for us," Samford said. "We do projects like this all the time. It's just that this one has gotten a lot of national publicity."

By

Avis Thomas-Lester

 |  August 3, 2010; 9:00 AM ET Save & Share:                 
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