A mapped shipwreck roughly seven miles off the Key Largo coast had little archaeological interest, until recently. On June 13, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) teamed up with Diving with a Purpose (DWP) to examine several artifacts and key findings to give context to the ship’s place in Keys history.
Eighteen divers with DWP, including international participants from Benin and South Africa, gathered in Key Largo to investigate the French Reef wreck. An international organization, DWP provides support for submerged heritage preservation and conservation projects with a focus on the African Diaspora.
Many divers had little experience in underwater mapping and were provided with a day of instruction at the Key Largo library before setting off for a three-day underwater investigation at the French Reef site. The shipwreck is 20 feet underwater and its remains are scattered along a 250-foot area.
“The shipwreck’s remains primarily consist of the metal fittings used in its construction,” said NOAA researcher Matthew Lawrence. “It appears to be a wooden-hulled vessel, but the wooden hull is not present on the site due to deterioration and the way it broke apart following the shipwreck event in the decades afterward.”
The divers, divided into teams focusing on different areas of the wreck, measured and sketched artifacts deemed important to the ship’s identification. The team completed hundreds of measurements and sketches, which they transformed into scale drawings back at the library.
Upon comparing their findings to that of other locally wrecked ships, including the French Reef’s Star of the Sea wreck, the team came to a tentative conclusion regarding its identification.
“The artifacts most closely matched what would be found on a late 19th to early 20th century large schooner,” Lawrence said.
Further findings and developments are expected to arrive in the coming months, and draughtspersons with DWP will be assembling a full shipwreck site plan from the provided drawings.
Diving With A Purpose has worked with the sanctuary for more than a decade to train divers in archaeology and explore and uncover the undersea history of the Florida Keys.
