Civil War era shipwreck discovered during search for Ike debris

Like a toy surprise in a box of Cracker Jacks - er, slightly water-logged Cracker Jacks, that is - a Civil War era shipwreck turned up among Hurricane Ike debris.

The discovery, thought to be previously uncharted, was made by crews last week scanning the bays around Galveston to chart debris.

While the find came as a kind of fun surprise to the contractors doing the work, State Marine Archeologist Steve Hoyt was pleased - but not terribly surprised.

"There have been nearly 2,000 ship wrecks (in Texas coastal waters), with a lot of those concentrated around the Galveston area," Hoyt said.

A surprising amount of Texas history is underwater.

With many immigrants arriving here by ship, along with the goods and supplies they needed for frontier life, traveling by water was common.

The bays of the Galveston area were particularly busy.

"Much of the history of Texas is maritime history," Hoyt said.

Hoyt added it's possible the shipwreck had been buried in mud and Ike's surge might have uncovered it. Or, it could just be that it had simply been overlooked until now.

The post-Ike sonar operation is likely the most extensive ever undertaken in the Galveston Bay area.

In the past, smaller areas have been surveyed for different projects, such as pipelines, to ensure that the work won't disturb any significant sites, Hoyt said.

"This is the first time I know there's been such widespread coverage," he added.

When the Texas Historic Commission finds out about a "new" historic ship wreck site, personnel begin to comb through a database of thousands of shipwrecks known to have occurred in the region.

"Most wrecks in the database, we don't know where they are - we only know of them through historic records," he said.

Hoyt wouldn't say what ships he thought the sonar scanners' find might be.

"We're looking at several," he said. "It wouldn't be appropriate to say till we have a better idea."

The next step for the Texas Historic Commission is to assess the site.

"We will get a crew together and try to dive on it," Hoyt said, adding that weather would play a role in scheduling the dive.

Diving in the bay will be challenging.

"Visibility is not good - it can be quite dangerous," he said. "You do get the occasional day when diving conditions are nice and you can get several feet of visibility."

Otherwise, divers will assess the site by "Braille work," Hoyt said, meaning they'll literally have to feel for it.

The wreck, thought to be from the Civil War era, could yield a treasure trove of historic artifacts.

An iron-hulled ship would withstand the long immersion better than one of wood, but even a wood ship would contain many iron or ceramic parts and fixtures that could have survived.

Door hinges, drawer pulls, engines, anchors, mast and rigging paraphernalia are typical items to be found.

"It's amazing how much can still be left on a large ship," Hoyt said, adding that even a small, wooden hull ship yielded more than 1 million artifacts.

The sonar crews will soon begin work in Sabine Lake.

Hoyt said there's no telling what might be found there.

"At Sabine Pass there were a number of wrecks, but once you get into the lake, there were fewer," he said.

The location of the wreck is undisclosed, in accordance with Texas administrative code. Hoyt said this is to protect the historic sites from plunder.