The casual observer may not have noticed anything out of the ordinary. But Mr. Stanton saw straight, unnatural lines among the coral reef, which turned out to be iron bars covered in concretion and living coral. Closer inspection revealed the remains of wooden hull timbers peeking out from under the sand, with bronze or brass spikes protruding from the wood.

Mr. Stanton conducted a quick visual survey of the area, recorded his observations in his field notebook, and brought the newly discovered site to the attention of Park Service personnel. Coincidentally, a team of Park Service Submerged Cultural Resource Unit archaeologists were in the park at the time, and they were brought to the site for a quick inspection as well. They confirmed that this shipwreck was unknown until its discovery by Stanton, who named the site the "FSU Wreck."

FSU Academic Diving Program staff wasted little time upon Mr. Stanton's return to Tallahassee. A proposal for a non-destructive survey of this new site was sent to the Park Service. Recognizing the benefits of this type of inter-agency cooperation, the Park Service welcomed this research opportunity and granted a permit to the University. In the end, a project was conducted involving not only FSU but also representatives from the University of Miami and the U.S. Navy and which provided the Park Service with free research valued at over $30,000.

In March of 1996, members of the FSU class ANT 4131 Techniques of Underwater Site Research carried out the 5 day survey, led by FSU graduate student Chuck Meide and University of Miami professor John Gifford. The students and staff lived aboard the R/V Bellows, a research vessel provided for the project by the Florida Institute of Oceanography. In order to relocate the shipwreck, an underwater navigational system developed by the Navy known as SINS (Seal Inshore Navigation System) was used to accurately survey a 50 by 500 meter area with two dive teams. The Navy also loaned the project use of a military GPS system, immune to the scrambling signals that affect civilian global positioning devices.

Once the site was found, in about 20 feet of water, all exposed surface remains were mapped and recorded by drawing, photographs, and video. Numerous bronze or brass fasteners were scattered about the main site area, which was situated in a sandy patch surrounded by coral reef. Two areas of hull remains were located, some with protruding bronze spikes or bolts. These sections of exposed hull remains were mapped in detail, but for the most part were obscured by sand. As this was a preliminary survey, excavation was limited to only minimal hand-fanning, so the architectural nature of the timbers remains a mystery. Due to the relatively good condition of the exposed wood, however, it is expected that a large portion of the wooden hull is preserved beneath the sand.

In addition to hull remains, there were many pieces of concreted iron objects scattered about, including wide metal straps, possible rigging components, and large iron bars that could be cargo or ballast. Scattered ballast stones were also noted, though no distinct ballast pile was located.

A metal detector survey was also conducted over the immediate area of site. This produced large number "hits" which were recorded on an overall grid created by SINS device. effort made to use digital video-mosaic mapping technology developed by Dr. Gifford of the University of Miami, but heavy seas prevented this technique. After only one day of work on the site, the weather became foul and unfortunately the seas proved to rough to effectively work on the FSU Wreck.

As a backup site, students attempted to conduct a re-assessment of the Bird Key Harbor Brick Wreck, located in more sheltered waters. This 19th century wreck was first investigated by Florida State University in 1976, and was more recently surveyed by Brown University. Unfortunately, rough seas and zero visibility made this site impractical as well. For the rest of the allotted project time, Gregg Stanton then led the class in a biological survey of diseased fish in the Fort Jefferson moat.

Despite the foul weather, a significant amount of information was gathered in the single day of investigating the FSU Wreck. Though little specific cultural or historical information was gathered for a positive identity, the wreck did provide some clues to its nature. The scattered nature of the site, and lack of an intact ballast pile, means that she may have been wrecked in a violent storm. The ship was probably quite large, due to the size of some of the exposed timbers and the area of wreck scatter. In addition, the copper alloy fasteners point towards a date of the 19th century, or possibly the late 18th century. Available on the FSU Underwater Archaeology web page is an online index of all shipwrecks found in the Admiralty records for south Florida; a computerized search provided a list of possible 19th century candidates. In addition, more historical research will provide names of ships that sank near Loggerhead Key in he 18th century, such as HMS Tyger. Perhaps further archival research, and a future field project, will one day provide a name for the elusive FSU Wreck.

See a map of the Dry Tortugas.

Visit the National Park Service's Dry Tortugas web page.