The hunt for remains of the legendary Confederate ironclad,
Merrimack in the Elizabeth River, Portsmouth, Virginia.
September 1982.
This was a fleet that I found most intriguing. It was
the Confederacy's last fighting squadron of ships, and
many of the south's most famous naval heroes served on
its ironclad gunboats. Naturally, while everyone is making
headlines and fame by searching for and discovering the
monitor, where am I?
Looking for the Merrimack, that's where.
How's that for never following the mob?
I decided to give it a try after working with researcher
Bob Fleming in Washington. He dug up voluminous material
in the archives and sent it to my home in Denver, where
I began the fascinating though tedious study of the
evidence.
The story of the Merrimack's off again, on again, salvage
operations are well documented. Much was brought up
soon after the war. And newspaper records of salvor,
Captain William West, were quite detailed. His was the
last salvage attempt and many historians thought the
most complete, believing he raised whatever was left
of the entire wreck and placing it in the dry dock where
the ironclad was built. There, it was broken up into
souvenirs, relics and just plain junk.
So why search if nothing was there? Because of a report
by a salvage expert by the name of Barnabus, who mentioned
that West did not bring up the entire wreck, and two
newspaper accounts. One stated that "The portion
of the Merrimack which was raised from Craney Island
bend by Capt. Wm. West the other told of the hulk breaking
in two and trapping West for a short time.
These accounts indicated pieces of her still remained
on the bottom of the river.
Once again I contracted with the UAJV guys, who made
an outstanding survey of the Elizabeth River near Craney
Island, Every possible square yard was covered by Doc
Edgerton with his sub-bottom profiler, Gary Kozak with
the Klein 500 kilohertz side scan, the Schonstedt gradiometer,
and Margolin, Warner and Knickerbocker who made numerous
dives to check out targets.
I had a fun time during the expedition. Susan Wynne
and Derek Goodwin came down along with Doc Edgerton,
Admiral Bill Thompson and a few of the NUMA trustees.
We took turns staying at the Portsmouth home of Judi
Spindel, who extended her gracious hospitality during
our hunt for the Merrimack. She and her son and daughter
were solid company.
One of the highlights of the trip was my invited review
of the Civil War battle reenactment men of the 6th Virginia
Regiment and Mahones' Virginia Brigade. An event that
gave me an excellent ending for my novel "Deep
Six".
For the most part, the search proved unsuccessful.
Though a number of mag contacts bear further investigation
and possibly even excavation, we determined that whatever
was left of the tough old ironclad at the spot where
she was blown up in 1862 was dredged out of existence
by the U.S. Navy in 1942. At that time during WWII,
they build an oil loading facility on Craney Island
and dredged the river from eighteen to forty-two feet
to allow dockside loading of large oil tankers. So except
for pieces that were thrown by the explosion into the
mud flats to the west, little or nothing is left. The
Merrimack was obliterated.
Thanks to the efforts of Susan Wynne, a press conference
was given announcing the sad truth.
This had to be the first time on record that an underwater
search effort went on record as having failed. Still,
I felt the record had to be set straight for those who
follow.
The following pages come direct from the archaeologist's
report.
Introduction
The ironclad C.S.S. Virginia (alias Merrimack), once
the pride of the Confederate fleet, was lost more than
100 years ago. Unfortunately, little is known about
the Virginia, and very few artifacts remain. The subject
of this report is the most recent effort to locate the
remains of this famous ironclad that helped change the
course of naval history. The project was funded by the
National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA) and was conducted
as a cooperative venture with equipment and manpower
supplied by NUMA, Underwater Archaeological Joint Ventures
(UAJV), Schonstedt Instrument Company, Dr. Harold Edgerton
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
and Klein Associates.
The field work was contracted to UAJV who, under a
permit issued by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission,
conducted a 30 day Phase One Archaeological Survey in
July and August of 1982.
The survey area is at the mouth of the Elizabeth River
in Portsmouth, Virginia, and encompasses an area of
approximately 800 by 500 yards at the southern tip of
Craney Island (Fig. 1).
History
The story of the C.S.S. Virginia (former Merrimack)
is probably better known than any other naval engagement
in the history of the United States.
As Union forces were abandoning Norfolk in April of
1861, they decided to burn and sink the Boston-built
frigate U.S.S. Merrimack. Little did the Union know
that the Merrimack would be refloated in May and transformed
into the Confederate's first ironclad, the C.S.S. Virginia.
Commissioned on February 17, 1862, the C.S.S. Virginia
measured 262 feet in length with the casemate being
178 feet long at a sloping angle of 36 degrees. The
casemate was backed with two feet of solid pine and
oak that extended from the waterline to a point seven
feet above the gun deck. Over this laid a horizontal
and vertical layer of 2-inch iron plate (Fig. 2). The
Virginia's battery consisted of two 7-inch rifles, two
6-inch rifles, six 9-inch rifles, and two 12 pound Howitzers.
The primary goal of the Virginia was to wreak havoc
with the wooden ships of the Union blockading squadron
in Hampton Roads. On March 8, 1862, the Virginia, commanded
by F. Buchanan, successfully rammed and sank the U.S.S.
Cumberland, killing more than 100 men and also totally
destroyed the U.S.S. Congress.
The following morning, the ironclad Virginia, now under
the command of Captain R. Jones, met the ironclad Monitor
in a dramatic battle that ended in a stalemate but revolutionized
warfare at sea. This battle was to mark the end of an
era of the now antiquated wooden hull warships.
For several weeks after this historic battle, the Virginia
and Monitor continued to stalemate each other. However,
the Union's military strength caused the Confederates
to evacuate Norfolk and, in so doing, the Virginia,
because of her deep draft, was not able to escape up
the James River. The Virginia was run ashore near Craney
Island, her crew was evacuated and the ship was set
afire.
An eye witness account of the destruction of the Virginia
stated that, "tar, oil, fat and grease were spread
over the decks and set on fire. She had been burning
fiercely for an hour and a half, when a terrific explosion
tore her to pieces. The air was thick with large and
small pieces of timber. Huge sections of red hot iron
plate were torn off and whirled through the air so much
like paper. The shore and water for miles around were
covered with pieces of the wreck of every conceivable
size and shape. The ill-fated vessel sank immediately,
not a vestige of her remained above the water."
Found in a contemporary scrapbook and quoted in Thomas
J. Wertenbaker's Norfolk: Historical Southern Port,
1931. For the most part, the Virginia lay forgotten
during the War except that in 1865 she vas declared
a hazard to navigation when the schooner Priscilla wrecked
on the remains. On October 9, 1867, the Norfolk newspaper,
the Virginian, stated that wreckers continued to remove
portions of the Virginia's armor and her stern had been
successfully removed. In 1874- B.J. Baker and Co. had
salvaged much of the Virginia and had a 10-ton.crankshaft
from the Virginia lashed to the side of their tug Planet
Mars.
On June 17, 1875, the Norfolk newspaper stated that
John 0'Conner, Jr., was shipping old copper bolts and
pipe from the Virginia to Philadelphia to be molded
into fancy articles as relics.
On June 29, 1875, diver James West's lighter, loaded
with old metal and two cannons from the Virginia, sprang
a leak and sank at the Portsmouth Ferry Dock. In May
of 1876, James West raised the bottom timbers of the
Virginia and towed them with their tug Nettle to Dry-dock
#j1 (where she was originally refitted as the Virginia)
to be cut up. Part of the wood was sold to Messrs. Tilley
and Co. to be manufactured into relic canes and the
rest was sold as scrap.
Environment
The working environment in the Elizabeth River at Craney
Island is not conducive to precise field archaeology.
Diving operations were hampered by extremely poor visibility
(the best during the survey being 6 inches). This condition
is thought to be caused by river pollution and a very
soft silty mud on the river bottom that is constantly
stirred by river current velocities of up to two knots.
Another problem encountered by divers was what seemed
to be hundreds of deep anchor or dredging scours that
cut trenches as much as five feet beneath the river
bottom's general contours.
Bottom composition consisted of a very soft mud that
became mixed with gravel in the areas towards the ship
channel.
The most important environmental condition is the fact
that since the fuel docks were established on Craney
Island during the second World War, the entire survey
area has undergone periodic maintenance dredging at
depths of approximately 10 feet more than 19th century
charts show.
Methodology
Although the historical records showed that the Virginia's
hull or a major portion of it was recovered in 1876,
NUMA hoped that scattered debris associated with the
Virginia still lay on the river bottom. A comparative
analysis of both modern and 19th century maps provided
a fairly precise location of the "Aterrimac Wreck
Buoy +101° (Fig. 3). Unfortunately, the entire area
has undergone periodic dredging by the Corps of Engineers
and modern depths over the "Merrimac Buoy"
range approximately 10 feet more than the 19th century
charts.
Three types of remote sensing equipment were used for
this survey: a Schonstedt GAU 20 underwater magnetic
gradiometer with an Esterline chart recorder for detecting
magnetic anomalies; an Edgerton 6KH2 sub-bottom profiler
to determine if large objects lay buried beneath sediment;
and a Klein 500 gHZ side scan sonar for locating objects
protruding above the river bottom. In addition, a Sitex
256HE recording fathometer was used in conjunction with
these to observe coincidental depth variations.
Target positioning was accomplished through land-based
transits on the Coast Guard piers at Craney Island (Fig.
4). For the gradiometer survey, the mechanical fish
which was towed one foot above the river bottom was
attached to a bridle with a flag for accurate transit
positioning. Buoys were dropped on the northwest and
southwest corners of the survey area with two additional
buoys placed approximately 150 feet due east of the
first buoys. These buoys served as a basis for running
survey lanes with visual spacing of approximately 15
feet. When an entire grid was surveyed, the westernmost
buoys were moved 150 feet to the east of original east
buoys, thus creating another grid for surveying. This
jockeying procedure was followed until the entire survey
area was completed.
After plotting the original gradiometer data (App.
I), ten zones of target concentration were chosen for
a more detailed survey (Figs. 5-15), Buoys were dropped
in the four corners of each zone and an attempt was
made to re-verify targets with the use of the gradiometer.
When targets were located, buoys were dropped and the
gradiometer fish was retrieved. We then used the gradiometer
fish in a manner we referred to as "vertical probing".
By slowly moving the survey vessel up current of the
buoy we would place the boat in neutral and slowly drift
past the buoy while vertically lowering the tow fish
to the bottom. When a precise location was made of a
gradiometer target, another buoy would be dropped. This
in turn served as a focal point for divers to verify
targets by swimming a series of concentric circles in
10 foot increments. This procedure was continued until
a diameter of 100 feet was completed. As the divers
were swimming they continually probed with 6-foot iron
rods to determine if large solid objects lay buried
beneath the sediment.
Because of the profusion of gradiometer targets recorded
which would have required an inordinate amount of time
to verify by direct diver inspection, and the minimal
chance that anything remained from the Virginia, we
also employed a less sophisticated survey method. We
felt this method was justified by the extensive dredging
which the area has undergone in the past. Two grapple
hooks were connected to the end of a 10-foot section
of galvanized pipe which was towed in the zones of concentration
in an effort to locate solid debris. The towing mechanism
was equipped with a quick release mechanism to avoid
damaging or displacing any objects of potential historical
significance.
Other survey methods employed included the use of a
sub-bottom profiler in which lanes were run in a similar
manner to the gradiometer. The final method used was
the Klein 500 Khz side scan sonar which unfortunately
was only available for one day when manpower was lacking
and transit stations were not available. Sonar lanes
were run. by visual spacing with the sonar on the 50
meter per channel scale.
Results
A total of 183 gradiometer targets were recorded: 147
with the towfish on or near the bottom, 36 with the
fish towed approximately five feet below the surface
(see Fig. 20). Fourteen of these were located in areas
of concentration which were visually inspected and probed
by divers. None of these investigations revealed the
presence of either artifacts or structural remains which
might constitute debris from the wreck of the C.S.S.
Virginia.
A treat deal of time and energy was expended in efforts
to determine the most efficient means of operating the
gradiometer. After much trial and error, it was discovered
that many of the readings recorded while the fish was
being towed on or close to the bottom were spurious,
the result of frequent contact with sediment mounds
and ridges in the heavily dredged and scoured survey
area. Many other readings can be attributed to the presence
of a large quantity of discarded steel cable lying on
the river bottom. By using the grapple hook rig subsequent
to the recording of gradiometer targets, we were often
able to snag sections of cable and thereby eliminate
the immediate area from further consideration without
having to make a time-consuming diver search for the
object.
Apart from the abundance of cable and a three foot
section of iron pipe recovered during diver investigation,
the only object of any significant mass encountered
in the search was what appears to be a section of iron
bridge girder protruding some 24o 211 from the river
bottom at an oblique angle (Target No. 140, see Fig.
17). The object was detected when the gradiometer registered
a reading of 36 gammas on the 3 miligaus scale (Fig.
18) while the recording fathometer simultaneously indicated
a sudden five foot rise above the surrounding bottom.
Using both instruments in an effort to pinpoint its
location, we made a series of passes over the object
and were able to drop a buoy within 15 feet of the target
in a water depth of 35 feet.
Target No. 140 was also the only substantial object
detected by the Klein Khz side scan sonar unit. Fig.
19 shows the side scan record of the girder and its
associated scour pattern. Other objects recorded by
the unit were identified by operator Gary Kozak as tires,
logs, pilings, or other equally insignificant debris.
An effort was made to cover the entire survey area with
the side scan but, unfortunately, due to the lack of
transits and sufficient manpower on the day that the
unit was made available, total coverage cannot be positively
assured.
The results of Doc Edgerton's sub-bottom profiling
operation were generally inconclusive. The prevalence
of gas pockets resulting from the decomposition of organic
material in much of the sediment within the search area
inhibited the unit's ability to penetrate the bottom.
A number of relatively small targets were recorded,
however, in shallow water off shore of Transit Station
B.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Based upon our investigations and subsequent analysis,
we have concluded that: a) there are no large areas
of either concentrated or scattered debris associated
with the Virginia lying on the river bottom within the
survey area, and, b) apart from Target No. 140 (bridge
girder) and numerous lengths of steel cable, there are
no large concentrations of iron mass lying on, or up
to ten feet beneath, the river bottom within the survey
area.
Considering the 19th century record of repeated and
extensive salvage operations conducted on the Virginia
in addition to the more recent, chronic, and intensive
dredging activities in and around the wreck site, we
feel that the chances of recovering any portion of the
ironclad are slim indeed. Should NMfA wish to continue
the search, however, there are several options which
might be pursued: a) relocate and dredge down to the
shallow water subbottom profiler targets identified
by Doc Edgerton, b) extend the survey area further offshore
and conduct search activities in the river channel itself,
an area less likely to have been affected by dredging,
and, c) attempt to locate the site (near the old Portsmouth
Ferry Dock) where salvage diver West's barge allegedly
overturned with its cargo of Virginia wreck debris in
1875.
A cautionary note should be added to each of these
suggestions, though. The distances between the sub-bottom
targets and the Merrimack buoy location, approximately
1000 yards, seems too great for these anomalies to constitute
debris exploded from the Virginia. Also, any search
activities, particularly diver investigations, conducted
farther out in the channel would be severely hampered
by the large volume of ship traffic on the Elizabeth
River. Finally, as far as diver West is concerned, it
should be noted that his credibility concerning salvage
achievements has been challenged elsewhere, if the newspaper
report about the capsized barge of artifacts was, in
fact, based solely upon his own testimony.
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