Shipwreck Archaeology
There are without a doubt thousands of shipwrecks underwater and on dry land; most of them are discovered by accident; others were discovered only after years of deliberate searching. Here are some of the ancient shipwrecks that have received careful archaeological study.
Beneath the Black Sea
Archaeology magazine's associate editor Kristin M. Romey begins an interactive archaeology dive in the Black Sea off the Urkraine.
CSS Alabama (France)
The CSS Alabama was a Confederate gunboat, built in Liverpool, England, that captured 65 Union during the American Civil War before being sunk in 1864. The investigations of the wreck, discovered in 1984 off the coast of France, are described at the Museum of Underwater Archaeology website.
Fundacion Albenga
A nonprofit group for the preservation of underwater archaeological resources; contains information on a number of current and past projects in Argentina. Spanish and English.
Graveyard of the Pacific
This website, subtitled The Shipwrecks of Vancouver Island, is produced by the Virtual Museum of Canada, and includes pictures and information on the various wrecks along the British Columbia coast. Nice graphics and layout
Iulia Felix (Italy)
The Iulia Felix (also spelled Julia Felix) is the name of a Roman ship wrecked in the Adriatic Sea six miles off the coast of the town Grado during the last part of the 2nd century or first half of the 3rd century AD.
Oranjemund Shipwreck (Namibia)
The Oranjemund shipwreck contained a fabulous cargo of coins and ingots, and was discovered in 2008 on the Atlantic coast of Namibia by diamond miners.
Projet Phips
Underwater excavations from the Ministry of Culture in Québec, of one of four vessels from Massachusetts lost after an ill-fated attack on Quebec City in 1690, found half-buried in sand near the town of Baie Trinitie. French and English
PT109
John F. Kennedy's sunken PT boat from World War II, found and investigated by the indefatigable Bob Ballard. From National Geographic.
SS Pericles
The opulent White Star Line cruise ship SS Pericles sank off the coast of Cape Leeuwin, south Western Australia in 1910; the Pericles Project from the Museum of Underwater Archaeology has initiated a survey of the wrecksite led by ethically committed avocational divers.
The Bounty
The shipwreck of the famous ship of Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh, sunk off Pitcairn Island; an online article in Archaeology magazine.
The Britannic
Ill-fated sister ship to the Titanic, the Britannic sank off Greece on its 6th voyage in 1916; investigations of the wreckage took place in summer 1998.
The Mary Rose
The official website of the the 16th century English warship, the Mary Rose, sunk off the coast of Portsmouth in 1545. Underwater excavations in progress throughout AUgust 2004.
The Monitor
From NOAA, a report on the underwater archaeological investigations of the USS Monitor, an ironclad sunk off the coast of Cape Hatteras during the Civil War.
Tracking Down the Kad'yak
Archaeology magazine provides an online article on the indepth examination of a newly identified Russian shipwreck in Alaskan waters.
Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks
From the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, information and links to wrecks in Lakes Superior and Michigan of the American middlewest.
Uluburun (Turkey)
Uluburun is the name of a Late Bronze Age ship, wrecked off the coast of Turkey near Kas in the 14th century BC and about 50 meters below the water's surface and six miles from the coast.