Wreck found off the coast of the United States may be from the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean

Portrait of SS Savannah of 1819 by Hunter Wood – Photo: Savannah Morning News via AP

Some of the wreckage that washed up off the coast of New York state in the United States after last year’s storm was most likely part of the SS Savannah, the first partially steam-powered ship to cross the Atlantic in 1819 and, two years later, run aground. And it fell apart.

Plots measuring about 4 square metres, were discovered in October, near Fire Island, and are now in the custody of the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society.

The entity will work with National Park Service officials to locate the wreck and display it to the public.

Experts should come to the site to “take a look and help us get a better picture of what we have here,” said Betsy DeMaria, a museum technician with the Fire Island Parks Service.

Tony Feminella and Betsy DeMaria of the Fire Island Preservation Society on January 27, 2023 – Photo: Steve Pvost/Newsday via AP

It can be difficult to identify the wreck with 100% certainty, but Park Service officials said that of the ships sunk near this stretch of coast, there’s a good chance the wreckage is from Savannah.

Savannah remains have been searched for more than two centuries, but nothing has yet been found that could definitely be from the ship.

The newly discovered wreck “might very well be” a piece of the historic ship, said Ira Briskin, a senior lecturer at the State University of New York Naval College in the Bronx.

Savannah was built in 1818. It was 30.5 meters long.

Wooden stakes holding slabs of debris corresponded to a ship about 30 meters long.

Furthermore, officials said, iron nails in the wreck point to a ship built around 1820.

Breskin, author of “The Business of Shipping,” claims that the use of steam power in Savannah was so advanced at the time that May 24, 1819, the start of her voyage across the Atlantic, was celebrated as National Maritime Day. “It’s important because they were basically trying to show the feasibility of a steam engine for crossing the sea.”

A marine archaeologist should be able to help identify the Fire Island wreck, which appears to be from Savannah, Briskin said. “It’s plausible, it’s important, and it’s living history if scholars confirm that it’s what we think,” he said.

The boat was a sloop with a 90-horsepower steam engine. He left Savannah, Georgia, for his final destination in Liverpool, England. The voyage was primarily sail-powered, and steam power was used for 80 hours.

After Liverpool, Savannah sailed to Sweden and Russia. At these two destinations, crowds applauded the ship as it docked in the ports. After that, the boat returned to its home port in the state of Georgia.

Despite its technological success, the ship was a financial failure, in part because people were afraid to travel on the hybrid ship. The Savannah’s steam engine was removed and sold after the ship’s owners suffered losses in a fire in 1820.

Savannah was carrying cargo between Savannah and New York when it ran aground on Fire Island. later broke up. The crew made it ashore safely, and the cargo of cotton was recovered.