ECU maritime archaeologists working on various shipwreck sites (the iron knee wreck, unidentified steam lighter, Medina-class gunboat, Emily A. Davies and Meyer’s Slip Site 1, 2000-2008 (all images courtesy Program in Maritime Studies, ECU)

Introduction

East Carolina University's Program in Maritime Studies (PMS) enjoys a relationship with Bermuda that spans more than two decades. Since the program's first Bermuda project in 1983 surveying the Confederate Civil War Blockade-Runner Mary Celestia, work in Bermuda has been far ranging. Fieldwork encompasses vessels ranging from 16th-century shipwrecks such as the well known Western Ledge Wreck, to American Civil War era shipwrecks, as well as more modern iron and steel vessels. Recent projects included surveys of unnamed vessels off the Royal Navy Dockyard, a Medina-class gunboat, and the sailing vessels Norrkoping and Emily A. Davies. In fall of 2008, thanks to the National Geographic Society and the Waitt Institute for Discovery as well as the assistance of the Bermuda Maritime Museum and the Government of Bermuda, the Maritime Studies field school was able to focus on a selection of wrecked and abandoned watercraft within the vicinity of St. George's Harbor, in Bermuda's East End.



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