Saving cannons with electrolysis at Blackbeard shipwreck site

RALEIGH, NC (NEWS RELEASE) – Three hundred years on the ocean floor can be pretty rough on a body. The Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources (www.ncculture.com) will dedicate its fall dive to treating some large bodies of iron in the Atlantic Ocean. Researchers, from Sept. 22-Oct. 29, will be on wreck site of the likely Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR) (www.qaronline.com), Blackbeard’s flagship, which sank in 1718 near Beaufort.

They will try to change the electrochemical process that corrodes iron in saltwater by applying anodes, skinny aluminum rods, to the objects as they are in situ (in the original place). A dozen cannons, 6 feet to 8 feet long and weighing 700 pounds to 1 ton, will undergo the treatment. So will three large anchors, 11 feet to 13 feet long and weighing an estimated 1,800 pounds.

“It’s imperative that we stop the damaging effects of salt water on these treasures,” says QAR Archaeological Field Director Chris Southerly. “This is a good alternative to help stabilize them when in laboratory space is not available.”

The archaeologists will work in the mid-ship area and are completing full recovery at the shipwreck site. To date, more than 700,000 artifacts have been recovered. Many are undergoing conservation at the QAR Conservation Laboratory at East Carolina University in Greenville. Others are exhibited at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort, the repository for QAR artifacts.

Water and wind conditions will affect greatly the on-site work. Ocean swells can delay diving, and already Hurricanes Igor and Julia are roiling the seas. Currently the water temperature of a favorable 79° is more appealing than the 10° cooler of late October.

The shipwreck was located in 1996 by Intersal, Inc. of Florida by Operations Director Mike Daniel through research provided by Intersal president Phil Masters.

In addition to the UAB team, staff members from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) will join the group in mid-October. The project is possible through a grant from NOAA and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. Other partners are N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, who provide the research vessel Shellpoint; the N.C. Maritime Museum; the U.S. Coast Guard – Fort Macon; the Fort Macon State Park; Nautilus Productions; and Discovery Diving.

For additional information call (910) 458-9042 or (919) 807-7389. The Underwater Archaeology Branch is within the Office of Archives and History in the N.C Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities, and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina’s social, cultural and economic future. Information on Cultural Resources is available 24/7 at www.ncculture.com.