The "Could It Be The SS Savannah?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a story about the SS Savannah which was an historical ship that was also a steam powered sail boat.  Seems that a fairly large chunk of weather-beaten flotsam washed up on a New York shoreline after Tropical Storm Ian last fall.  It drew quite a bit of interest since many thought it might be a part of the SS Savannah that ran aground and broke apart in 1821, two years after it became the first vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean partly under steam power.  A piece of floatsam was spotted off Fire Island which is a barrier island that hugs Long Island's southern shore.  The 13-foot piece of wreckage was claimed by the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society who will work with the National Park Service to try and identify the wreckage and put it on display for the public to view.  The Park Service officials say that it may be difficult to make a positive identification of the wreck, but they will try their best to do so.  Explorers have searched for the wreckage for over two centuries and have been unsuccessful in finding anything that could be linked to the SS Savannah.  

 The SS Savannah 

The newly discovered wreckage could very well be a piece of the historic shipwreck.  One piece of evidence is a 1 inch to 1.3-inch wooden peg that would have held the wreckage's planks together.  Iron spikes were also found that would suggest a ship built around 1820 when the Savannah was built in 1818.  The Savannah was 98 feet, 6 inches and iron spikes that have also been found suggest they could have been used in the Savannah.  The Savannah's use of steam power was so advanced for its time that the May 24, 1819 start of it transatlantic voyage is commemorated as National Maritime Day.  That point is important because they were trying to show the viability of a steam engine to make it across the pond.   It was pointed out that a nautical archaeologist should be able to help identify the Fire Island wreckage which appears likely to be from the Savannah.  The Savannah was transporting cargo between Savannah and New York when it ran aground off Fire Island in what is known as the Great Savannah Fire of 1820.  It later broke apart, but the crew did make it safely to shore and the cargo of cotton was salvaged.  Over the past two centuries, explorers have searched for the Savannah, but have not found anything they could definitely link to the famous ship.  Perhaps that might have changed.  I guess we will find out sometime in the near future.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.