It's a wrap: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officially ends recovery of ironclad CSS Georgia's artifacts in Savannah

Exultant workers lift a piece of the CSS Georgia in November 2013 (USACE)

The recovery of the CSS Georgia, a Confederate ironclad gunboat that saw no action but left thousands of fascinating artifacts in its wake, has been officially completed.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah, Ga., recently announced the end to its archaeological data recovery.

“We were able to recover much of the vessel from 2015 to 2017 and have been working to conserve the historical artifacts we found since then,” said Andrea Farmer, Savannah District archaeologist, in a news release. “Removing the Georgia from the river was important, not only for preserving the archaeological record, but also to ensure its safety during the district’s Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.”

Most of the ironclad’s wreckage was removed a few years back as part of the Corps’ deepening of the Savannah River to make room for larger tankers. Thousands of artifacts have since undergone treatment at Texas A&M University.

Conserved artifacts have been transported over the years to Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) in Washington, D.C., where they are being stored and curated for possible museum display. (At left, a Dahlgren hauled up in 2015).

Post-Civil War salvage operations, dredging damage in more recent times and a dearth of historical records make it impossible to come up with firm conclusions on many aspects of the scuttled CSS Georgia, a floating battery that defended the entrance to Savannah’s port during the Civil War.

Archaeologists and historians pored over data that resulted from 2015 and 2017 recovery operations near Fort Jackson and from earlier dives. While they learned much about the underpowered ironclad, a report issued last year said the derisively nicknamed “Mud Tub” will continue to hold mysteries because some vital parts are missing or so disarticulated that it is impossible to come up with a complete picture of the vessel’s design and operation.

There were, however, some critical findings.

“The most specific information concerns the dimensions and construction details of the armored casemate with evidence indicating it was approximately 120 feet long by 44 feet wide,” Panamerican Consultants wrote in a report to the Corps.

Illustration of CSS Georgia near Fort Jackson (USACE)

The sheer number and array of artifacts -- which includes interlocking railroad iron used to for armor -- found in the river made up a large part of the massive report.

This month’s news release from the Corps said the project, which involved contractors and U.S. Navy divers, recovered more than 30,000 artifacts, including 241 pieces of ordnance, five cannons and two large casemate sections. The latter were documented and left in the water.

“Restoring historical artifacts, especially ones found underwater, is a lengthy and expensive process,” Farmer said in the news release. “The artifacts that were not chosen for restoration were placed in containers, transported upriver, and reburied where they will be safe and out of the way for many years to come.”

About 1,600 non-conserved artifacts were shipped to Savannah from Texas and reburied in a secure location in December, ending project data recovery and mitigation activities, said spokesperson Nathan Wilkes of the Corps' Savannah District. “These artifacts were individually inventoried, visually inspected and assessed as nonsignificant at Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Lab.”

Jim Jobling, lab manager at Texas A&M's Conservation Research Laboratory, told the Picket in an email that about 18,500 conserved artifacts have been sent to the NHCC. 

Jim Jobling with a 3D model of an artifact (Picket photo)

Jobling was on barges used in the CSS Georgia recovery and witnessed artifacts being brought up by divers or by machinery and helped catalog them. "It was a good project, with a lot of good people putting in many hours of hard work -- over and above the call of duty."

Locally built in 1862, the CSS Georgia was an integral element of the Confederate defenses that protected Savannah until the Union Army captured the city. In December 1864, the CSS Georgia was scuttled by Confederate forces to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

Navy officials would like to see many of the items displayed but no museums have committed to such a project, given the expense and required environmental controls to protect the items.

Lt. Anthony Ivester, public affairs officer for the Naval History and Heritage Command, confirmed it has received all conserved artifacts from Texas A&M.

Conservators, students working to unlock mysteries of the Rebel ironclad CSS Georgia

Large piece of CSS Georgia casemate (USACE Savannah)

It’s been about three months since cranes, barges, divers and support crew pulled away from a spot on the Savannah River where they had removed the last of the jumbled remains of the Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia.

With the final recovery of the vessel complete (there was another operation in 2015), those involved had a brief moment to catch their breaths.

“I think we are all really relieved it is over. It is bittersweet -- we have worked so many years,” said Julie Morgan-Ryan, archaeologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which worked with contractors to recover the CSS Georgia as part of a harbor deepening project in Savannah, Ga.

Now the real work of solving the mysteries of the ironclad is underway – through student research, ongoing conservation of thousands of artifacts, and the study of those items and historical records to answer some of the nagging questions about the CSS Georgia.

For decades, archaeologists have speculated on the size and weight of the vessel, why it was so underpowered and where its components were made.

Artifacts that were not left in the river (namely the casemate) for possible future removal are undergoing conservation and analysis at the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University in College Station.

Morgan-Ryan surveys casemate (USACE)

“We found that some pieces from a cannon or a gun carriage were made from different metals. Was it because of the blockade?” the archaeologist recently told the Picket. “I think we are going to find what restrictions the South was under.”

The conservation of three cannons, a propeller and four crates of artifacts has been completed.

“We still have two cannon that are in conservation vats right now,” said Morgan-Ryan. “We are finding ordnance shoved down them.” Officials at the lab are trying to figure out how to safely dislodge them.

It’s likely the crew of the CSS Georgia sabotaged the barrels when they were forced to scuttle the ironclad off Old Fort Jackson as Federal forces neared Savannah in December 1864.

As is customary with such projects, the Army Corps will write a report on the recovery, completing it in late 2018 or in 2019.

“We have always known Georgia was underpowered. … now we’ll be able to do some estimates on how underpowered she was, whether artifacts were manufactured strictly for the Georgia, or taken from other vessels. We are trying to figure why they used the components that they do,” Morgan-Ryan said.

Buckle recovered in 2015 (USACE Savannah)

It’s known that the CSS Georgia was salvaged by a private contractor shortly after the war’s end. Archaeologists may never answer all their questions, because they don’t know how many recovered items were melted down or reused or were dumped haphazardly back on the site in a tiff over salvage payment.

Morgan-Ryan said she and others want to know more about these previous salvage attempts.

She is excited about research that students at Texas A&M are doing, including a master’s thesis on the ironclad’s gun sights, appropriate artifact conservation technology and conservation of waterlogged textiles.

“What I am looking forward to is how much new information from beyond the vessel will we learn from this project?” Morgan-Ryan said. “What technological advantages or disadvantages did the South have?”

The Corps is continuing its outreach to the public as the U.S. Navy engages with a half dozen museums about a possible permanent home for CSS Georgia artifacts. A documentary by Michael Jordan about the vessel’s history, its use as a floating battery to defend Savannah, and dives and recovery of the CSS Georgia over the decades should be released to schools and libraries by the end of the year.

A trip to the CSS Georgia recovery site: Nine really cool things and a couple bummers for researchers, conservators

Clamshell prepares to lift mud (and possible artifacts) to deck

Spikes used to join armor components (Picket photos)

I couldn’t let a narrow window of opportunity close, so I drove most of the night to Savannah, Ga., to spend a few hours Saturday aboard barges recovering the last significant portions of the Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia. That on-site project will be completed in the coming days. Thanks to the Savannah office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for having me on board. All photos by the Picket unless noted otherwise.

Protected by railroad iron

I finally got face-to-iron with two large casemate sections that were lifted from the Savannah River this summer (by the way, they are being placed in a different spot back river this weekend for safekeeping).

I still am trying to get my head around this innovative way of building armor when you don’t have more raw resources and manufacturing capabilities.

Sprinklers are used to keep casemate safe from corrosion

Jim Jobling, with the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University -- which is conserving much of the CSS Georgia’s 16,200 artifacts -- said each rusted rail is 4 inches by 4 inches, 24 feet long and weighs about 400 pounds. The iron is backed by 8 inches of pine and another 12 inches of heavy lumber.

Archaeologist Gordon Watts, who has dived and studied the wreck site for decades, said there were at least seven patterns of interlocking railroad iron used to make the casemate in 1862.

Where did the ship builders get the railroad iron?

Two rail pieces, lower right, with tar used to stop leaks (USACE)

“They were likely to be confiscated,” Watts said – specifically from Northern-owned companies, including a line from Brunswick, Ga., to Jacksonville, Fla. The nephew of US Navy Secretary Gideon Welles came to Savannah after the war to try to recover iron and other material, he said.

The CSS Georgia was prone to leaking, from above and below, and crew members used tar, plaster and other materials to fill gaps in the armor. Experts believe the engine was in service at all times, to power pumps that kept the leaky gunboat from sinking.

“It was obviously a pretty miserable place,” said Watts.

Detailed drawings bring artifacts to life

Gordon Watts measures portion of casemate armor ...

... and documents the different patterns of railroad iron used for armor

Gordon Watts, a contract archaeologist from North Carolina, has produced numerous detailed sketches of CSS Georgia components, something I first noticed during a visit to the 2015 recovery operation involving U.S. Navy divers.

“If I draw it, than I have to think about it,” Watts said of each item. He said he can get more interpretation that way than from just observing mosaic images.

He points to components of engine (Picket photos)

Find of the summer: Engine cylinders

They are not exactly sexy, but two steam cylinders brought up by a grappling hook will tell a lot about the ironclad’s propulsion. It’s known the CSS Georgia was underpowered and thus became a floating battery near Fort Jackson to repel any Federal naval advance on the city.

Jim Jobling washes off engine cylinders, frame mount (USACE photos)

Officials don’t know where the engines made; it’s possible they were taken from another vessel. The cylinders were part of the piston system that drove shafts for two propellers (only was of the props has been found and brought up).

Watts said he is aware of two or three other Confederate vessels, including the Arkansas, that featured railroad iron armor.

Now there’s enough of the machinery – with boiler and shaft parts – to get a better sense of the power and speed capabilities of the ironclad. Jobling said propeller and engine data, along with photos, are being sent to the U.S. Naval Academy for analysis.

“We can then figure out how strong the engine was, how efficient the propeller was and figure out the size and weight it carried,” he said. “How underpowered was she?”

Gun port and end piece

Note openings near rope that were part of a gun port

Casemate end piece had angle at top (Picket photos)

Three fascinating sections of casemate headed for conservation in Texas rested on the end of one barge. Sprinkler water kept them protected from corrosion until they can be placed in tanks.

One was a portion of a gun port. Five guns, including 9-inch Dahlgrens and a 6-pounder, were recovered in 2015, but others were brought up earlier. The CSS Georgia could carry 10, but it probably carried fewer when it was scuttled in December 1864.

The end piece could be used in a museum exhibit that explores the design of the vessel. There are no surviving plans, and archaeologists are not even sure of the ironclad’s size or weight. Watts said evidence points to it being 45-50 wide at the beam and between 180 and 200 feet long. Officials said with five guns in service, a crew of between 100 and 125 was likely serving the CSS Georgia.

Buckets of artifacts

Wood roller with brass fitting. Its use? Not yet known

Piece of artillery grapeshot (Picket photos)

During this past month’s mechanized recovery, archaeologists have placed smaller finds in water-filled white buckets lining the side of one barge.

Crews this year, unlike in 2015 and earlier, have found very few personal items beyond uniform buttons and a couple bullets, but it was interesting to see what was in the buckets: Various CSS Georgia artifacts, including parts of a pulley/rigging, and pre-Columbian pottery that washed into the salvage site.

Clamshell, shovels and hard labor

A dozen or so archaeologists worked the hot deck of a barge on Saturday, using large fire hoses and shovels to go through hundreds of pounds of mud placed in separate bays by a crane.

Each bay featured a screen on one end that would trap possible artifacts as the high-volume water cut through the muck. On this half day, 13 dips of the clamshell were made (repairs on the crane reduced the haul); there were as many as 80 scoops performed on longer days.

Screen on right traps artifacts during washing

Zones used by grapple and clamshell device (Picket photos)

Will Wilson of Panamerican Consultants utilized USBL, a method of underwater acoustic positioning, to direct the crane where to drop a large clamshell device to pick up the scoops from grid squares.

The recovery operation also has used a large grapple to pick up bigger items from the river bottom 40-45 feet down.

Replicas made from 3D plastic

Jim Jobling with replica of propeller recovered in 2015 and since conserved

Jobling, Watts and Stephen James, lead archaeologist on-site for Panamerican Consultants, will speak at a Corps public event in Savannah on Aug. 2.

The program includes portions of a documentary, "Dredging up the Past: Recovery of the CSS Georgia Shipwreck."

Columbiad gun sight, but not the gun, was pulled up.

Replica of pre-Civil War artillery sword hilt (Picket photos)

Jim Jobling of the Texas A&M conservation lab has procured small educational replicas of some of the artifacts found in recent years. “I scanned the artifacts using an accurate laser scanner” and they were sent to a printer to have them rendered in plastic.

Dealing with recovered ammo

The last part of this year’s final CSS Georgia recovery will be the deactivation of artillery shells found in the muck. Thus far, a Brooke shell with an Archer fuse and a 9-inch Dahlgren round rest in baskets below the surface awaiting this operation. But more rounds could be found in coming days.

The CSS Georgia may have had 500 shells for the five recovered guns. But how many went down with the ship and are still in the Savannah River? Jobling said 99 were brought up and saved in the 1980s, 240 in 2015, and two thus far this year. All precautions are being taken.

… And a couple not so cool things

The Georgia’s hull is gone, eroded by time, dredging and destructive teredo worms.

That makes it extremely difficult to configure components. “If we had a hull, we could tell how things were arranged,” said Watts.

While finds in 2015 and this year have added to the CSS Georgia’s story, Watts said, the absence of the hull and other information may leave many mysteries unanswered.

(Picket photos)

Jobling, on a tour of the casemate sections, pointed to the myriad holes (above) left by teredo worms. Crews were asked to gain wood samples from the casemate for dendrochronology – to learn the age and condition of the trees cut for the job in 1862. But given the damage, they had to get samples from other CSS Georgia lumber.

“There was a lot of old-growth wood in Georgia in that time period,” said Jobling. “They were probably cut in early 1862 … she was built with green wood. They had to cork her and fill the cracks between the timbers.”

Sections of rusting railroad iron (Picket photo)

The ‘Mud Tub’ a winner after all?

A 2015 article by the Army Corps of Engineers details frustration among the ironclad’s crew, relegated to the back lines and on a vessel that was stationary, and residents of Savannah who raised money to build a ship that didn’t have much engine power. The lure of desertion and drinking were common on the CSS Georgia.

One woman wrote: “Our iron floating battery is a splendid failure. She has been taken down between the forts and they are obliged to keep her engines at work the whole time to prevent her sinking, she leaks so badly. The officers had a consultation, a day or two after she went down, to decide on the propriety of throwing over her coal to keep her afloat. During the long storm last week, she leaked also from the roof, so that there was not a dry spot for the men or anything else in the vessel, even their beds were wet.”

Gordon Watts takes break from examination of casemate

But Watts has a more forgiving view. The CSS Georgia was a valuable part of the city’s defenses for two years, in concert with Fort Jackson, torpedo mines, pilings and other vessels.

“When you get down to it, it was really effective,” he said.

Casemate section stays cool in summer heat. (Picket photo)

CSS Georgia: Large section of armor above the water for first time since 1864

The west casemate, welded to a frame, is lifted from river. (USACE/Savannah)

The largest surviving piece of a Confederate ironclad that defended Savannah, Ga., during the Civil War is resting on a barge following its recovery Sunday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed the 67-ton hunk of iron and wood from the CSS Georgia was brought up from the Savannah River near Old Fort Jackson.

This 31-feet by 24-feet section was called the “west casemate” because of its location in the debris field of the scuttled vessel, which served as a floating battery near the fort. The smaller “east casemate” was recovered June 21. The casemate served as the CSS Georgia’s armor.

The Corps and contractors are removing the remains because of a port deepening project. The CSS Georgia’s crews sank it in late 1864 as Federal forces near the city. Since then, it’s been the subject of 19^th century salvage attempts and damage during dredging operations a few decades ago.

The CSS Georgia is the property of the U.S. Navy, which is interested in seeing its conserved artifacts eventually go on display in museums.

The CSS Georgia may have looked like this (USACE)

Dr. Robert Neyland, head of the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the Naval History and Heritage Command, last week visited the recovery operation. Crews were positioning beams on the river floor to assist with the lift of the hefty object.

He spoke of the challenge of lifting the west casemate: “It has been down there a long time. And you have to free the suction.”

The CSS Georgia’s armor was unique, given its makers used railroad iron fastened to layers of wood. “It seemed clever, as well as an economically and fast way to obtain armor,” Neyland told the Picket.

During construction, one 24-foot length iron would be placed face up, the other piece down – forming interlocking protection.

Recovery operation last week off of Old Fort Jackson (Picket photo)

Neyland said he could see some growth rings radiating out on some of the wood of the east casemate. “There’s a row of really long bolts that go through railroad iron deeply into the planking underneath.”

“All of the recoveries to date will add new and significant information to our understanding of the function and construction of CSS Georgia's armor.”

The recovery team in coming weeks will hoist up smaller artifacts. A 2015 operation that included Navy divers brought up several cannon and thousands of artifacts.

Out of the water: CSS Georgia casemate section is remarkably preserved

(Video by Panamerican Consultants Inc., via USACE)

One down, and one much bigger piece to go.

Crews working from barges in Savannah, Ga., on Wednesday evening lifted a 20-foot-by-24-foot piece of casemate that once protected the Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia.

Officials are excited because it includes a corner of the structure

Timbers used to support the armor – which was made from joined railroad iron – were “massive and so impressive,” said Jeremy S. Buddemeier, new media and social media manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Savannah office.

Stephen James, leader archaeologist with Panamerican Consultants, one of the contractors on site, told the Picket on Thursday afternoon that the wood "is shiny smooth, just like it was cut." The piece was lying in the mud, with the armor up and the wood down.

A bottom timber appears to be a foot in diameter, while the upper layer is about 6 inches in diameter, he said.

Corps senior archaeologist Julie-Morgan Ryan said that a mix of roots, biomass and mussels had covered and preserved the artifact with up to 3 feet of sediment, Buddemeier said. That layer protected the 47-ton casemate from wood-damaging Teredo worms that were evident in 2015 recovery dives.

The Corps is removing the scuttled vessel’s wreckage as part of a massive harbor deepening project.

They placed a prefabricated frame under this particular piece of armor, which is called the east casemate because of its position in the debris field.

Section of CSS Georgia casemaste (USACE)

Divers are having to deal with the Savannah River’s strong current and are working around “slack tides” that can have them in the water longer. They were able to do three dives Wednesday and the daylight and the tides lined up for the east casemate lift, officials said.

Next up is the west casemate, which is about 68 feet by 24 feet and weighs an estimated 120 tons. Lifting that one intact will be a bigger challenge, requiring beams and two cranes.

The earliest that lift will occur is next weekend, the Corps said. Following that comes the mechanized phase, in which a clamshell device will scoop up remaining artifacts from the river floor.

The U.S. Navy, which owns the shipwreck, would like to see artifacts and a reconstructed section of casemate to be displayed in a museum. James said in order to conserve the two casemate sections, conservators would have to separate the iron and wood.

And while the timbers that came up Wednesday are remarkably preserved, he said, they probably wouldn't hold up in the open air, even after extensive conservation. A display could feature the iron armor and new wood.

The crews will rebury the casemate sections in a secure part of the river until a decision is made on future conservation. For now, the east casemate, resting on a barge, is being kept wet with sprinklers.

CSS Georgia update: Divers, crews this summer will lift large casemate sections

Sections of CSS Georgia casemate (USACE, Savannah)

Divers this summer will be back on the wreckage of the CSS Georgia, working to remove 160 tons of the ironclad’s protective casemate from the Savannah River.

Julie Morgan, an archaeologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Savannah office, said she expects this second recovery operation to begin in mid- to late June. It will last about 45 days.

“There will a smaller crew this time because the work site is smaller,” she told the Picket. In summer 2015, U.S. Navy divers spent weeks on the site near downtown Savannah, bringing up heavy pieces of the vessel, including several pieces of artillery.

They won’t be on site this year. Commercial divers, working with the Corps and Panamerican Consultants, will attempt to lift the remainder of the east and west casemates – with an eye on keeping the large pieces as intact as possible.

It will be no easy task. The west section, about 60 feet by 24 feet, weighs about 120 tons. The east casemate, at 40 tons, is about 20 feet by 24 feet. Divers will again work in near-zero visibility and swift currents on a vessel that’s in many pieces.

Crews in 2015 wash off railroad iron used as armor (USACE)

Nearly 30,000 artifacts – including portions of the casemate -- already been recovered from the Confederate ironclad, with thousands undergoing conservation in Texas.

The vessel, which served as a floating battery to defend entrance to the city, was set afire and scuttled in December 1864 to keep it out of the hands of Union troops closing in on Savannah.

The CSS Georgia must be moved as part of a project benefiting the Port of Savannah. With the expansion of the Panama Canal, even larger ships are traveling to and from U.S. cities. That requires deeper channels.

While the CSS Georgia is not directly in the shipping lane, it must be raised so that vessels will have more room to maneuver as they make their way to and from the Atlantic Ocean.

Divers and archaeologists had hoped to remove all of the casemate in 2015, but the weight and size of the still-intact sections provided challenges that need to be addressed with tweaked rigging and lifting techniques.

A sliced section of casemate shows railroad iron, USACE)

Officials said their hope is to bring up a “corner” of the casemate to demonstrate how the sloped pieces of wood-backed armor (in the Georgia’s case, railroad iron) were designed and fastened.

“The west casemate has a lot of potential,” said Morgan.

Following the casemate work, a clamshell device will bring up remaining smaller pieces of the CSS Georgia and artifacts. With that, you never know what you might find. So far, the river has yielded prehistoric Native American pottery and post-Civil War debris.

Officials said inner-harbor dredging is at least a year away.

Coming soon: Update on artifacts conservation

For CSS Georgia conservator, artifact scoops in river meant having to make choices

Archaeologists wash off  railroad iron used as armor (USACE photo)

Each time a scoop of CSS Georgia artifacts landed last year on the deck of a barge in the Savannah River, Jim Jobling made a decision.

A “CRL” finding meant the item was going to Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Laboratory for long-term conservation. Landing in the “R” pile meant that artifact from the Confederate ironclad was destined for river reburial.

“Anything that was unique and could add to our database of knowledge we kept,” said Jobling, the lead conservator during the removal of the wreck under the auspices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Nothing unique was thrown away.”

Grapple used during mechanized recovery (USACE)

Jobling spoke of time constraints and salvage archaeology at a recent symposium at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga.

During the mechanized recovery phase of the CSS Georgia, two dozen archaeologists -- equipped in boots and safety helmets and using hoses and rakes -- sifted through muddy piles of metal and wood brought up by a five-finger grapple and a clamshell scoop.

The daily yield was incredible: Pieces of casemate, an 1841 percussion pistol (below), telescope tube, shoes, buttons, champagne bottles, bayonet handles and hundreds of other items, including a massive 9-inch Dahlgren, somewhat of a surprise find.

(USACE photo)

Michael Jordan, who is making a documentary about the project for the Corps, told the audience that “scooping at the end is where the honey pot is.”

He described Jobling, who works for Texas A&M, as master of a “ballet of artifacts moving around.”

Jobling used PowerPoint slides at the symposium to summarize a typical lift. In this case it was G54 -- a load brought up by the grapple in mid-September 2015.

The CRL pile in that lift included an anvil, a gear piece, chain, caulking hammers and wood from a bucket. The R pile included broken fasteners and twisted pieces built below the CSS Georgia’s railroad armor. “Bent wood won’t tell me anything,” said Jobling.

Items that were kept (top), items that were reburied

Archaeologists and conservators made a photographic record for each of 2,200 scoops and lifts.

The mechanized recovery followed large-artifact recovery, during which Navy divers brought up ordnance, guns, casemate and a propeller. For the mechanized phase, the barge crew and scientists had images that showed them exactly where to scoop or scour the river bottom about 40 feet below.

“There were always surprises,” Jobling said in a recent phone interview. “In a zero visibility environment, you don’t have a grasp on everything.”

In an ideal world, archaeologists want to keep all artifacts, he said. But with limited funding and time for the CSS Georgia recovery (it is being moved so that the vital shipping channel in Savannah can be deepened), choices had to be made.

(Interestingly, many items were pieces of Native American earthenware that may have drifted down the river and settled in the wreck site).

While 140 tons of material was shipped, nearly that much was reburied in the Savannah River.

Jobling and the others worked six days a week and long hours during the mechanized recovery. “Every day, something new was found,” he said. “We were filthy at the end of the day.”