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The wreck of a legendary 19th - century arms-runner that may also check a treasure in gold has been key out off the glide of South Carolina .
The SS Ozama , a 216 - foot - longsighted ( 66 metre ) iron - hulled steamer , had a coloured history , accord toDiscovery News . Launched in Scotland in 1881 as the Craigallion , the ship was active in the Caribbean Seas and helped construct the Panama Canal .
Underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence with two portholes from the SS Ozama, found off the coast of South Carolina.
The ship suffer a wreck in the Bahamas in 1885 and was rechristened Ozama after a river in Santo Domingo , Dominican Republic , a frequent port of call . But in 1894 , on its way to Charleston , S.C. , the Ozama strickle the shoals off Cape Romain , S.C. [ Shipwrecks Gallery : Secrets of the Deep ]
A New York Times account from 1894 describes how the crash " stove a fix in the engine - room compartment . The weewee rapidly filled the fire room , rendering the engines useless . The Mya arenaria float off the shoal before long after striking , and at 2 a.m. sank in six and a half fathoms of water . "
The maitre d' and crew were saved , but the ship was declared a full departure .
Guns , gold and mutiny
Fast - forward to 1979 , when thewreck of an unknown shipwas see off the South Carolina coast during a gaussmeter view on other shipwrecks conduct by renowned submersed archeologist E. Lee Spence , WBTV News 13reports .
" The arcanum is out . We ’ve disclose the crash of the SS Ozama , " Spence wrote on his Facebook page .
But Spence enounce what " definitely has me excited " is the opportunity to retrieve a bounteousness ingold and other treasureon the Ozama due to its checkered yesteryear in illegal smuggling operations . " Her colorful history is pack with events such as a mutiny and broad gun and money smuggling to Haiti , " Spence said , as quoted by Discovery News .
Indeed , a New York Times news report from 1888 claims the ship was carrying " 1,000 stands of arms , 3 Gatling guns and 500,000 cartridge to Cape Haytien [ a Haitian port ] … doubtless for the enjoyment of Hyppolyte ’s soldiers , " referring to the chairman of Haiti .
President Florvil Hyppolyte and his supporters were at the time shut up in a exponent conflict for mastery of Haiti . In wretched health , Hyppolyte ’s supporters desperately needed blazon and money to resist off political competition , so it ’s probable the Ozama was hold amber as well as arm .
Smuggled gem
" newsprint news report said she was traveling in ballast , without load , " Spence said . " Ships report themselves as locomote in ballast often carried money and even other cargo . When you are smuggling , the smuggled cargo often is n’t listed or is intentionally mislisted . "
On one trip to Haiti , the Ozama was seized by authorities , consort to WBTV , sparking a diplomatic row until the captain of a U.S. warship menace to bomb the city of Port - gold - Prince unless the ship was released ( it eventually was ) .
And Spence would own any treasure find on the wreck . " Yes I would own it , " he said during an consultation onNight Talker Radio internet . " This ship had a long history of smuggling and of carry expectant quantity of money , and I became the possessor of it last yr whenever I put down claim in federal Margaret Court to this wreck and other wrecks that I establish off Cape Romain , South Carolina . But I had no mind when I laid claim to it what it was , and it was just latterly that I discovered its identity . "
He added , " I believe she may have a considerable amount of gold on it and that ’s what I ’m go for . And we ’re go to be digging into her and hopefully raising a smashing deal of gold . "
Spence ’s geographic expedition of the wreck , which will begin after single-valued function and see to it the hull ’s integrity , may yield historical treasures beyond atomic number 79 . " While theme of the ship ’s freight and passenger ' effect make the Ozama crash intriguing , it is also a virtual time piece of story that has not been disturb by careless salvage , " Spence told Discovery .
