{"id":21875,"date":"2016-06-07T14:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T18:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/?p=7784"},"modified":"2024-05-21T15:54:13","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T19:54:13","slug":"creating-an-in-sea-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/creating-an-in-sea-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating an In-Sea Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turning the Condor<\/em> into a Heritage Dive Site<\/h2>\n

By John W. “Billy Ray” Morris III and Greg Stratton<\/h3>\n

Posted June 7, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: As the National Sea Grant College Program celebrates coastal tourism in June as part of its 50th anniversary, we are pleased to offer this guest post from our friends at the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology, Underwater Archaeology Branch<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

“We are excited to see and share innovative and sustainable tourism plans from our partners along our coast,” notes Jack Thigpen, North Carolina Sea Grant extension director.<\/em><\/p>\n

North Carolina has a rich and diverse maritime heritage, a cultural inheritance that is shared by all the state\u2019s residents. From our extensive river system, to the broad estuaries and sounds, and out through numerous inlets to the open ocean, North Carolina has been shaped and developed by maritime commerce.<\/p>\n

Historical records show that there are more than 4,900 shipwrecks within state waters. Almost 1,000 have been located and documented by archaeologists. These sites \u2014 what we like to call our state\u2019s nonrenewable, submerged cultural resources \u2014 encompass every period of North Carolina\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"Underwater
Condor’s starboard engine. Photo courtesy UAB<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
\n

\"Underwater
Condor’s starboard paddlewheel. Photo courtesy UAB<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

To protect these tangible and fragile legacies lying beneath the waves, North Carolina\u2019s Office of State Archaeology\u2019s Underwater Archaeology Branch, or UAB, seeks to create a sense of stewardship for our shared maritime heritage throughout the diving community. The key to achieving this goal is educating North Carolinians and potential visitors about this resource, training volunteers to work with maritime archaeologists, and opening shipwrecks for divers to \u201ctake pictures, leave bubbles.\u201d<\/p>\n

In July, the UAB will initiate a diving park, the first of what will eventually be developed into a heritage trail for divers, at the site of the Condor<\/em>, not far from our office at Fort Fisher.<\/p>\n

Our first step will be training local divers and dive professionals from the Wilmington area. We will ask these divers to help us update the site map of the Condor<\/em>, one of the numerous blockade runners lost during the American Civil War.<\/p>\n

We intend to use this new data to create a dive slate, which will enable other divers to visit the site and take a self-guided tour of this historic vessel. Eventually, the UAB plans to install a pair of mooring buoys, turning the Condor<\/em> into North Carolina\u2019s first \u201cin-sea museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Views of the Condor from the top and side. The illustration also shows where proposed mooring lines will be added to encourage divers to visit. Image courtesy UAB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Florida pioneered this concept in 1991 and now has 12 heritage dive sites. This effort has enabled that state to protect these underwater resources.<\/p>\n

Condor<\/em> has a fascinating back story. It was one of five Falcon Class steamers, built on the Clyde River in Glasgow, Scotland, for the lucrative trade of blockade running.<\/p>\n

Steaming through the cordon of Union naval vessels blockading the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, on her maiden voyage, Condor<\/em> ran aground and was lost on the night of Oct. 1, 1864.<\/p>\n

\"Image
Rose O’Neal Greenhow was a Confederate spy who was on the Condor blockade runner. Courtesy Rose O\u2019Neal Greenhow Papers\/Special Collections Library, Duke University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On board that night was Rose O\u2019Neal Greenhow<\/a>, the famous Confederate spy, who was returning to the Confederacy after a trip to England to raise funds for the Southern cause. Fearing capture and possible execution by Union leaders, Greenhow insisted on being rowed ashore, despite the vehement protests of the captain and officers of Condor<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A volunteer small-boat crew finally attempted to get Greenhow ashore, but rough seas and breaking waves capsized the boat and she drowned. She is buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington. To this day, her gravesite often is bedecked with flowers and flags, left as homage to the \u201cWild Rose\u201d of the Confederacy.<\/p>\n

Condor<\/em> rests in 25 feet of water, about 800 yards off the beach in front of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. She is one of the best-preserved blockade runners found anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

Her full lower hull, engines, paddle wheels and boilers all are still in place. The vessel is laid across the sea floor like a drawing of the high-tech, stealthy steamer she was when she sailed for Wilmington with her cargo and illustrious passenger more than 150 years ago.<\/p>\n

Our goal is to make the Condor<\/em> the first true heritage dive site in North Carolina, offering divers a glimpse into one of the most intriguing aspects of North Carolina\u2019s maritime legacy.<\/p>\n

John W. \u201cBilly Ray\u201d Morris<\/em><\/strong> is the director of North Carolina Office of State Archaeology\u2019s Underwater Archaeology Branch. He has more than 28 years of field experience directing projects in the United States and abroad. Morris has worked on shipwrecks, including the Confederate raider <\/em>CSS\u00a0Alabama\u00a0off the coast of France; a 16th century Spanish messenger vessel in Bermuda; and the <\/em>Betsey, an 18th century British transport lost at Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolution.<\/em><\/p>\n

Greg Stratton<\/em><\/strong> is the archaeological dive supervisor for UAB. He has served as a research diver on the <\/em>Queen Anne\u2019s Revenge Shipwreck Project for the past three years and served as director of operations for the 2015 field season. He has participated in a variety of maritime archaeological projects in the United States and overseas, including Sweden, Greece and Albania. <\/em><\/p>\n

For more information about the Condor project, contact Morris at John.Morris@ncdcr.gov<\/a> and Stratton at Greg.Stratton@ncdcr.gov<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John W. \u201cBilly Ray\u201d Morris and Greg Stratton from the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology\u2019s Underwater Archaeology Branch present plans to turn the Condor<\/i> shipwreck site into an in-sea museum, open to all divers. Just remember to “take pictures, leave bubbles,” they say. This is part of an effort to create a heritage diving trail along the state’s coast. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[761],"tags":[],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-21875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-currents"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCreating an In-Sea Museum - Coastwatch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/creating-an-in-sea-museum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creating an In-Sea Museum - Coastwatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John W. \u201cBilly Ray\u201d Morris and Greg Stratton from the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology\u2019s Underwater Archaeology Branch present plans to turn the Condor shipwreck site into an in-sea museum, open to all divers. 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