"Suddenly a rocket shot out obliquely, the lights disappeared beneath the waves, and all the world grew dark for me." Panama on September 3, crossed 5 who would shortly be reunited 0 the isthmus by train , boarded the i3 with their wives. But for many Central America on the Atlantic ~ other families there would be no side, and sailed for New York the 0~ happy reunion. same day. ~ Nine days later, and 400 miles Until Wednesday, September ~ to the north , the last three survi9, the weatherwascalmand pleas- ~ vors were miraculously found ant. On that day, the ship entered ~ floatin g in a battered lifeboat. < the fringes of a hurricane. The ~ The Central America now beweather worsened, and on Sep- ~ longed to the sea and few believed it would ever be found. tember 11 the crew discovered 3 0 that the ship had sprung a leak. A u But in the early 1980s, ocean deadly domino effect was soon ~ e ngi neer Tommy Thompson in operation: when the water came ii: dreamed of finding the Central in , it wet the coal, wh ich made it , . . . . America. When looking for a 13useless for firing the boilers. Nemo slights pick out the s1dewhee/ of the Central America. decade old shipwreck a number When the fires in the boilers were extin- disappeared beneath the waves, and all of things must be considered, including gui shed, the Central America's huge the world grew dark for me. " hi storical accounts of its position and the steam engines stopped, and the pumps, At 8:00that nightthe Central America processes that may have altered the wreck which relied upon the eng ines for power, sank, taking with it all those men who since it sank. Using advanced mathematiwere rendered useless. had so gallantly stood back and allowed cal search theory, Columbus-America Captain Herndon ordered all the men the women and ch ildren to be saved. Discovery Group selected a 1400 square on board to go to work bailing. On Fri- Many men were dragged beneath the mile area of the North Atlantic for surday evening, as the men worked to near waves by the suction of the sinking sh ip. vey with a side-scan sonar. This elecexhaustion, Addie Easton sudden ly re- Those who managed to strugg le to the tronic device paints a picture three miles membered her wedd ing gifts. She moved surface we re struck with a horrifying wide of the ocean floor which can be amo ng the men distributing her g ifts of scene. "Men, some holding planks, and di sp layed on a computer monitor in orfood and wine. She was later described others without anythin g, were tossed der to depict objects that rise above the about through the sea for a great space, sea bed , such as shipwrecks. by the men as "a true angel of mercy." By Saturday morning, September 12, and appeared to me like so many corks," The next problem was to interpret the passengers and crew al ike believed that said passenger Barney M. Lee. "The images received aboard the survey vesthe ship was going to sink and all would be cries of despair which were uttered by all sel. To do this several additional factors lost. But then, at noon , there was a glim- faintly reached me. I could not describe had to be considered. In 130 years would mer of hope. They sighted the brig Ma- my feelings at thi s awful moment. " the ship be covered with sediment? What rine, of Boston. As the brig came alongThe men floated for hours in the darkwould be the condi tion of the ship 's side, Captain Herndon ordered the life- ness , sometimes in groups, sometimes materials? Would all the iron be corboats launched, and the women and chil- alone. Providentially , at about one roded away? Would all timbers be disindren were lowered by ropes from the o'clock that night, the Norwegian bark tegrated by shipworms? Would the initial Central America 's deck down into the Ellen sai led into the midst of the shipimpact of the ship hitting the bottom drive wrecked men and began taking them on it beneath soft ocean sediments? Using boats. Ansel Easton remained on the Cen- board. By 9AM the next morning about the best estimates and models that scientral America , as did Billy Birch and most 50 men had been resc ued. Among those tists and engineers could provide for this of the other men. That evening, afterthe saved were Ansel Easton and Billy Birch, least understood environment on our women and chi ldren were safe, the planet, key sonar targets were semen on the sinking Central America Galatheid crabs and six-armed s1aifish pass over gold coins lected for subseq uent investigation. and bars on the collapsed timbers of the Central America. prepared for the worst. The ship The next phase of the project was settling fast, and passenger involved a major leap in deep-sea Thomas Badger described the technology, the development of a scene: " At I 0 minutes of 8 o ' clock submers ible capable of performing Capta in Herndon took position on precise archaeological tasks at presthe wheel-house with hi s second sures hundreds of times greater than officer and fired rockets downward , at the ocean's surface and in an envithe usual signal... that we were sinkronmentwith no light and near freezing rapidly." Captain Herndon reing temperatures. The major paraportedly used Ansel Easton 's cigar dox to overcome was that an "arto li ght the last rocket. chaeological machine" was needed, On board the Marine, Addie one robust enough to carefu lly lift Easton had been watching the lights heavy objects, yet delicate enough to of the Central America. She saw recover a single gold coin without the signal, and later described her marring the exquisite mint luster. feelings at that moment: " Suddenly The Ohio team met the challenge and built Nemo, a 6-ton a rocketshotoutobliquely, the lights 28
SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93
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