Charleston, SC - Mapping out an underwater battleground. 

Archaeologists are scouring Charleston harbor's ocean floor for wreckage from the civil war.

The USS Patapsco failed in its attack on Charleston in April 1863 and later sank when it struck a torpedo off Fort Sumter. She now lies at the bottom of the Charleston harbor.

USC underwater archaeologist James Spirek has located the shattered vessel.

"We believe the bow points towards Cummings Point and that the stern is facing out towards Mt. Pleasant," Spirek said.

All week Spirik and his team have gone to the depths of the ocean searching for the union ironclad ship.

"We have actual pieces of the hull, where they should be. We've been able to find some frames of the vessel. We've found the outer hull," according to Spirek.

Using sonar devices, divers detected a piece of modern day dredging pipe resting on the historic remains.

"And we used it as a jumping point and know if we measured 15 meters one way and from the point heading to the other side of the pipe 10 meters and that should be some wreck found on a sonar image."

The divers reported good visibility and were actually able to see 12 inches of the vessel.

"And they were able to get a little bit of video of various parts of the ship,“ Spirek says.

Today the researchers wrapped up their operation to preserve and help interpret the Charleston harbor naval battlefield

“I think we've got a good picture of the wreck,” Spirek concluded.

The next step is documenting all of the underwater mapping.

Not all of  the vessel remains in the harbor. In the 1870's, the US Corps of Engineers recovered the pilot house and some machinery. 

 Email To Friend