Beached Shipwreck Archeology: Case Studies from Channel Islands National Park

Summary

Between 1993 and 1999, the National Park Service's Submerged Resources Center worked with Channel Islands National Park to investigate three historical shipwreck sites on San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands likely to be the Pacific Coast lumber schooners J. M. Colman, Dora Bluhm and Comet. This publication presents results of those investigations and demonstrates the feasibility and historical and scientific value of rigorous study of scattered, beached shipwreck sites. which have often been dismissed as uninformative.

Study of scant remains at. the Northwest Cove and Cluster Point sites clearly confirms how much can be learned from scattered, beached shipwreck remains. This project has shown that precise, systematic testing and examination of even widely scattered, disarticulated hull elements and fragments can produce viable interpretations that contribute directly to our knowledge about specific vessels and vessel types. The methodology reported here of comparative analysis of element and fragment shape and characteristics; scantling size; fastener type, size and number; and wood species to original construction contracts, published classification rules and extant vessels makes it possible for researchers to distinguish between structural and nonstructural members, and identify hull elements and fragments. This methodological approach led to confirmation that several features from Northwest Cove and Cluster Point are most likely structural members from wooden, ocean-going vessels with construction consistent with late-nineteenth century practices, making association with J. M. Colman and Dora Bluhm a high probability.

The schooner Comer's bow, although representing only about 10% of the hull, is one of the most well preserved historical shipwreck sites in Channel Islands National Park and one of the best-preserved wooden shipwrecks recorded on the West Coast. Comet's bow is historically significant because it represents a regionally important vessel type linked to the economic development of major metropolitan areas on the Pacific Coast, and it offers insight into West Coast shipbuilding practices, especially those particular to lumber schooners. Comet and the possible J. M. Colman and Dora Bluhm site

documentation reponed in this publication expand our knowledge about a vessel type integral to Pacific Coast maritime history.

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): National Park Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; Submerged Resources Center

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