Scorpion’s Last Sting: The Investigation of a War of 1812 Shipwreck in the Patuxent River, Maryland

Summary

In 2010 and 2011, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), the Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) of the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), and the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) investigated a War of 1812 shipwreck (site 18PR226) in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The wreck, a relatively intact fully-decked vessel, is believed to have served in the Chesapeake Flotilla, a small fleet of gunboats and support craft commanded by Commodore Joshua Barney during the defense of Washington, D.C. Over the course of two field seasons, investigators were able to determine the dimensions and orientation of the wreck, conduct limited excavation to observe the state of preservation and construction details, and collect diagnostic artifacts for study and conservation. Initially thought to be Barney’s flagship USS Scorpion, this paper discusses the results of the project and offers alternate possibilities for vessel identification.

Cite this Record

Scorpion’s Last Sting: The Investigation of a War of 1812 Shipwreck in the Patuxent River, Maryland. Bradley A. Krueger, Robert S. Neyland, Julie Schablitsky. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434306)

Keywords

Temporal Keywords
19th Century War of 1812

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 619