Carpeted with Ammunition: Investigations of the Florence D shipwreck site, Northern Territory, Australia
Author(s): Jason, T. Raupp; David Steinberg
Year: 2017
Summary
The American transport ship Florence D disappeared in the murky waters off of the Tiwi Islands after being bombed by Japanese fighter planes on their return from the first air attack on Darwin Harbour on 19 February 1942. Considered one Australia’s great wartime mysteries, the location of the site was unknown until discovered by a local fisherman in 2006. Archaeological investigations of the wreck later conducted by teams from the Northern Territory’s Heritage Branch verified the identity of the wreck as that of Florence D. This paper provides an historical background for the ship and its involvement in the South West Pacific theater of WWII, archaeological research conducted at the site, and efforts to protect it and the public through declaration as an historic shipwreck under the Commonwealth’s Historic Shipwreck Act.
Cite this Record
Carpeted with Ammunition: Investigations of the Florence D shipwreck site, Northern Territory, Australia. Jason, T. Raupp, David Steinberg. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Fort Worth, TX. 2017 ( tDAR id: 435530)
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Keywords
General
Australia
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Shipwreck
•
WWII
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
WWII
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): 678