New Investigations into the Radford Wreck: Interpreting a Candidate for Cape Lookout’s Lost Whaler

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The Radford Wreck, CLS0006, is a 3.6 x 1.5 meter portion of ships’ stern located at the mouth of a shallow creek in North Carolina’s Cape Lookout National Seashore. Efforts to determine the vessel’s identity suggest the Provincetown, Massachusetts fishing schooner Seychelle a potential candidate. Wrecked on Cape Lookout during its maiden voyage to the Hatteras whaling grounds in 1879, Seychelle’s size and construction features are consistent with data recovered at the Radford Wreck. In addition to archaeological survey, historical research, and computer-aided modeling, subject matter experts from the Cape Ann Museum and Virginia Tech’s Department of Sustainable Biomaterials wood lab were consulted to better inform presented conclusions. This poster encapsulates a portion of the author’s ongoing master’s thesis with the intention of highlighting discernable archaeological features of converted mid-19th century whaling schooners.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• 2023 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow