Artifact Trove on Deepest Shipwreck Explored off U.S.
Deepest wreck under investigation in U.S. waters holds well-preserved clues to its mission and crew.
Artifacts such as eyeglasses, navigational equipment, and telescopes indicate that no one made it off the copper-clad ship—dubbed the "Monterey Shipwreck," noted James Delgado, director of maritime heritage with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Office of Marine Sanctuaries. (See pictures from the wreck.)
"If you were in the midst of abandoning ship and getting into a lifeboat [and trying to] navigate your way home, you would grab your navigational instruments, your telescope. Those were all lying there," he said.
"You look at all of that and it hits you—nobody made it off this ship alive because all of their stuff is there."
The physical connection of interacting with artifacts was something that touched all of us, said
