Anne Corscadden Knox is hoping a diving expedition in the Florida Keys will uncover some clues regarding the 146-year-old mystery surrounding the sinking of a Civil War era ship.
‘We’ll try and come up with some type of idea of what happened, how she wrecked, how she went down,? said the 31-year-old Oxford resident, who’s originally from Ireland.
As a research associate and program coordinator with the PAST Foundation, Corscadden Knox is currently leading a group of university students from around the nation in an underwater field school whose mission is to map, document and measure the shipwreck site of the Menemon Sanford.
‘Today, was our very first day on the site,? said Corscadden Knox when interviewed via telephone July 31. ‘The visibility’s fantastic. The water is beautiful and warm, so it’s all good.?
Built and launched in 1854 in New York, the side-wheel paddle steamer named after its captain sunk when its keel was ground into the coral of the Carysfort Reef near Key Largo around 6:20 a.m. December 10, 1862.
At the time, the 244-foot-long vessel was carrying the 156th New York Volunteers plus all of the infantry regiment’s gear. The ship was bound for New Orleans where the Union soldiers were to rendezvous with General Nathan P. Banks expedition force.
All of the Sanford’s crew and the soldiers were safely evacuated to U.S. naval vessels anchored nearby, but much of the gear and supplies were lost as the vessel sunk to its watery grave.
There’s much intrigue and mystery surrounding the Sanford’s sinking.
According to Corscadden Knox, who holds a Master of Science in Maritime Archaeology and Coastal Zone Management from the University of Ulster in Coleraine, the day the Sanford struck the reef was ‘really nice? with ‘blue, clear skies and seas.?
‘So really there’s no obvious reason why she would have run aground,? she said.
History records the ship’s pilot, Captain A.W. Richardson, was placed under arrest for criminal negligence and sent to Key West under guard. Richardson’s fate is not known.
‘They think he might have been a southern sympathizer and this was an act of sabotage,? Corscadden Knox said.
Corscadden Knox’s hoping her team’s research and data could shed some new light on an old case.
‘Sometimes you can put it all together and come up with some good theory,? she said. ‘It’s like anything in archaeology, you’ll never be 100 percent sure.?
All that remains of the Sanford are metal and wood fragments of its two paddle wheels as well as remnants of its boiler submerged in about 20 feet of seawater.
Of the 2,000-plus shipwreck sites in the Florida Keys, this is the only known side-wheel paddle steamer of her type.
‘There’s probably lots more out there, but that’s the only one that’s known,? she said.
Corscadden Knox, who’s site director of this field school, and her students will be diving until Aug. 6.
‘We go down and take out the tape measures and we map it all out,? she said. ‘Hopefully, by the end of next week, we’ll have a completed site report.?
Days are for diving and evenings for transferring data. Everyday the team posts written updates and photos to its log on the PAST Foundation’s website, so the public can learn with the students as they interpret the shipwreck site.
‘Out students are doing a professional job,? Corscadden Konx said.
The students? data will be given to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and made available to the general public.
‘We’ll hand in that site map and all the research we have done,? Corscadden Knox said. ‘When we do a field school, we like to give something back.?
Although different groups have gone down to see the Sanford before, this is the first time a site map will be produced for the NOAA.
Corscadden Konx said a mapping project like this is important because these shipwreck sites aren’t going to last forever.
‘All shipwrecks are vulnerable,? she said. ‘They’re all open to degradation, especially a shipwreck in the Florida waters where it’s very warm.?
‘The wood doesn’t last that long once it’s open,? Corscadden Knox explained.
‘Once there are remains it’s important to go in and map them and document them. It’s a process that we call site formation.?
Well-documented heritage sites can be used to make informed decisions about resource protection, determine management strategies and facilitate the creation of public access programs, according to the Florida Keys National Maritime Sanctuary.
As a certified commercial and surface-supplied diver, Corscadden has visited shipwreck sites around Ireland and the United States, where she’s lived for the last four years.
She and her husband of three years, Dr. Graeme Knox, an engineer in the auto industry, just moved to Oxford a few months ago
Corscadden Konx previously worked on Gold Rush era shipwrecks in California and what’s believed to be the Queen Anne’s Revenge in North Carolina. The latter was the legendary pirate Black Beard’s flagship.
Combining her passion for archaeology and her love of diving was one of the best decisions she ever made, according to Corscadden. ‘I have probably one of the best careers you could ever have,? she said.
Corscadden Knox starting working with the Past Foundation four years ago as a student and worked her way up.
Founded in 2000, the PAST Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to promote partnerships between anthropologists and educators by implementing innovation projects throughout the U.S.
Its programs are aimed at making the work of professional archaeologists and research scientists accessible to the public. ‘We bring together different professionals with different backgrounds and create quite compelling programs,? Corscadden said.
For more information visit www.pastfoundation.org.