http://n.yam.com/cna/international/201110/20111024763483.html
沉沒兩百年 美將打撈天蠍號艦
中央社╱中央社 2011-10-24 07:08
(中央社記者周永捷華盛頓23日專電)一艘參與1812年美、英戰爭,在寡不敵眾下,自行鑿沉於馬里蘭州巴杜森河的美軍旗艦天蠍號,即將被打撈問世,揭開200年前這場重要戰事的秘密。
美國國防部軍事新聞指出,美國海軍水下考古部門負責人尼蘭(Bob Neyland)日前在國防部會議上討論挖掘在1812年美、英戰爭中沉沒的天蠍號。
天蠍號是當時美國海軍准將巴尼(Joshua Barney)轄下切薩格克灣(Chesapeake Bay)艦隊的旗艦。天蠍號當時就停靠在華府外30分鐘航程的地方。
1812年美、英海戰時,巴尼負責保衛華府免受英軍入侵。他指揮的切薩格克灣艦隊參與數場戰役,在消耗英軍資源、牽制英軍入侵上扮演重要的角色。
不過,在聖里納德河(St. Leonard\s Creek)之役後,巴尼被迫逃到馬里蘭州巴杜森河(Patuxent River),就是現在靠近馬州4號公路的地方。他在被包圍下重傷,彈盡援絕,為了避免英軍攫取資源,他下令鑿沉包括天蠍號在內的艦隊殘部。
尼蘭表示,直到現在,還是很少人知道薩格克灣艦隊的構造,特別是天蠍號。歷史學家除了知道天蠍號是1艘建於1806年的雙桅帆船砲艦,對於它的整體構造所知甚少。
尼蘭指出,考古學家已經在沉沒的薩格克灣艦隊數艘軍艦上發現一些個人物品,其中包括1只烈酒酒杯,杯上刻有「C.W.」。「C.W.」是1名被分派到天蠍號上非裔美國水手萬伍斯(Caesar Wentworth)名字首個字母的縮寫。這些證據顯示海底殘骸之一就是天蠍號。
隨著挖掘工作的持續進行,海軍水下考古部門打算用天蠍號做為1812年英美戰爭兩百週年紀念的展出內容,屆時被打撈上岸的天蠍號將參與2013年紀念活動。
尼蘭表示,屆時他和他的團隊會把抽水機放在天蠍號周圍,抽乾天蠍號內外的積水,讓天蠍號完全呈現於世人面前。過程將透過網路攝影機讓民眾觀看。
http://www.dodlive.mil/index.php/tag/uss-scorpion/
War of 1812 Flagship Reveals Its Secrets
By Bradley Cantor
Emerging Media, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A U.S. Navy ship that’s rested on the bottom of the Patuxent River for nearly 200 years is slowly revealing its secrets to archaeologists, a senior Navy administrator said yesterday.
During a “DOD Live” bloggers roundtable, Bob Neyland, head of the Navy’s underwater archaeology branch, discussed the excavation of the USS Scorpion, which was scuttled during the War of 1812.
The Scorpion, the flagship of Commodore Joshua Barney’s Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, is located about 30 minutes outside Washington.
During the War of 1812, Barney was charged to protect Washington from invading British forces. Barney’s plan called for the construction of a flotilla containing smaller barges and gunboats that would be able to outmaneuver the larger British ships in the shallow Chesapeake waters.
The flotilla fought in several battles and played a key role in draining British resources and slowing the invasion. However, Barney’s Chesapeake Bay Flotilla met its end Aug. 22, 1814.
After the Battle of St. Leonard’s Creek, Barney was forced to flee up the Patuxent River to what is now Highway 4, near Pig Point, Md. He was outflanked, seriously wounded, and had used up most of his ammunition. Neyland said it was there that Barney scuttled his flotilla, including the USS Scorpion, to prevent the approaching British navy from commandeering his vessels.
As the flotilla sank, Barney and his remaining crew left Pig Point and made their way to join American troops and citizen-soldiers fighting at the Battle of Bladensburg, Md. As the British forces overcame the Americans, many of the citizen-soldiers retreated, but Barney and his crew stayed to fight. In the end, they were among the last on the battlefield. Barney died in Pittsburgh in 1818 while traveling to Kentucky, where he planned to retire.
Until now, little was known about the construction of Barney’s fleet and, in particular, the Scorpion. Historians knew the Scorpion was a converted gunboat, built in 1806. “We really don’t know a whole lot about the construction of it,” Neyland said, “other than it was one of the larger sloop brig vessels.”
In the late 1970s, amateur archaeologists found wreckage on the same spot where Barney scuttled his flotilla. Preliminary evidence suggested the wreckage dated to the War of 1812.
“They verified that it was a War of 1812 vessel from recovered parts of a surgeon’s kit, [and from] materials that were appropriate to the War of 1812,” Neyland said.
The location suggested the wreckage was part of Barney’s flotilla. But additional and deeper exploration yielded evidence that removed all doubt that the flagship USS Scorpion, had indeed been found.
Archaeologists have found some very telling personal items aboard one of the vessels, Neyland said.
“They found a grog cup … and the initials C.W. were on that cup,” Neyland said. “The only C.W. listed with Barney was an African-American sailor named Caesar Wentworth. He was assigned to … Barney’s flagship, called the Scorpion. So, hence, that’s part of the evidence that suggests the wreck we are looking at today is that of the Scorpion.”
With the excavation under way, the plan is in place to make the USS Scorpion part of the War of 1812 bicentennial commemoration. The commemoration will start in 2012 and continue through 2014. The Scorpion will join the commemoration in 2013. At that point, Neyland said, he and his team will put a steel structure – called a cofferdam — around the 75-foot shipwreck. The water will then be pumped out, thus fully excavating the USS Scorpion.
This method allows a more detailed recording of artifacts and the hull, Neyland said, and will allow for public viewing both on the site and by webcam.
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