It was a pirate's life for Adm. Henry Morgan and now landlubbers can get a peek into the time during which the plundering privateer lived. Archaeologists have uncovered what they believe to be the Welshman's flagship.
An underwater archeological team consisting of divers from Texas State University, volunteers from the National Park Service's Submerged Resources Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/University of North Carolina-Wilmington's Aquarius Reef Base set off for the Chagres River in Central Panama. Using a magnetometer to help them scour the ocean floor for iron remains, they spotted a slight piece of ship hull in the sand.
"It was like looking for a needle in a haystack," said Frederick "Fritz" Hanselmann, chief underwater archaeologist and dive training officer with the River Systems Institute/Aquarena Center at Texas State University.
He was not exaggerating. Only about 2 inches of the hull were sticking up but after further excavation, the team found a ship hull and several wooden chests 2 feet into the mud and clay, leading them to believe that they had found Morgan's ship, "Satisfaction," dating back to 1671. It is the first successful archeological excavation in that area.
While Hanselmann is fairly positive that he won't find any gold or jewels, for him and the team, the history is the biggest "booty" they could have hoped for.
"The treasure is the history," Hanselmann said. "Everything we do is not for profit."
Not that they needed the money. The company that was made famous using Morgan's image, Captain Morgan's Rum, put up a substantial amount of money to back the dig, Hanselmann said.
Tom Herbst, brand manager for Captain Morgan's Rum, said in a statement. "When the opportunity arose for us to help make this discovery mission possible, it was a natural fit for us to get involved," he said. "The artifacts uncovered during this mission will help bring Henry Morgan and his adventures to life in a way never thought possible."
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