3D Sonar Map Reveals Details of Civil War Wreck
A 3D sonar map released by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, ExploreOcean, Teledyne Blueview and Northwest Hydro shows previously unseen details of the USS Hatteras, the only Union warship sunk in combat in the Gulf of Mexico during the Civil War. The wreck of the Hatteras is largely intact, resting 57 feet underwater in sand and silt.
Recent hurricanes and storms have removed some of the sediment and sand that once encased the vessel like a time capsule. Given shifting sands may once again rebury the Hatteras, the team used a short window of opportunity for a two-day mission in September 2012 to create 3D photo mosaics for research, education and outreach purposes.
James Delgado, director of maritime heritage for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, said that thanks to the high-resolution sonar, a 3D map that provides measurements and observations could be created. This enables researchers and the public to 'swim', virtually, through the wreck's exposed remains and even look below the surface at structure buried in loose silt.
Delgado said the survey revealed previously unknown details, such as the survival of most of one paddlewheel. The ship's stern and rudder are emerging from the sand. The three-dimensional map also plots damage to engine room machinery and the ship's paddlewheel shaft, which seems to have bent when the ship capsized and sank after being shot full of holes.
One hundred and fifty years ago today, approximately 20 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas, the Hatteras, an iron-hulled steamship the U.S. Navy converted into a gunboat, was sunk during a battle with the famous Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama. The battle was one of the skirmishes that saw the key southern port of Galveston change hands twice and remain one of the last bastions of the Confederacy.
The USS Hatteras is located in federal waters administered by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), but the ship itself is administered by the Navy. The vessel is protected by the Sunken Military Craft Act as a war grave.
