Sandy Exposes Ship; Fire Island Shipwreck Uncovered Near Long Island
A buried ship was uncovered when Hurricane Sandy stormed the beach on Fire Island.
A large schooner was found wrecked and exposed on the barrier island near Long Island after the Hurricane struck the area around New York.
The wreck was discovered around four miles east of Davis Park in the Fire Island National Seashore.
The identity of the vessel has yet to be determined.
Officials from the Long Island Maritime Museum believe the wreck to be a post-Civil War cargo vessel built before 1880, according to Newsday.
According to Paula Valentine, public affairs specialist for the National park, the ship may be identified as the 90-year-old Bessie White.
The Bessie White is the likely candidate after comparing the four-mast Canadian schooner to historic photographs and records.
The ship is said to have run aground during heavy fog, but the date isn't certain as it may have happened in either 1919 or 1922. There were no reported deaths and one injury related to the incident.
The ship was left where it was stuck and later salvaged.
"There's so little of it left we may not be not be able to determine which ship it actually is, but we may be able to learn more about its age," Valentine said, according to MSNBC. "It's just a rare treat to see something exposed."
Additional photos of the wreck can be seen at the Davis Park website.
This isn't the first time the vessel's skeleton has raised from the sand. In 2005, a nor'easter helped uncover wooden boards and metal pegs, but it soon went back under.
Now officials are trying to investigate the sunken ship before it re-submerges in order to learn its true identity.
Fire Island acted as a natural barrier against the damaging winds of Hurricane Sandy. The hurricane was responsible for major breaches of seawater in the island that left 80 percent of homes in the nearby area flooded.
