{"id":37512,"date":"2019-07-13T18:33:12","date_gmt":"2019-07-13T18:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/13\/another-revolutionary-war-shipwreck-found-in-york-river\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:42:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:42:20","slug":"another-revolutionary-war-shipwreck-found-in-york-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/07\/13\/another-revolutionary-war-shipwreck-found-in-york-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Revolutionary War shipwreck found in York River"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

YORKTOWN, Va. \u2014 Researchers scouting the York River for Revolutionary War shipwrecks believe they\u2019ve found another one \u2014 complete with cannons, \u201ca historic diver\u2019s dream,\u201d said one of the explorers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most of the 10 wrecks previously discovered, this one is entombed in the muck, a ghostly witness to America’s fight for freedom, shrouded with a mound of silt and oyster shells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wrecks are a reminder that Yorktown played a pivotal role in our country’s first chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, Philadelphia can claim the Declaration of Independence<\/a>, adopted there on July 4, 1776.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this small town on the York River was the scene of the bloody bookend, the last major battle of the war. The wrecks are the remnants of Lord Charles Cornwallis\u2019 fleet, sunk in 1781 during the Siege of Yorktown<\/a>, a 25,000-man slugfest that finally broke the back of British rule in the colonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many as 40 British ships were lost here, forgotten for hundreds of years. Explorations in the 20th century located the bulk of the known sites, leading the area to become the first underwater listing on the National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But with no comprehensive surveys done in decades, it’s been a long time since any new discoveries have been made, especially ones including cannon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just incredible,\u201d said Ryan Johnston, one of the partners in JRS Explorations, a Yorktown-based outfit created to try to map and preserve what\u2019s left of the ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a few of the known wrecks have yielded any kind of cannon. When these were found June 19, Johnston said, the team could only think “you’re kidding me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\t