GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — At the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology Conservation Lab, scientists with East Carolina University are preserving what they believe could be remains from four different shipwrecks — including one that may be the historic Spanish privateer La Fortuna, which exploded off the North Carolina coast in 1748.
The discovery was made near Carolina Beach earlier this year. The Maritime Studies Program with ECU archaeology say the remains unexpectedly washed ashore, with parts of the shipwreck looking like they had just wrecked the day before.
“Something happened to it… and the shipwreck was ripped from the muddy riverbed and deposited on the beach,” said ECU staff archaeologist Jeremy Borrelli…