Scientists have found a missing shipwreck 153 years after it disappeared into the ocean deep.
The Robert J. Walker was a steamer that charted the gulf coast for the U.S. Coast Survey,a National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration press release reported. The sinking was the "largest loss of life in the history of the coast survey."
"Coast Guardsmen are always saddened by the loss of life at sea and especially so when those lost were working to make the lives of other mariners safer by charting the waters of the United States," Admiral Robert J. Papp, commandant of the Coast Guard, said.
Twenty sailors died in the 1980s shipwreck that happened off the New Jersey coast.
The ship had been sailing to New York when it was struck by a commercial schooner, causing it to sink within 30 minutes. It had been one of the first iron-hulled steamers.
"Before this identification was made, the wreck was just an anonymous symbol on navigation charts," Rear Admiral Gerd Glang, director of NOAA's Office of Coast Survey, said. "Now, we can truly honor the 20 members of the crew and their final resting place. It will mark a profound sacrifice by the men who served during a remarkable time in our history."
The U.S. Coast Service set out to chart the oceans and provide essential nautical maps in 1807. The survey plugged through, even in the height of the Civil War.
"A Heavy sea was running, and many of the men were doubtless washed off the spars and drowned from the mere exhaustion of holding on, while others were killed or stunned on rising to the surface by concussion with spars and other parts of the wreck," the New York Post reported in 1860, at the time of the shipwreck.
The Walker wreck has been explored by divers since the 1970s, only recently was its identity revealed.
"The identification of Walker is a result of excellent collaboration with the local community,"James P. Delgado, director of maritime heritage for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, said "We look forward to working with our local partners to share Walker's story with the public in a manner that both promotes educational dive tourism and protects this nationally significant wreck and gravesite."
The wreck was still pointing to the Absecon lighthouse, the destination it never made it to.
