FORT MORGAN, Ala. — When the waves from Hurricane Ike receded, they left behind a mysterya ragged shipwreck that archaeologists say could be a two-masted Civil War schooner that ran aground in 1862 or another ship from about 70 years later.
The wreck, about 6 miles from Fort Morgan, had already been partially uncovered when Hurricane Camille cleared away sand in 1969. Researchers at the time identified it as the Monticello, a battleship that partially burned when it crashed trying to get past the U.S. Navy and into Mobile Bay during the Civil War.
But Bailey said a 2000 report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined the remains were the schooner Rachel, built at Moss Point, Miss., in 1919 and wrecked near Fort Morgan in 1933.
Glenn Forest, another archaeologist who examined the wreck, said a full identification would require an excavation.
“It’s a valuable artifact,” he said. “They need to get this thing inside before it falls apart or another storm comes along and sends it through those houses there like a bowling ball.”
