'Cutter Bear' wreck found after 58-year search

[Kyng]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world...39416.html

Almost 150 years after rolling off a Scottish shipyard, the legendary US Revenue Cutter Bear has been found off the coast of Canada.

Its discovery near Nova Scotia brings an end to the 60-year search for the iconic steam and sail-powered vessel famous for Arctic rescues and helping capture a German spy boat during World War II.

The Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced they are "reasonably certain" a wreck found in 2019 is the missing US Revenue Cutter Bear.

Before it sank in 1963, the Bear was already considered a historically significant ship after decades of service in the US Navy and the US Coast Guard.

Originally built in Scotland in 1874 as part of a commercial sealing fleet operating off Newfoundland, it was purchased by the US government 10 years later to join the US Navy fleet to rescue the Greely Expedition to the Arctic.

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Wow, it seems that this ship had quite a history . She was captained by Michael A. Healy (the first African-American to captain a US government vessel), and in World War II, she became one of the last sailing ships to serve in a theatre of war.

It's a crying shame she was lost, since her historical significance would have made her a great museum ship; however, at least we know where her wreck is now.

[loves2chat]

I wonder if this ship will suffer the same fate as the Titanic in that it's unrecoverable. I appreciate this ship sank a lot later than the Titanic did but given it being constructed of wood I wonder with it being in the sea if the wood will have rotted to such an extent that it would collapse if it was moved, Or if sea life will have preserved it in some way. I am also not sure if when it sank what damage happened to it. I am no expert in any of this but I wonder if there are sea creatures that will be feeding from the wood and speeding up the rotting process. I don't know but I do wonder. I do agree though that it's sad when ships that have historic significance sink, meaning they probably won't be able to be put in a museum.

[Kyng]

I wonder if this ship will suffer the same fate as the Titanic in that it's unrecoverable. I appreciate this ship sank a lot later than the Titanic did but given it being constructed of wood I wonder with it being in the sea if the wood will have rotted to such an extent that it would collapse if it was moved, Or if sea life will have preserved it in some way. I am also not sure if when it sank what damage happened to it. I am no expert in any of this but I wonder if there are sea creatures that will be feeding from the wood and speeding up the rotting process. I don't know but I do wonder. I do agree though that it's sad when ships that have historic significance sink, meaning they probably won't be able to be put in a museum.

Yes, sadly, it probably would be unrecoverable by now . Judging from this picture in the article, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot left of it.

There was one example of a wooden ship that was raised and put in a museum after over 300 years underwater (the Vasa, in Stockholm). However, that was only possible because it sank in water that didn't have shipworms, so it didn't rot. (Unfortunately, it seems that the Cutter Bear wasn't so lucky )