-
Jun 20, 2007 9:57 pm US/Eastern
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Divers Search For Sunken Lighthouse Off Coast
by Sera Congi
COHASETT (WBZ) ―
Normally deployed to maintain buoys along the Massachusetts coastine, Coast Guard Cutter Abbie Burgess is about to embark on a different mission.
The underwater hunt for a sunken lighthouse -- off Cohasset Harbor.
"Kind of like pirates of the Caribbean... looking for treasure down there so it's fun," said Lt. Shawn Deweese.
They are looking for what's left of Minot's Ledge Lighthouse -- which collapsed into the sea in 1851 during a violent storm.
"It stood for about a year and half. The keepers noticed it had structure weakness," said Coast Guard historian Bill Thiesen.
Two lighthouse keepers were killed in the collapse.
A special plaque honoring the men was dropped today at the site of wreckage.
"Light keepers were part of the original Coast Guard so this gives us a sense of purpose," said diver Petty Officer Michael Lewis.
Their purpose all this week -- to dive 40 feet to the ocean floor -- searching for pieces of the lighthouse -- and any clues as to what happened nearly 160 years ago.
At the time, the lighthouse with its iron legs was cutting edge -- but after the collapse -- they rebuilt the old fashioned way -- with stone... and that's stood the test of time.
And just a few days into their mission -- success. Important pieces of the lighthouse have been identified.
"It makes the last 2 1/2 days -- and year of research come to light ... come to fruition," said underwater archeologist Victor Mastone.
The ultimate goal is to establish an underwater preserve around the lighthouse.
If that happens, it would be the first of its kind in Massachusetts.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)