The shipwreck at Vernon Basin was possibly a sailing vessel, such as coastal schooner, brig, or small fully-rigged vessel and may have been built between 1840 and 1860. It is wooden with copper sheathing covering the bottom of its hull. The interior of the hull is filled with gravel and lacks any remains of cultural material. The gravel may be indicative of ballast, or the vessel may have been a gravel ship. Burn marks on parts of the wood possibly due to fire suggest the vessel may have been purposely sunk.
NOAA Ocean Exploration rediscovered and explored this shipwreck site in the Vernon Basin on May 16, 2019, at the southern section of the Florida escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico during a shakedown expedition aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer — equipped with an Insight Pacific Zeus Plus camera capable of collecting high-definition footage — was used to document the site, which is at a depth of approximately 560 meters and is approximately 37.8 meters long.
A photogrammetric model of this site made by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) already exists. These two models from NOAA Ocean Exploration are based on the same data using footage from timestamps 20:35 to 23:00. This footage was processed into still images using Photoshop and was color corrected. 4,011 images were used for the two photo models of the site.
The full annotated video of this dive can be viewed on SeaTube.
Site Name: Vernon Basin
Type: UCH
UCH Vessel Date Built: 1840-1860
UCH Vessel Date Sank: Unknown
Hull Material: Wood
Official Number: N/A
Expedition Number: EX1902
Expedition Name: Shakedown and Sea Trials 2019
ROV Dive Number: 03
ROV Dive Date: May 16, 2019
Location: Gulf of Mexico, Florida escarpment
Depth: 560 meters
Length: Approximately 37.8 meters
Width: Unknown
ROV Used: Deep Discoverer
Camera Information: Insight Zeus Plus HD, 3-CCD color camera with 2/3-inch 2,200,000 pixel 1080i IT CCDs
Video or Stills: Video
Number of Images Used/Format: 4,011/JPG
Image Alignment Percentage: 80%
Number of Tie Points: 725,552
Link to Raw Video Footage: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ocean-exploration/video/?cruiseId=EX1902&oerkey=DIVE03
Time to Complete: 7 hours
Orthomosaic Views Available: No
Images Available: Yes
Animations Available: Yes
Available File Exports/Location/POC: archaeology.oceanexploration@noaa.gov
Link to NOAA Ocean Exploration Project Page: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1902/welcome.html
Software: Agisoft Metashape Standard Version 2.0.1.
Developer: Raymond Phipps, NOAA Ocean Exploration explorer-in-training, June 24, 2023.
Credit: Model courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Shakedown and Sea Trials 2019.
