Huge bell salvaged from Gulf

PNJ.com: Huge bell salvaged from Gulf

GULF SHORES, Ala. — A part of forgotten history buried in what some explorers call the Graveyard of the Gulf is finding new life 150 years later.

A Gulf Shores maritime exploration group has located the remains of the British Barque Amstel, a merchant sailing ship that was grounded in shallow waters in the early days of the Civil War.

Fathom Exploration of Gulf Shores found the ship's cargo — including a 700-pound bronze bell — in about 30 feet of water in the area known as the Mobile Bar near the entrance of Mobile Bay.

David Anderson, who located the remains about eight years ago, researched the site and the cargo for eight years before revealing his find on Thursday.

"There is no ship," said Anderson, president and CEO of Fathom. "There is no mast sticking up and no wood or hull structure to be seen. Simply, the cargo mound is what you see."

But the cargo is impressive.

Anderson unveiled the 30-inch tall bell — with a 31-inch diameter — at a news conference Thursday at Lulu's restaurant and entertainment complex in Gulf Shores. He also showed off a rugged slab of Pennsylvania Blue Stone, tons of which were found in the wreckage field.

He believes the stone was meant for the construction of a building, while the bell was meant for, well, who knows?

"It's way too big for a ship's bell," he said. "It was most likely meant to go in a large church or town hall or university."

So, "If you were building something big in the spring of 1861 and lost your cargo, then we probably found it," he told the crowd of about 50 people.

Years of research
Anderson said his research has led him to believe that the 250-foot Amstel originally was a Dutch ship that was sold or leased to a British firm.

In May of 1861, just weeks into the beginning of the Civil War, the Amstel was sailing into Mobile Bay from New England to pick up cotton. President Lincoln had ordered a blockade of all Southern ports, but the blockade was not yet in effect at Mobile Bay.

The ship was grounded in the shallows of Mobile Bar — a hazardous sandbar stretch — as it attempted to enter Mobile Bay. Before a salvage ship could carry its cargo off, Union ships enforced the blockade and the Amstel was abandoned on the sandbar within sight of nearby Fort Morgan.

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Over time, the ship disintegrated and was forgotten.

Anderson and his group were unaware of the Amstel when they discovered its cargo in the early 2000s while doing underwater survey work.

For a few years — before they found the bell in the dark, murky waters — Anderson and his crew didn't think the wreck was anything special.

It wasn't until 2004 that Anderson found the bell, saw the 1861 date on it, and began his research.

Shared with all
Jim Phillips, owner of MBT Divers in Pensacola, attended the news conference. He is a friend of Anderson's and has been teased by the unknown find for years.

"He wouldn't tell me," Phillips said, moments after Anderson rang the bell three times with a heavy mallet. "He said 'You have to be patient. You have to be patient'. It's pretty exciting. But around here, every time you go down, it's an adventure. You don't know what you will find."

Anderson said the excavation and study of the Amstel will take years.

The fate of the ship's cargo eventually should be settled by a federal court, though Anderson has no idea when that could happen.

For now, Anderson and his company have filed paperwork in court to protect their status as the finders of the wreck. To keep looters away, they are not revealing the exact location of the wreck.

The bell, made by the Meneely Bell Foundry of West Troy, N.Y., in 1861, will remain on display at Lulu's on a temporary basis.

Anderson said he hopes that the bell's final resting place will be somewhere in Alabama where it can be appreciated by the public.