A group of dedicated researchers were stunned when they recently came face to face with a ship that had never been seen before. 168 years old.
Opening of the steamship The Lyonnais was recently announced by Atlantic Wreck Salvage (AWS). AWS, which owns and operates the vessel D/V Thrustfound a ship near the shore coast of southeastern Massachusetts.
The ship was built in 1855 and sailed for only a year before it sank on its maiden voyage back to Le Havre, France, November 2, 1856 The ship collided with a ship called Adriatic Seawho received scratches during the collision and flew away from the scene.
The Lyonnais A small hole was left behind, which eventually sank the ship a few days later. Of the ship's 132 passengers and crew, 114 died, and the few who survived the sinking were stranded in a lifeboat for a week.
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Recently, researchers discovered the remains of the sunken ship Le Lyonnais, which dates back to 1856. (Andrew Donn/Atlantic Wreck Salvage)
In an interview with Fox News Digital, AWS' Jennifer Sellitti said it was “hard to explain” how she felt when her team found the ship. She and her partner Joe Mazraani had been searching for the vessel for eight years.
“For the crew, it was a mixed feeling of relief and joy, but there was also a sense of ‘What next?’,” she explained. “For me personally, I spent so much time trying to get to know and tell the stories of the people who sailed on board The Lyonnais that finding her was a comfort to me – a way to help those who died so long ago finally rest in peace.”
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During the search, part of the Le Lyonnais engine cylinder was discovered. (Andrew Donn/Atlantic Wreck Salvage)
Sellitti, who works as a public defender in New Jersey and also runs operations D/V ThrustShe added that she had always been confident that the wreckage still existed, but doubted whether she and her team would be able to find it.
“The North Atlantic is notoriously cruel to wrecks,” she said. “Storms, currents, shifting sands and fishing gear can tear these wrecks apart. Many older wrecks are completely buried under the ocean over time.”
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Le Lyonnais was in the waters off the coast of Massachusetts. (Jennifer Sellitti / Atlantic Wreck Salvage)
“It's often difficult to find wrecks in the Nantucket shallows because the geology of the bottom can hide them on sonar records,” Sellitti added. “We were also concerned that when we found one, it would be off the continental shelf in over a thousand feet of water.”
The shipwreck enthusiast added that the story The Lyonnais more than just a shipwreck. Her forthcoming book, The Adriatic Affair: A Hit-and-Run Maritime Incident Off Nantucket, details the shipwreck and will be released in February.
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“The 1850s were a time of transition from sail to steam,” Sellitti explained. “This transition left merchants, insurers and countries around the world grappling with issues such as what happens when a sailing ship and a steam-powered vessel meet at sea, who is responsible for collisions between ships from different countries and what laws apply on the high seas.”
It took the Atlantic Wreck Salvage team more than eight years to locate the sunken ship. (Jennifer Sellitti / Atlantic Wreck Salvage)
While Sellitti said the ship is “not very well preserved,” she looks forward to fully documenting the wreck, which will likely take years.
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“Shipwrecks are remnants of bygone eras,” the maritime expert said. “They are frozen moments in time that connect us to history in a way that stories alone cannot.”