PHOTOGRAPHY BY KENNY HAND
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beachbites
PEOPLE | CULTURE | HAPPENINGS | TRENDS
Top: Historical map dated 1925 shows the general
location of wrecks near Wrightsville at that time.
Center and bottom: The remains of a shipwreck, most
likely The Fanny and Jenny, were spotted by Kenny
Hand of KowaBunga Surf School while paddleboard
fishing near the Masonboro Inlet north jetty in August.
Crews from the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the North Carolina
office of State Archaeology plan to revisit the wreck of The Fanny and
Jenny this fall. Confirming the wreck’s bearings, along with the locations of
The Emily of London and the USS Columbia, will be the primary objective.
Gordon Watts of Tidewater Atlantic Research, the state’s first underwater
archaeologist, who has been engaged in underwater research for more than
40 years, is a former East Carolina University professor of maritime history and
underwater archaeology and is affiliated with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.
Watts confirmed that photos of a south end shipwreck taken in late August and
submitted by KowaBunga Surf School owner Kenny Hand were from The Fanny and
Jenny, a Civil War blockade-runner seized by Union forces, which was set ablaze and
sunk in February, 1864.
Visibility was good the day that Hand says he dove into 5 to 10 feet of water
to photograph the parts of the wreck that were exposed on the ocean side of the
Masonboro Inlet north jetty wall.
Hand says approximately 200 to 250 yards offshore, about 40 to 50 feet of the
wreck is exposed. The bow of the ship points south toward the inlet and the stern
faces north. His close-up inspection reveals parts of the ship’s steam propulsion
system including a pressure tank, a piston, a spindle and shaft.
“Definitely, it has a paddle wheel shaft,” Watts says. “That’s what we identified it
as years ago.”
Watts confirms The Fanny and Jenny is located on the ocean side of the north jetty,
about two-thirds of the way past the beginning of the capped sheet pile bulkhead
before the stone rubble begins. The Emily lies north of The Fanny and Jenny. Another
wreck was located at the end of the Crystal Pier before it was partially destroyed
during a recent hurricane. A third, which everyone thought was the USS Columbia
— they’re still not entirely sure — is located at the east end of the jetty. Three
decades ago, Watts says wreckage material was also found between Masonboro’s
two jetties.
Meanwhile, Watts says divers who want a closer look should be aware that if the
uncovered wreck is the Columbia, the site falls under the jurisdiction of the Naval
Historical Center. Removing artifacts is a violation of state and federal law.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
MAP COURTESY ROBERT FALES COLLECTION 0262 NEW HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
South End Shipwrecks
The Wreck of
The Fanny and Jenny
by MARIMAR MCNAUGHTON