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Copper Hull Plate & Chandlery Billhead, S.S. Central America [159100]

Currency:USD Category:Artifacts / Shipwreck Artifacts Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 USD and UP
Copper Hull Plate & Chandlery Billhead, S.S. Central America [159100]
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A sheet of copper recovered from the S.S. Central America shipwreck. The entire hull below the ship's waterline was covered in copper sheathing to prevent fouling by marine plant and animal growth (e.g. barnacles, limpets, marine grasses, etc.). Prior to her 43rd voyage, the ship, at that time named the S.S. George Law, was put in for repair and maintenance of the hull sheathing, boilers, and engines. During this repair, the ship was renamed the S.S. Central America. The ship made its 43rd voyage traveling from New York to Panama and sank on the 44th as it was returning to New York. This copper sheet is 32 x 14 inches, and it shows a triangular pattern of nail holes with spacings between 3.75 and 4 inches. The much more closely spaced nail holes along three edges are about 1.25 inches apart. The lot comes with an original billhead for Wm. A. Freeborn & Co. of New York, a ship's chandlery company. The box at left indicates Freeborn sold copper sheathing for re-coppering ships, and it may be this very company that sold this copper plate to the US Mail Steamship Company for the re-coppering of the S.S. Central America. "Dealers in new and old sheathing copper." This document was found in Purser Hull's safe.

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Provenance: SS Central America Collection