Uncovering the Mysteries of the Brick Wreck

The waters surrounding Pensacola, Florida, are host to many unique shipwreck sites spanning the last four and a half centuries. One such site is the Brick Wreck, a 19th-century wooden ship associated with Pensacola’s brick industry. The site was first discovered during a remote-sensing survey of Pensacola Bay conducted by a team of underwater archaeologists from the University of West Florida in 2006. Subsequent dives on the site revealed a submerged brick pile, but nothing else to indicate the presence of a shipwreck.

During the summer 2007 UWF Maritime Field School (see the November 2007 issue of Scuba News), a team of students returned to the site and determined there was, in fact, a wood structure buried underneath the sediment. This discovery led to further test excavation of the site, beginning in January 2008 and currently ongoing.

The site is located in Pensacola Bay at a depth of about 13 feet. The wreck is completely buried under thick mud and, as a result, is remarkably well preserved. Additionally, the vessel appears to be fairly intact. Because of the murky water and dark sediment, visibility on the site generally is low, but varies from zero to upwards of five feet. The wreck appears to be oriented north/south and the site extends 42 feet (13 meters) in length and 39 feet (12 meters) in width, which includes vessel structure and associated material such as the brick cargo.

Test excavations were conducted using aluminum grid frames measured from an overall site baseline. A water induction dredge was used to remove sediment, which was sorted topside.

Artifacts were bagged and sent to the Maritime Conservation Lab at the University of West Florida for conservation and analysis. In addition to excavation, divers also probed to determine the site’s extent from north to south and from east to west, and conducted an underwater metal detector survey of the site.

Three areas were chosen for test excavation: the area where wood structure was first detected; the western extent of the site; and the submerged brick pile. Excavation of the first area revealed the structure to be a wooden hatch, 6.5 feet square (roughly 2 meters by 2 meters) in size and containing a large quantity of brick. The second area revealed the side of the ship with the hull appearing to be very well preserved and still intact. The third test excavation area revealed that the submerged bricks were still stacked in a pallet-like formation.

The large quantity of stacked bricks indicates they were the ship’s primary cargo, as opposed to being carried simply as ballast. Divers examined several of these bricks in hopes of finding makers’ marks to determine what brickyards made them, but thus far none have been found.

A sample of bricks from the hatch and brick pile have been examined and appear to be locally produced, based on color of the clay and various inclusions in the clay. Markings on the ends of the bricks, made by wires that cut the bricks to size during production, helped in establishing a time-frame for the bricks’ manufacture. Since wire-cut brick did not appear until the mid-19th century, this clue indicates a date for the brick and, by extension, the shipwreck as well.

Wood samples also were collected from the site which will help to determine where the vessel was constructed. Samples were taken from the hatch, inner hull planking, outer hull planking, one of the frames, and from an unidentified structural feature attached to the inner hull planking. Other artifacts collected include concretions, wrought-iron fastener fragments, organics, and an intact iron spike.

From the work that has been conducted so far, the site appears to be a 19th-century wooden vessel, lightly built, and employed in the local brick industry at the time it sank. The thick mud of the surrounding bay bottom covered the vessel and has helped to preserve it.

Work on the Brick Wreck currently is on-going and aims to discover information about the type of vessels employed by the brick industry, what design elements were implemented in their construction, and how these vessels were utilized. Archival research also is being conducted in order to understand the historical context in which this vessel operated as part of Pensacola industry and commerce. The Brick Wreck is the subject of a master’s thesis by Dean Nones, and the results of his research will be made available to the public through lectures, publications, and exhibits.

Article by Dean Nones and Della Scott-Ireton. Photos courtesy University of West Florida. If you have questions about underwater archeology, click on the Contact Us link at the top of the page and choose Archeology Questions from the drop-down menu.