Battle of Yorktown

23. Cornwallis's Ships

Yorktown, VA

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Between 50 and 60 British ships were sunk on both the Gloucester and Yorktown sides of the York River during the Siege of Yorktown. Many of these ships were deliberately scuttled in shallow water near the shoreline to help protect the rear of Cornwallis's army from an amphibious attack, while other ships were destroyed by cannon fire. Nearly two hundred years later, the 'sunken fleet' project began when maritime archaeologists John D. Broadwater and Gordon Watts noticed that treasure hunters were diving to the bottom to loot artifacts from the historic vessels. In 1975 Broadwater and Watts, along with Department of Historic Resources archaeologist David Hazzard, began a volunteer expedition to save these endangered ships. Over a 15 year period, the trio found nine shipwrecks from the 1781 British Fleet and excavated one, a 176-ton vessel called the Betsy. The Betsy was a collier, or a coal-carrying ship, that was originally built in 1772 in Whitehaven, north England. She carried coal between England and Ireland until she was leased to the British Navy in 1780. Betsy and all the other British merchant vessels in Yorktown were sunk in the York River just before the surrender. Archaeological evidence showed that the crew cut a hole in her starboard side just below the waterline. The remains of tables, chairs and dressers were found in the stern cabin, and several uniform buttons from the 43rd Regiment of Foot were found. The Betsy, as well as two other ships, had transported this British regiment from England to Yorktown. Broadwater and Watts recently found the remains of a tenth vessel that emerged when new breakwaters caused the bottom currents to shift. Breakwater stated, "We always wanted to see the number of wrecks push into double figures, so it's really exciting to think that we might have another one."