Maritime archaeologists have made a remarkable discovery in the waters of North Carolina's Cape Fear River.
Archaeologists searching the Cape Fear River near Fort Anderson possibly found a Spanish ship that disappeared about 300 years ago.
La Fortuna, a Spanish privateering ship exploded in 1748 during an attack at the end of King George's War between Britain and France and their colonies in North America.
While, conducting their annual summer research at the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, the team found the wreck when graduate student spotted wooden fragments in the muddy riverbed, as per ExpressUK.
Later, a project director Dr Jason Raupp confirmed it was a shipwreck, possibly La Fortuna.
Wood from the suspected wreck was identified as Monterey or Mexican cypress, a tree native to Central America and the Pacific coast which suggests that the ship may have been built in Spain's Caribbean colonies.
Interestingly the site is also near where driver found an 18th-century cannon in 1985 that is believe to be from La Fortuna.
Along with the possible pirate shipwreck, the team found three other ships including a repurposed ship likely used to build up the shoreline, a colonial-era flatboat used to ferry cargo and another wreck that is mostly burried under the river bed.
Not only this, the team also mapped wooden wharves, a marsh causeway and items that show evidence of trade, daily living and armed conflict in the 18th century.
