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Shipwreck gold: Divers may have found treasure in sunken South Carolina ship

By CAROLINE LEE, UPI.com

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a storied shipwreck off the coast of South Carolina.

The ship is the SS Ozama and was a 19th-century gunrunner that was also used in the construction of the Panama Canal.

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It was originally known as the Craigallion and left Scotland in 1881. It sailed until a wreck in the Bahamas in 1885 and was rechristened the Ozama from then on.

It struck bad luck again in 1894, when it struck the coast of Cape Romain, S.C. on its way to Charleston.

An 1894 report from the New York Times describes the shipwreck, which left a hole in the engine room and took on water.

"The water quickly filled the fire rooms, rendering the engine useless," they said in the article. "The steamer floated off the shoals soon after striking, and at 2 a.m. sank in six-and-a-half fathoms of water."

The ship was unsalvageable. Underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence says that now he can recover it -- he found the ship on a magnetometer search for other shipwrecks -- and says the boat may have treasure onboard.

Spence said the ship's history includes "a mutiny and extensive gun and money smuggling to Haiti," and that it may contain some hidden treasures.

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Another New York Times report, this one from 1888, said that when the ship sunk, it was carrying "1,000 stands of arms, 3 Gatling guns and 500,000 cartridges to Cape Haytien."

Spence said there may be more aboard the SS Ozama, as ballast ships often carried gold and weapons to ward off rivals.

"I believe she may have a considerable amount of gold on it and that's what I'm hoping. And we're going to be digging into her and hopefully raising a great deal of gold," Spence said.

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