A packet ship of the early 1800s. Of note is the way the sails on the mainmast are set backward, against the sails on the fore- and mizzen- masts. Known as "backing", this was how a square-rigged ship "put on the brakes" to slow or stop without actually furling the sails.
Wind power has been used by mankind for millennia. Almost every human culture has constructed sailing vessels of some kind, from crude log or reed rafts to the highly developed wind-jammers of the early twentieth century. Many of these vessels were the most complex and technologically advanced machines of their time - equivalent to our jet airliners.
Also known as the Italian Wreck, the Ajace was sunk at 4:00 AM on March 4, 1881. At the time, she was carrying a small cargo of scrap railroad iron and 2,040 empty petroleum barrels. While bound for New York from Belgium, the Ajace was caught in one of the worst storms of the year and ran aground off Rockaway beach. Many sources report that Captain F. Morice, seeing that all hope was lost, opened his private supply of brandy and shared it with his crew. Soon after, the crew became badly beaten from the pounding of the waves and drunk from the brandy.
Balaena is an old term for whale, derived from Latin. The name was found inscribed on the ship's bell.
Depth:
170 ft
shipwreck, wooden hull full of coal
A wood sailing ship in the Mud Hole at a depth of 170 feet. She was a collier or ore carrier. She is still largely intact, coal in what's left of her holds. Divers tell tales of finding lots of deadeyes, but I haven't seen or heard of one coming from this wreck in many years. Her bell was found to identify her name, but not much else has been discovered about her history. A dive for the very experienced diver. Limited visibility, deep and dark. For those with the technical dive skill, it is a very nice dive.
The "China Wreck" is the partial remains of an unidentified late 19th-century wooden sailing ship, with a cargo of china plates and cups, and miscellaneous articles. The wreck must be dived at slack tide, and even then conditions at the mouth of Delaware Bay tend to be muddy. The plates themselves date from about 1875, and are fairly ordinary and of little value except to divers who prize such artifacts; and despite years of plunder, there are still more to be found.
