Coastal Studies Institute Looks at Pamlico Sound Shipwreck

Restored landing craft (LC) at a California museum.
Restored landing craft (LC) at a California museum.
Science on the Sound Looks at Pappy’s Lane Shipwreck

From a shipwreck and marine archeology to harnessing the energy of the Gulf Stream, Coastal Studies Institute on Roanoke Island is does very interesting work.

That’s why their Science on the Sound series always seems to be so interesting. And the lecture coming up this Thursday, January 25 falls into that “interesting” category.

On the north end of Rodanthe, in the shallow waters of Pamlico Sound there has been a deteriorating wreck for a number of years. Named for the road the is closest to it, the Pappy’s Lane Shipwreck has attracted the attention of CSI’s Dr. Nathan Richards and his intern team of marine archeologists.

The upcoming Science on the Sound will feature what has been discovered about the shipwreck.

Some things we do know. The ship probably sank sometime in the 1960s. It’s most likely use at that time was to tow barges filled with rock and ballast for the construction of NC12.

The team has identified the remains as a WWII landing craft; its designation LC stood for Landing Craft, but there were a number of varieties of the craft. LCI was Landing Craft Infantry able to land 200 men at a time. The LCS was used in support. There was also used as a weapon platform at times.

After the war there was little use for the ships and they were often sold off as surplus, the most likely fate of the Pappy’s Lane ship. Substantially deteriorated, there is no hope of salvaging the wreck.

The investigation of the wreck has been funded by NCDOT. Construction is about to begin on the Jug Handle bypass to the S Curves north of Rodanthe. The Jug Handle will swing into Pamlico Sound and reconnect with NC12 very close to Pappy’s Lane. The shipwreck is in the proposed route of the road.

The Outer Banks, WWII & the Battle for the Atlantic

JLBook Cover

World War II was fought on the doorstep of the Outer Banks. The Battle for the Atlantic ravaged Allied shipping from the Caribbean to the North Sea and the coastal waters of North Carolina saw some of the heaviest losses.

In March of 1942 more than 70 ships were sunk off the coast of North Carolina, many of them within sight of the residents of the Outer Banks. Although that month saw the heaviest losses, the battle continued throughout the war.

The human cost of that battle was brought to life in a presentation at the Coastal Studies Institute by William Geroux. His book, The Mathews Men, Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler’s U-Boats, tells the story of the Hodges clan a family of seafarers from Mathews.

Mathews, a small city on the  Chesapeake Bay just north of Norfolk was noted for its maritime traditions. Six of the seven Hodges brothers captained merchant ships during the war and two, Dewey and Leslie, gave their lives for the cause.

Geroux’s presentation highlighted the bravery and effort of the merchant marines—efforts that are often overlooked in telling the story of WWII. Geroux points out that the merchant marines suffered the highest casualty rate of any service group in war although the merchant marines were never recognized as a branch of the armed services and they never qualified for any veteran benefits.

The presentation was part of the CSI’s “Science on the Sound” series, once a month topics of interest to the Outer Banks.

The Mathews Men is available at Downtown Books in Manteo and Duck’s Cottage in Duck.

#Joelamb,jr. #downtownbooks