‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’ reveals multiple shipwrecks at once on Outer Banks island

Three shipwrecks have emerged simultaneously on Hatteras beaches, something locals say is rare on the Outer Banks island.

Photos of the three ships’ skeletal timbers began showing up on the Shipwrecks Of The Outer Banks Facebook page last week, a site devoted to tales of the Graveyard of the Atlantic, located off North Carolina.

The shipwrecks include the Flambeau, the George A. Kohler, and another often called “the Ramp 55 wreck,” because it sits a half mile south of that ramp.

Passing storms are often credited with uncovering shipwrecks, but not in this case.

“Three at once is a bit of an anomaly and getting more rare. Two of the three are subject to disappear overnight,” tour guide Ray Stallings of OBX Beach Shuttle Services told McClatchy News.

“Wind direction, wind speed and prevailing currents all play a roll in creating erosion, which is what uncovers these links to our past. While it is always exciting to see, it is in itself sad, as it means we lost a fair amount of sand. The good news is the ocean usually reverses the process, hiding once again the an intriguing part of our past.”

News of the three wrecks on Hatteras comes just weeks after Stallings brought attention to another wreck found on nearby Ocracoke island. The identify of that shipwreck remains up for debate, and is either the Steamship Home (lost in 1837) or The Nomis (lost in 1935), McClatchy News reported.

Shipwrecks — often reduced to just rotting timbers and rusting bolts — are part of the allure of the state’s constantly shifting barrier islands, which border a section of ocean known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The waters host “more than 2,000 shipwrecks” dating to the arrival of Europeans centuries ago, OuterBanks.com reports. That number remains under dispute, however, with the National Park Service estimating more than 1,000 vessels have been lost near Cape Hatteras.

The identities and age of some shipwrecks found on local beaches have been well documented, while others remain a mystery.

Among the better known is the George A. Kohler, “a schooner traveling from the Chesapeake Bay” that ran aground near the Gulls Shores Coast Guard Station in August 1933, according to the National Park Service. All aboard were rescued, the NPS says.

The Flambeau wreck was investigated in 2006 as part of an archaeology workshop, but its identify and age remain undetermined, the Island Free Press reported in 2015.

“After the workshop ended, the plan was for the National Park Service to use its heavy equipment to move the big piece of shipwreck to the museum grounds, so that the visiting public could view it. However, the shipwreck turned out to be too heavy to lift,” the newspaper reported.

Far less is known about “the Ramp 55 shipwreck,” with the Visit Outer Banks reporting it has been “disappearing and reappearing for the last 40 years.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 8:33 AM with the headline "‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’ reveals multiple shipwrecks at once on Outer Banks island."