Clearwater company finds shipwreck

CLEARWATER — Endurance Exploration Group Inc. has identified a shipwreck believed to be the S.S. Connaught, a mid-19th century steamship reportedly lost with a cargo of gold coins.

Clearwater-based Endurance Exploration petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida for permission to take possession of the shipwreck site. It also requested to serve as substitute custodian of the shipwreck and a salvage award or title to the shipwreck and its cargo. If that's granted, Endurance plans to return to the site next spring or summer to begin recovering cargo and artifacts, according to a release. The company also plans to make a documentary film or television special on the recovery.

The S.S. Connaught was reportedly loaded with 10,000 British pounds in gold coins. Attempts to find the ship began with a sonar search in 2013 covering more than 700 square miles. Endurance, the release states, returned this month with a remotely operated underwater robotic vehicle to inspect the prime target. It identified the wreck by its iron hull, paddlewheels and artifacts within the debris field.

“It was a real thrill for me to be on board for our inspection mission and see the images of the S.S. Connaught paddle wheel come up on the screen, seen for the first time in 154 years,” Endurance CEO Micah Eldred says in the release. “This is what we methodically worked for as we built our research data, patiently conducted our first search and now enjoy our first shipwreck find. Now, on to the recovery phase.”

Built in Ireland and launched in 1860, the 380-foot steamer S.S. Connaught was lauded as one of the largest of its the time. It departed Galway, Ireland on Sept. 25, 1860, bound for Boston when it ran into a sudden storm and a fire started below deck. Everyone aboard was successfully evacuated to a fruit transport ship before the ship sank.