Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay: And Other Tales of the Lost Chesapeake

Donald Shomette is an underwater archeologist and this book is about three archeological and historical "digs" made in Maryland since the mid '70s: 1. Robots Beneath the Chesapeake: about the investigation of the ship New Jersey, which sank carrying pottery and other items; the discovery of this wreck and its cargo led to a bill in Maryland that now protects underwater sites from vandals and poachers; 2. Melted Beads: about the location of the earliest settlement in Maryland, on Kent Island; 3. The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay: about a ship graveyard along the Potomac River where many WW I wooden steamships were scuttled. Shomette is an excellent writer and is thorough in his presentation. He looks at a great deal of information, on-site evidence and historical records, and lays out clearly and not too technically what it all means. I found the investigation of the oldest settlement in Maryland to be the most interesting, and the evidence is not at all clear-cut. Shomette looks at it all, however, and weighs various sites one against the other using the tools of history and archeology. A fascinating book.

After reading just some of this book I went to Mallows Bay and canoed all through whats left of all these shipwrecks. While looking at the photos and reading some of what happened here I was hooked. There is so much history around that I will continue to read more about this area and go back for further visits!