Revolutionary War Shipwrecks of New Jersey with Capt. Steve Nagiewicz

Revolution 250 Podcast

The Mullica River in southern New Jersey was a haven for American privateers, who in the fall of 1778 had eighteen captured British vessels at anchor, their cargoes delivered to Washington's army. Sir Henry Clinton sent a raiding party from New York, which burned the ships and the town of Chestnut Neck. The town rebuilt quickly, but the wrecks lay undisturbed on the river bottom until archaeologists discovered them. We talk with Captain Steve Nagiewicz, mariner, faculty member at Stockton University, diver, and underwater archaeologist about the search for these vessels (he has enlisted his Stockton University students in the search) and what we can learn about the maritime Revolution from the wrecks beneath the surface. Captain Nagiewicz is also the author of the Hidden History of Maritime New Jersey, which tells the story of other New Jersey shipwrecks.

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