Pappy’s Lane Shipwreck Project

ECU graduate students excavate and record features on the Pappy’s Lane Wreck (Photo by John McCord, CSI).

With support from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), graduate students from East Carolina University’s Program in Maritime Studies (ECU) in partnership with the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), investigated a shipwreck near the village of Rodanthe as part of a fall field school. Known locally as “Pappy’s Lane Wreck,” the then-unidentified vessel lies submerged in the brackish, waist-deep waters of the Pamlico Sound and in the direct path of the planned Bonner Bridge extension project. Led by associate professor Dr. Nathan Richards (while CSI’s) Maritime Heritage Program Head, the group spent a month on the site as part of a multi-stage archaeological investigation. Ultimately, the vessel was identified as either a Landing Craft Infantry, Large, Mark 3 [LCI(L)(3)], or Landing Craft Support, Large, Mark 3 [LCS(L)(3)] – both variations of amphibious gunboat from the Second World War.  Evidence presently suggest that the vessel was specifically the USS LCS(L)(3)-123, which served as a petroleum tank barge known as Hunt Bros. No. 10 before being lost in Pamlico Sound. Research on the vessel continues. For more information, please visit the Pappy’s Lane Shipwreck Project website.

News Article: GROUNDED IN HISTORY: Field school identifies Pamlico Sound mystery wreck