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Shipwreck Found on Hatteras Island

A North Carolina historian says a recent storm revealed a shipwreck on Hatteras Island. Scott Dawson was exploring a remote area of the island last week with friend Matthew Farkas when they came across a 20-foot-long steel vessel with a square-shaped bow. Scientists think the ship might have been a ferry or transport ship for troops during World War II. Dawson says the front of the ship was sticking out of the sand almost entirely intact.

"It almost looks like it was scuttled and just left there and abandoned. It's perfectly perpendicular to the shore. The damage is just from sitting there so long. There aren't any major holes in it. It's not like any other wreck I've ever seen. It's in the most pristine condition of any wreck I've ever seen."

Historians call the area near Hatteras Island the "Graveyard of the Atlantic." Dawson says he constantly finds artifacts on the island because that area of the Outer Banks is one of the farthest points from the mainland in North Carolina.

Will Michaels is WUNC's Weekend Host and Reporter.
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