Shipwreck Button/Token Help needed with ID

[wreckvalle]

Found this button on the Black Warrior shipwreck(sunk 1859). Have not been able to id it. Does anyone have any ideas?
The Black Warrior Shipwreck  New York and New Jersey's (Wreck Valley) (history of wreck)



Thanks in advance
Capt. Dan
scuba equipment, Aqua Explorers, Inc  shipwreck books and Wreck Valley charter dive boat.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[ivan salis]

looks like a button related to some type of motorized item --se the 120 H.P. -- meaning 120 Horse Power .- the item in the center looks somewhat like a motorized device to me -- the wording is a bit hard for me to read -( my old wore out eyes sorry) --can you spell out what it reads --if so i might be of more help.

humm with the vessel being a steampowered side wheel steamer * could the button belong to a engineer / crewman that ran the boilers to power the vessel ? -- if so it might it be related to the steam engines of the vessel -- with each of the steam powered plants for each side being say -- 120 horse power ? two seperate boilers would have been used -- one for each side and by using one forward turning and the other rearward turning the ship couild turn in a circle -thus not needing tug assistance to leave the dock -- once at sea if the (forward) rpms were the same on both sides --the ship went straight ahead --to turn right or left one side would be faster rpms (rounds per minute) than the other causing it to turn towards to the slower side -the bigger the rpm differance the faster the turn rate - the ship could also go in reverse by turning the wheels backwards .

 

[Mackaydon]

Capt.,
What letters/sequence of letters can you make out?
Don.....

 

[Darren in NC]

The top says "New London Ship & Engine Co" The bottom says "Groton, CONN" The middle top says NELSECO DIESEL. Their 120 HP engines were popular in the early 1900s, so you either have the wrong wreck or a mix of debris from another wreck that struck the Black Warrior. Hope this helps.

 

[Mackaydon]

Thanks Darren,
Here a pic of a 120HP, 4-cylinder 350 RPM Nelseco Diesel Engine:
Shipbuilding cyclopedia: a reference book covering definitions of ... - Google Books
The book was published in 1920.
Don.....

 

[wreckvalle]

Thanks Darren. I could not make out the print. Buttom must be from a fisherman. They fished the wreck soon after it sunk. Do you know if it is a button and who would wear it if it was?

Thanks again

 

[Darren in NC]

Dan, it looks like a button more than a token, but I have no idea of its form. Can you take a side and obverse shot of it up close? To be honest, it reads more like a engine tag than any button I've seen. But engine tags have holes in them for fastening. It's a truly interesting piece.