Brass square nails?

[makahaman]

Been finding brass square nails in the water while diving, there used to be a wooden jetty extending into the water for boats. Do you think they were used for this purpose or something else? Just wondering because its weird to find these square nails made out of brass and other smaller brass nails? I don't think they are from a ship but just curious about these nails. I know they are old about 1800's, any ideas about the use of these nails would be interesting to hear. Thanks...

 

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[captbilly]

MAKAMAN.
I am no expert on brass nails but I have found a few. I dove a wreck in the Keys that I always found these spikes. Mostly they were about three quarters of an inch thick by about five inches long. This wreck was dead center on top of a reef so I believe this ship met its demise here. The nails I was finding were cool because very rarely were they straight. Most were so bent that in some case they even bent completely back over on their selves. And that sure seems would be the case had the ship beat itself to pieces on a hard coral reef. I also wondered If a bronze nail had been driven into a piece of oak that it might have bent following the different softer grains in the wood? My guess a hole might have been drilled first then the nail pounded in afterwards? So if the nails you are finding are straight then maybe an 18oo’s schooner may have sunk at the dock and the wood eventually deteriorated leaving only the spikes?
Again not an expert on the subject, just my thoughts about your post

C.B.