cannon question

[old man]

A friend of mine called me from the carribbean and asked me about a survey he was on. Asked me if a cannon in over 250 feet of water would be encrusted if it was iron ?? apparently they got a picture of it and haven't dove on it yet. I told him that since it was iron and underwater for any length of time that I would guess that it would have to be encrusted, but since it is in deep water, I wasn't sure. Anyone have any comments ?? He did say that the cannon was mostly covered with sand.

 

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[mad4wrecks]

The water depth would probably prevent most CORAL encrustation on the cannon, as it is rare for coral to grow deeper than 200 ft or so. But there are other types of marine growth and combined with the deterioration of the iron itself would probably still leave it heavily encrusted. Tom

 

[Dell Winders]

I have found Iron cannon in shallow water in the Bahamas with relatively little Coral growth. At 250 feet there is less oxygen and little sunlight so Coral growth, and oxidation would be much slower. Covered by sand would further inhibit the growth of Coral. Dell

 

[Salvor6]

Pulley Ridge is a coral reef that was found 100 miles west of the Dry Tortugas. It is between 180 and 260 feet deep. There is an extensive coral reef formation that stretches over 60 miles. At 250' there is still light until you get to 700' then it is like twilight.

Pulley Ridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[stevemc]

Yep, hard to say it would be iron. Iron cannons dont really change a whole lot while under the sea some rust is normal- maybe a half inch or so of rust, and bronze cannons dont change, its usually coralline or coral growth. I have seen iron cannons and anchors that have been under for centuries and still look good. Its when they get pulled out and exposed to air that they really fall apart. There is plenty of deep sea soft and hard corals at that depth-especially in the Caribbean. Coralline can grow in shallow or deep water.

 

[old man]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'll pass your information on to my friend. That's why this forum is such a great place to ask questions and to meet people at John's famous gatherings. You guys and gals are a great source of information and a great bunch of people from all over the World. I hope I get to meet more of you in the future.

 

[O2ptima]

Happy to help by diving down and retrieving it!

 

[bronzecannons]

Well we recovered this English '6 pounder' iron cannon off of a shipwreck in Indonesia at a depth of 100 feet and it was totally encrusted but after we knocked off the coral it was in perfect condition.

 

[old man]

bronzecannons, Looks like a real beauty. I did a lot of diving off the coast of Borneo about 40 years ago but all I ever saw were sea snakes and stone fish. Nice job.