what kind of wreck could this be?

[jesseb]

came accross what looked like a pile of ballast there are wooden ribs visiable in spots under the stones. the stones are anout 100 ft long 30ft wide and nothing else in the area but sand and a few rocks here & there.... next to the stones are the two big tanks pictured. our friend suggested steam tanks? could it be a steam ship?

 

[comfortably numb]

They definitely look like boilers. Most early steam ships also had sails which would account for the large ballast pile. I'd say 1800's.

 

[jesseb]

They definitely look like boilers. Most early steam ships also had sails which would account for the large ballast pile. I'd say 1800's.

cool... thanks. what's your take on the big piece of black rock? about the size of a 5gallon bucket and 30+ pounds.. chips easliy.. black & shiny looks like obsidian? or could it just be a big ol piece of coal?

 

[comfortably numb]

Probably coal.

 

[inletsurf]

Probably coal.

yup

 

[wwwtimmcp]

alot of sailing ships had boilers to heat water,heat the ship,desalinate saltwater,etc. also whaling ships had huge boilers to render whale oil from blubber.

 

[barney]

Hard to tell from the pictures but the cylindrical objects could be (railway or fire-tube style) boilers - if the fire tubes are visible on the end and there is associated brass valves/piping and bricks under the base then that would help confirm. I have images from several different types of vessels with these older type of boilers.
Another possibility is I have seen similar tanks used to haul molasses. They look like boilers and even have a trunk on top like the one visible in the image.
Can you provide any additional info on the site?
Cheers,
Mike