COROLLA, NC -- The exposed wooden ribs of a very old ship are on the beach at Corolla.
For a couple years, Ray Midgett has had his eye on the wreckage that comes and goes like the tide.
Now, he'sworking with the North Carolina Wildlife Commission and itsUnderwater Archeologist branch to document the wreckage.
Midgett believesthese arewhat's left ofHMS Swift, which sank in 1698 after getting caught in a storm off Point Comfort. The crew abandoned her and she eventually came ashore. Locals ransacked the ship and even put holes in her to make sure she never sailed again.
'Research has shown that the HMS Swift was an advice ship, which was a military ship, which was an escort ship - part of the queen's armada. It was a smaller ship probably about 60-feet that escorted the larger ships,' Midgett explained.
Midgett has discovered muskets and a coin dated 1610 with an image of the King Louis XIII of France.
'It's just fascinating to me to think that a ghost ship is looking for its grave again. It's almost like it's trying to find a place to settle back,' said Midgett.
If it's HMS Swift, it would predate another North Carolina wreck -- Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge that sank in 1718 near Beaufort.
