Compare & Contrast

It had been a terrifying three days for the nearly600 passengers of the SS Central America. Itwas September 12,1857, and the elegantsteamship was heading from Havana, Cuba,

to New York City.

At first, the voyage had been peaceful, v«th calmseas and bright blue skies.

Then disaster struck.The Central America sailed into the path of a furious

hurricane. For three days, enormous waves pummeledthe ship. Screaming winds shattered its vdndows andshredded its sails. Water flooded the lower levels,crippling the ship's engine. A passing vessel, theMarine, managed to take on 109 people, mostly womenand children, but the Central America—and the rest ofher passengers—was doomed.

Just before 8:00 p.m., the Central America sank,killing 425 people. It came to rest in mile-deepwaters somewhere off the coast of SouthCarolina. Shipwrecks were common inthe days of the Central America—and in the centuries before. Thestormy seas up and down theEast Coast wereespeciallytreacherous.Today theremains of sunkenships are scatteredacross the oceanfloor like bones in anenormous graveyard.

The stories of mostofthese ships havebeen forgotten.

RIGHT: The CentralAmerica in the storm;BELOW: Gold bars,coins, and dust salvagedfrom the wreck

18 SCHOLASnC SCOPE • JANUARY 30

But the CentralAmerica was not

an ordinary ship.It was filled with

treasure—21 tonsof gold. Many ofits passengers

BRILLIANT EXPLORER'S DARING MISSION TO FINDiE OF THE GREATEST LOST TREASURES OF ALL TIME

were returning from the gold fields of California. (Theship made a stop in Cuba on the way from Californiato New York.) Thousands of people had flocked toCalifornia in hopes of getting rich during the GoldRush that began in 1848. Some of the Central America'spassengers were traveling with suitcases packed withgold nuggets, gold coins, and bags of gold dust. Crates

of gold bars were stacked in the ship's cargo hold.

Beyond ImaginationThis treasure was worth hundreds of millions

of dollars. As the decades passed, treasure huntersdreamed of finding the Central America.

But how?

SCH0LASnC.COM/SC0PE • JANUARY 30, 2012 1 9

UNITEDSTATES

One of the gold bars salvaged from theCentral America sold to a private collectorfor 8 million dollars.

î îew York City

ATLANTICOCEAN

Site whereSS Central Americasank

HavanaNobody knew exactly where theship sank. Very likely, it was restingthousands of feet deep. No human divercould survive those depths. And even

if someone could, how would he or she î

bring the gold to the surface?In the early 1980s, an engineer named Tommy

Thompson began a determined search. He and his teamspent years reading 123-year-old newspaper storiesand ship logs about the sinking, then used this andother information they found to pinpoint the CentralAmerica's exact location.

They spent millions of dollars on the mostsophisticated undersea-exploration technology. Theyhired experts to build them a robot submarine, namedNemo, that could explore the ocean's depths and beamvideo images to the surface.

The Greatest Treasure Ever FoundThompson's search took years. There were many

failures and frustrations. Finally, in 1989, the teamfound the v r̂eck 160 miles off the South Carolina coast.As Nemo's bright light shone on the wreckage, thosewatching from above gasped. Gold was everywhere—coins blanketed the ocean ñoor, gold bars were stackedneatly, and gold dust fioated in the water like glitter.

"It was beyond our imagination," Thompson said.

ICUBA

200 MI

Unfortunately, the excitement of Thompson'sdiscovery was dampened when 39 insurancecompanies claimed the treasure. These companieshad insured the gold in 1857, and some had paid alot of money when the ship was lost. A few even wentbankrupt. Thompson argued that the gold had beenabandoned and was therefore his. After a lengthylegal battle, he and his team were awarded 92 percentof the gold.

The treasure has made Thompson rich and famous.(According to some estimates, the total value of thegold he recovered was more than $150 million!) Onereporter said that he represented the best in "Americaninitiative, ingenuity, and determination." Life magazinesaid it was "the greatest treasure ever found."

But the "ship of gold" is a treasure for us too. TheCentral America was full of incredible artifacts that giveus clues about what life was like in the mid-1800s. Ittakes us back to a wild and hopeful time in America.

It reminds us of the power of nature. And it showsthat dreams can be lost... and found. •

20 SCHOLASTIC SCOPE • JANUARY 30, 2012

EDITORIAL

Grubberi^ Thompson run

BYSEANMcCULLUMTommy Thompson

, have found one oftreasures ot

from the treasure hasbeen used to coverexpenses. But he has

details^tcButhescriminal who betrayedthe very people whomade his discovery

Thompson

mission,convinced who investe

in the expedition, toldPorbes.com.

Thompson has also

listers andHs crew,„•s been more than

decades since

should be sharethe world. Explorers

Bllard

Cinvestors haven

penny. Nor has h s

who tracked down theTitanic and othershipwrecks, havebeen excitedto share theirdiscoveries.

$52 million wot

secret. He could have

with knowledgewonder.

It^stead, he seems

to want to enrich only

himself. •

any money he's

refused to cash in onwhat he found, instead,he turned it into amuseum exhibit.

Aside from onetraveling coin exhibit,whichhehoped woulddrive up the value oîhistreasure, Thompson haskept his discoveries a

UICK WRITEHow does the way Tommy Thompson is presented in

"Ship of Gold" compare to the way he is presented in

"Gold Grubber"? How do you think he

will be remembered? Include details

from both articles in your response.

SCH0LASTIC.COM/SC0PE • JANUARY 30, 2012 2 1

Copyright of Scholastic Scope is the property of Scholastic Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to

multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users

may print, download, or email articles for individual use.