The Dive Team conducted a routine practice\training dive this weekend at the Manasquan Inlet and the above item was discovered and retrieved by Team Member Tom Sweezy.
It was found at the mouth of the Inlet near the South end jetty and was probably uncovered by the recent dredging of the inlet. Item was found on top of mussel beds and prior day had a strong outgoing tidal flow so object has moved along the inlet since dredging.
Object stands about 3-1\4" and is 2-1\4" diameter at top and bottom...
It is made up by three seperate compartments that are water tight and secured by fine threads and all brass construction. Initial thought was that this was used to store some type of powder, snuff, tobacco, or the likes. I have passed the photos onto several members of the local Bottle collecting club here and they are looking into the identification of it...
Three individual compartments of different sizes. Top compartment 1-1\4", middle 7\8", and smallest compartment at 1\2"...
Located on the bottom of the object is the name "J.W. Forestal" with the date 1876 and "April"... It was noted that it is common practice in military service to have the persons name on all personal items. By including the month "April" to the inscription this may be a service award item and shows the date of end of service. This same practice aided in the identification of the German Submarine U-869 a few years back when a personal item knife was found with a crewmembers name engraved...
Tom Sweezy
I sent off an inquiry to the Naval archives to see if there is a way to find out more about J.W. Forrestal. I don't expect a quick reply, but lets keep our fingers crossed. Great find!
ReplyDeleteI have sent the link to this to several Maritime Historical Society websites to see if any can identify it...
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