15 Revolutionary War cannons recovered from Savannah River.

 The 13 American colonies, determined to gain their independence, fought the forces of King George III on land and sea. The British, hoping they would gain support from royalists in the South, took Savannah in 1778, only to find themselves defending it less than a year later. 

The HMS Rose, with its 20 cannons and 160 sailors, and other vessels were brought in to help fellow Redcoats.

The warship was already famous, having been a "scourge" on the colonists, as the Royal Navy puts it. It quelled smuggling in Rhode Island, prompting the formation of the forerunner of the US Navy. The Rose fought in and patrolled New York waterways and parts of the Eastern Seaboard before it sojourned south.

In Savannah, the vessel was sacrificed by the Royal Navy on September 19, 1779, to keep French allies from joining the American siege at that point in the river. 

"The French had blockaded the port of Savannah, getting ready to attack," Stephen James, an archaeologist with Commonwealth Heritage Group, says in the Corps video. "They scuttled these troop transports to keep the French out and basically saved the city early on from being taken over. They plugged the channel to where ... the French could not come up and take the city."

It's possible that the cannons may have belonged to the HMS Venus or HMS Savannah, which were burned or scuttled as part of the British strategy.

The British eventually won the battle and controlled Savannah until almost war's end.

The cannons appear to date to the mid-1700s -- predating the Civil War by about a century -- which aligns closely with the HMS Rose's history. The ones found last February are about 5 feet long.

Further study and the removal of sediment on the cannons may provide information on when and where they were manufactured.

The first cannon were discovered by the US Army Corps of Engineers in February 2021 during dredging operations at a spot near the former Fort Jackson known as Five Fathom Hole for its unusual depth. The area had already been dredged several times in the past, so the discovery of three iron cannons, an anchor and large fragments of ship timbers came as a surprise.

Via the always good History Blog.