WILMINGTON, Del. -- One day two years ago, Art Trembanis, an
associate professor of geological sciences at the University of
Delaware, sent his students on a field trip to the waters off
Cape Henlopen.  Their goal: to learn to use the high-tech
equipment, such as side scan sonar, that coastal geologists use
to survey the ocean bottom.  He told them to tow the device
around Breakwater Harbor and along the waters of the Cape
Henlopen shoreline. When they came back to Newark, they told him
that it went well. And "Oh, by the way, we saw a shipwreck."
Trembanis was intrigued. He went on the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration database of shipwrecks. Nothing was
listed for the spot where the students had seen a very clear
image of a massive ship hull.  "It was a bit of a head-
scratcher," Trembanis said.  Now, two years later, with the help
of oceanography graduate student Carter DuVal and state
archaeologist Craig Lukezic, the team believes it has identified
the ship, along with when and how it sank.