During the Battle of Yorktown nearly 238 years ago, the British vessel Charon was cut free of its moorings, placed on a collision course with the French naval blockade, and set ablaze.

Unfortunately for the Redcoats, the “fireship” would veer off course, possibly from unfavorable winds, and collide with two British transport vessels before the trio came to rest on the bottom of the York River.

John Broadwater and his team at JRS Expeditions believe they may have found the wreck of one of those two merchant vessels.

Several hundred yards off the shores of the Gloucester side of the York River, near the fishing pier, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science campus and the already known wreck of the Charon, rests the currently unnamed wreck discovered on June 19. Broadwater reported that the site gave off a magnetic signature when a magnetometer was used, indicating the presence of ferrous metals. The metals turned out to be pig iron and cannons, which were located by...