Oldest American Shipwreck in Alaska

A private dive team exploring the waters of south-central Alaska has discovered the oldest American shipwreck ever found in the state, officials said Monday.

The Torrent sank 139 years ago in Cook Inlet after tidal currents, among the world's most powerful, rammed it into a reef south of the Kenai Peninsula. Documents from the period show that all 155 people on board survived. The United States had purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in 1867, less than a year earlier, and about 130 Army soldiers had come north on the Torrent to build the first U.S. military fort in south-central Alaska.

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