Donjon Marine, Co., Inc., a global marine services provider based in N.J., served as the lead salvage contractor to the U.S. Navy to coordinate the locating and initial archeological investigation of the USS Scorpion, the flagship of a U.S. Navy fleet known as the Chesapeake Flotilla during the War of 1812.
The recovery of the vessel is to be accomplished in two to three phases. Phase one, just completed, was designed to locate and conduct preliminary preparatory work for the more extensive archeological work to be done in concert with the bicentennial celebration of the War of 1812. Phase two and three will involve installing a cofferdam so that the Scorpion recovery and excavation can be done in the dry.
The contract was awarded to Donjon on July 8, 2010 and will continue through the completion of the recovery in the summer of 2012.
The USS Scorpion was a ship designed to navigate the shallow waters of the Patuxent and to harass the British, whose Royal Navy at the time was terrorizing towns from Havre de Grace to Norfolk, according to news reports and historical depictions. The Chesapeake Flotilla harassed the larger British fleet and successfully delayed their advance on Washington DC when the Americans scuttled the fleet across the Patuxent River 20 miles east of Washington DC in Upper Marlboro, MD.
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