Sunken 18th century British warship in Florida identified as the lost 'HMS Tyger'

A sunken 18th-century British warship involved in a "historic shipwreck" has been identified, National Park Service archeologists in Florida said.

The "HMS Tyger" is the name of the warship identified within the boundaries of Dry Tortugas National Park, the National Park Service said Thursday in a news release.

“Archeological finds are exciting, but connecting those finds to the historical record helps us tell the stories of the people that came before us and the events they experienced,” Park Manager James Crutchfield said. “This particular story is one of perseverance and survival. National parks help to protect these untold stories as they come to light.”

Built in 1647, the HMS Tyger is believed to have been a 50-gun fourth-rate ship carrying around 300 men, the National Park Service said. Archeologists said the ship sunk in 1742 after it "ran aground on the reefs of the Dry Tortugas while on patrol in the War of Jenkins Ear between Britain and Spain," according to the release.

The shipwreck's remains were initially found in 1993, but recent findings have led to its "definitive" identification, the National Park Service said.

Archeologists identify the HMS Tyger by its British cannons

Archeologists from Dry Tortugas National Park, the Submerged Resources Center and the Southeast Archeological Center went to the site of the shipwreck in 2021, according to the release. The archeologists found five cannons about 500 yards from the HMS Tyger remains, the National Park Service said.

"Buried in the margins of the old logbooks was a reference that described how the crew 'lightened her forward' after initially running aground, briefly refloating the vessel and then sinking in shallow water," the government agency said.

The archeologists determined the guns were British six and nine-pound cannons the crew threw overboard based on their size, features and location, according to the release. The cannons and reevaluation of the shipwreck site confirmed to archeologists the remains belonged to the HMS Tyger, the agency said.

The HMS Tyger was the first of three British man-of-war ships to sink off the Florida Keys. The other two were the HMS Fowey and HMS Looe, the National Park Service said. The HMS Tyger remained lost while archeologists had found the other two warships.

Surviving HMS Tyger crew got stranded for 66 days

Following the wreck, the crew aboard the HMS Tyger got stranded for 66 days on Garden Key, an island in Monroe County, Florida, according to the National Park Service.

"They erected the first fortifications on the island, more than 100 years before Fort Jefferson, which now dominates the island and is the principal cultural resource within the park," the release said.

The survivors endured heat, mosquitoes and dehydration while trying to escape the deserted island, according to the agency. The crew built vessels from pieces of the wrecked HMS Tyger and tried seeking help, gathering supplies and locating Spanish naval vessels in the area to commandeer, the agency added.

After failing to capture a Spanish vessel, the surviving crew burned the remains of the HMS Tyger to "ensure its guns did not fall into enemy hands," the National Park Service said. The crew then used their makeshift vessels to travel 700 miles through enemy waters to Port Royal, Jamaica, according to the release.

HMS Tyger is protected by the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004

The HMS Tyger being identified as a British naval vessel adds additional protection under the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004, which protects all applicable sunken military craft from "unauthorized disturbance," according to Naval History and Heritage Command.

“This discovery highlights the importance of preservation in place as future generations of archeologists, armed with more advanced technologies and research tools, are able to reexamine sites and make new discoveries,” Josh Marano, the maritime archeologist who led the team that made the discovery, said in the release.

Like all sites within Dry Tortugas National Park, the HMS Tyger site will be routinely monitored and protected under culture resource laws, the agency said. The HMS Tyger's remains and its related artifacts are the "sovereign property of the British Government in accordance with international treaty," the National Park Service added.

Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]