The Ministry of the Environment and Sports announced yesterday that The Historic Wrecks Authority (HWA) and the Bermuda Maritime Museum, in collaboration with archaeological assessors from East Carolina University, will be carrying out a survey of the vessel known as the Medway located near Meyer's slip in St. George's Harbour, this weekend.

The survey was commissioned by a private developer as part of a Planning application review and will be conducted by a two-man team from East Carolina University, the same team that undertook the survey of the wreck at Dockyard in December 2007.

Dame Jennifer Smith, chair of the HWA said: "We are very pleased that the team from East Carolina University has agreed to act as archaeological assessors for this wreck.

"They will be conducting the survey under the auspices of the Bermuda Maritime Museum with assistance from the Custodian of Wrecks; from this survey we hope to learn more about this unique wreck and its place in Bermuda's maritime history."

The assessment team arrived yesterday and will survey the wreck today and tomorrow. Local lore suggests that the Medway was bought from the Royal Navy, after being decommissioned and was probably used as a lighter — to off load cargo from other ships and later used as a work and salvage vessel by Conga into the 1930s.

She eventually sank at Marginal Wharf and was raised or re-floated by the US Navy shortly thereafter with great difficulty by dredging and passing large chains under her hull in two places.

It is thought that she was put at Meyer's slip deliberately to act as a breakwater but another story suggests that she was taken to Meyer's slip for repairs but sank before they could complete them. Most people assume the wreck is a relatively new one from the 20th Century.

However, diver Teddy Tucker has informed the Custodian that the wreck was a British gunboat of near the same vintage as the Vixen, the wreck off Daniel's Head.

Initial archival research by the team from East Carolina University suggests that this information is correct and that the wreck is the remains of a highly inventive, unique and ultimately unsuccessful naval ship design from the 1870s.