COORDINATES: 26949.3, 40559.1

The Federal transport Oriental, an iron-hulled screw steamer, was lost 16 May 1862, after becoming stranded on an offshore sandbar. The vessel quickly became sanded in and was abandoned. The site is identified by the engine that sticks 8' from the water, 100 yards offshore. The wreck is intact, contiguous, and heavily encrusted, with the bow facing South. Depth to the sand is ~20'. Although the wreck is under protected status by the state of North Carolina, due to shifting sands during the spring and summer of 1998, divers removed portholes and other artifacts that became revealed. While the wreck is close to shore, it should be noted that there can be a strong longshore current which can carry divers away from the wreck site during the swim out.