Park." At this time the Abandoned Shipwreck Act was a decade in the future. The United States intervened in the lawsuit as the defendant seeking title, arguing that the shipwreck was public property in a National Park and, as such should be preserved as a part of the Nation's patrimony. In 1983, the United States won the case. The court decision constituted a landmark in United States historic shipwreck preservation case law. It stated that the remains of HMS Fowey were an archaeological site, not a ship in terms of Admiralty salvage; that the site was in no peril and did not need rescuing by the salvor; and that the site is public property and a part of the United States' heritage which ought to be managed in the best interests of the public rather than privately salvaged and sold for profit. Study In the twenty five years since the wreck was identified, HMS Fowey has been broadly studied in the surviving documentary records of the United States, Canada, and Great Britain and has been the subject of three National Park Service field projects. The largest and best documented of these was conducted in 1983. Evidence of the wreck's function as a Royal Naval vessel include iron ballast blocks and guns, and copper gunpowder barrel hoops marked with the Broad Arrow denoting ownership by the crown. Its cultural affiliation is further denoted by the presence of English-made pewter, glass, and ceramic tablewares. References Skowronek, Russell K. 2002. HMS Fowey. Encyclopedia of Historical Archaeology, Charles E. Orser, editor. Routledge, London. A history of HMS Fowey. Further reading Binkley, Cameron (2007) Science, Politics, and the 'Big Dig': a History of the Southeast Archeological Center and the Development of Cultural Resources Management in the Southeast. Cultural Resources Division, Southeast Regional Office, National Park Service, Atlanta, GA. Skowronek, Russell K. and George R. Fischer (2009) HMS Fowey Lost and Found: Being the Discovery, Excavation, and Identification of a British Man-of-War Lost off the Cape of Florida in 1748. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Skowronek, R.K., R. E. Johnson, R. H. Vernon and G. R. Fischer (1987) The Legare Anchorage Shipwreck Site-Grave of HMS Fowey. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 16(4):313-324. May, W.E. (1958) The Wreck of HMS Fowey. Mariner's Mirror 44(1):320-324. Skowronek, R.K. (1984) Archaeological Testing and Evaluation of the Legare Anchorage Shipwreck Site, Biscayne National Park, Summer 1983. Southeast Archeological Center, National Park