Shipwreck

Since the recovery of sunken treasure began decades ago from an 1857 shipwreck off the coast of South Carolina, tens of millions of dollars worth of gold has been sold. But scientists, historians and collectors say that the real fortunes will begin to hit the auction block on Saturday in Reno. For the first time, hundreds of Gold Rush-era artifacts entombed in the S.S. Central America, known as the "Ship of Gold," will go on public sale. A few of the items from the pre-Civil War steamship, which sank in a hurricane on its way from Panama to New York City, could fetch as much as $1 million.

Officials say cleanup efforts will take several days after oil leaking from the remains of an overturned cargo ship off the Georgia coast washed up on a beach popular with tourists. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Himes said Monday that bands of oil released into the water during demolition of the shipwreck are being cleaned up along 2.5 miles of beaches on St. Simons Island. The first spill happened Saturday as crews manning a giant crane tried to lift a newly severed section of the ship from the water.

When the giant cargo ship began to tip over off the Georgia coast, harbor pilot Jonathan Tennant found himself on his side, screaming orders in the darkness while flying debris that felt like gravel pelted him. After much of the Golden Ray slipped into the sea, crew members feared they would perish if they stayed on the ship — but they also could die if they attempted perilous climbs and dangerous leaps to reach the ocean. Their accounts are contained in interviews included among more than 1,700 pages of documents made public Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.