"It was pretty amazing, finding the hull remains," said Bob Cembrola, a marine archeologist who was on the expedition and helped uncover the wreckage.

Jenette Flow, a marine archeologist in Tampa who consults for Odyssey, worked with top experts to identify the amphoras.

Roger Smith, a marine archeologist with the state Division of Historical Resources, said both were outside the state's three-mile jurisdictional limit.

Dr. George F. Bass a marine archeologist at Texas A&M University, said the Central America may be the most valuable sunken ship ever found.

Frost and her international team of marine archeologists excavated the site.

Experts say that nothing so ambitious has ever before been tried by marine archeologists; no scholarly recovery effort has been done in such deep water and been so extensive.

Despite the cost and difficulty of saving the ironclad, many experts, including naval historians and marine archeologists, applaud the proposed recovery as almost obligatory.

It was rediscovered in 2003, and explored by marine archeologists of the Texas Historical Commission.

Either way, Mr. Correnti said, "before anything can be done, a marine archeologist has to do down there and determine if they can be salvaged without breaking up."

From Aug. 13 to 27, a marine archeologist will lead a search for the underwater remains of Port St. Louis, first permanent settlement established by the French in 1650.