19 found cannons likely from British ships in 1779

A warehouse along the Savannah River is holding historical treasures that evidence suggests remained lost for more than 240 years a cache of 19 cannons that researchers suspect came from British ships scuttled to the river bottom during the American Revolution.

Archaeologists initially guessed they were relics from a sunken Confederate gunship excavated a few years earlier in the same area. But experts for the U.S. Navy found they didn't match any known cannons used in the Civil War.

Further research indicates they're likely almost a century older and sank during the buildup to the Revolutionary War's bloody siege of Savannah in 1779.

The cannons are being kept in water to prevent further deterioration until experts can carefully clean them. Meanwhile, researchers are looking for more definitive proof linking the cannons to British ships from the American Revolution.