Like a drill working its way into a piece of wood, the New Carissa’s propeller dug itself into the sand on the North Spit on that fateful Feb. 4 day nine years ago.

Evidence of the prop’s torment and torture has become visible as Titan Salvage crews successfully pulled what’s left of the stern farther out of the water.

Once, the propeller was nearly a gleaming gold-colored bronze alloy piece that moved the New Carissa through international waters.

Now it’s covered in barnacles.

One of the five blades is missing, broken off likely when the ship first went aground.

Other blades are bent.

Waves break over it and crash against what remains of the bottom of the hull.

It’s become an icon, a piece of the ship as ingrained in the history of the South Coast as the North Spit itself.

And it’s likely the only major piece of the New Carissa to continue calling the South Coast “home.”

The prop’s past

In its prime, the propeller transferred the power from the single 8,000-plus-horsepower Mitsubishi engine and moved the ship from port to port.

That is, until the ship hit the spit.

The wood chip ship’s captain, Benjamin Morgado, at the time likely used as much power as he could to move the New Carissa off the sand bar that held it captive.

Titan Salvage Managing Director David Parrot can only imagine that much power trapped in the sand as the ship dug itself into the bottom.

“It must have been horrendous,” Parrot said. “It would have been a violent ride.”

It’s likely that all of the 20-some crewmen on board felt the ship shudder and shake like a steel earthquake.

“It would have been vibrating with everything it’s got,” Parrot said.

The stress was so great that one blade broke. The others bent and were chipped. The rudder broke. The rudder shoe, the part that steadies the rudder, is one of the strongest and most solid pieces of metal on the ship. It broke.

Indeed, the propeller was under some serious stress.

The prop’s future

Now that the wheel is out of the water and salvage crews are preparing to remove it, it’s next home likely will be on land, at the Coos Historical and Maritime Museum.

“From the earliest time, we’d intended on giving that propeller to the community in one form or another,” Parrot said. “(Titan’s Engineering Director) Phil Reed was the one who started it off in the direction of the museum.”

Museum Executive Director Anne Donnelly said she first heard about the plans by Titan and its parent company, Crowley Maritime Corp., to donate the prop in the spring.

“It’s a real generous gift,” Donnelly said. “But of course, no one even knew if the salvage operation would succeed.”

Titan’s recent successes at pulling more and more of the ship out of the water seem to be an indication of a favorable outcome.

“We’re holding our breath,” Donnelly said.

She said nobody from the museum has actually seen the propeller or what kind of shape it’s in but that, obviously, it will be on display at some time.

The other issue is preservation.

“We need to make sure it’s not subject to further corrosion,” she said.

Parrot said that should not be an issue with a bronze alloy piece.

It should be fine out of water, he said, unlike iron that could indeed eventually disintegrate.

“It’ll turn green,” he said.

Unless somebody polishes it.

Oregon Department of State Lands spokeswoman Julie Curtis said the state is interested in New Carissa artifacts and that John Bragg, the coastal training program coordinator for the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, has been taking photos of the project for historical preservation.

Cooperation between the museum, the state and Titan will provide a lasting legacy of the shipwreck, long after the last of the New Carissa is gone.

“The community feels somewhat attached to the wreck,” Curtis said.

Donnelly agreed.

Even though the propeller is mangled and distorted, the museum still is interested in putting it on display.

“The fact that it’s a mess is part of the story,” she said.