Time in a bottle: Aiken resident treasures wartime artifact with family connection

AIKEN - A few ounces of glass and sand pack a powerful punch in the life of one local retiree, due to his family's connection to World War II and the Carolinas' coast.

Ted Haviland, 90, was 6 when he last saw his father, as the senior Haviland was heading off to serve in the Merchant Marine. He was aboard the City of Atlanta, a freighter that was sunk by a German submarine in 1942 and now rests under about 90 feet of water east of Avon, N.C., near Cape Hatteras.

A glass, screw-top bottle, apparently from the 1930s, was on the freighter and is now in Haviland's possession, on course to become part of a display in memory of Haviland's dad.

The City of Atlanta's crew members, estimated to have numbered 45-47, dealt not only with the challenge of abandoning ship but also facing hypothermia, and the situation claimed all but three lives.

The dad, at the time, was known as Ted, and his career also wound up including time in the Navy and Coast Guard. The son, who now lives in Aiken, was known at the time as Teddy.

The main man behind the artifact's acquisition is North Carolina-based author Kevin Duffus, largely known for his creations focusing on the history of North Carolina's coast. Haviland, a retired telephone engineer who moved to Aiken in 2016, described Duffus as "a lecturer, a historian and an author, and a very good one at that."

"He wrote several books about the war off of North Carolina," Haviland said. He recalled hearing from a former co-worker who had met Duffus and suggested Haviland make contact with Duffus.

"I read his books first," Haviland said, "and he's written several of them, and I gave him a call just to thank him, because I was mentioned - and my dad, of course, was mentioned - in the books... and he came and visited me, about two years ago, and we had an outstanding visit, and we've been in contact ever since."

Duffus, who is also the son of a D-Day veteran, "petitioned some divers that he knew out of Ocracoke or somewhere along the coast, and just mentioned that it would be nice to get something as an artifact," Haviland said.

"I was 6 years old when I lost my dad, and Kevin Duffus, in his compassion, wanted to give me a memento, and he contacted and re-contacted and everything, and pursued this thing until finally the divers relented and sent it."

Haviland, who is also a Navy Reserve veteran, received the package, via U.S. Postal Service on April 17. He opened it with help from Duffus during the author's visit at the Haviland home in The Farmstead, off Herndon Dairy Road.

Haviland said the bottle appears to have contained something such as aftershave or a hair product, due to the small hole for dispensing the contents. The bottle appears to have been frosted, probably from decades of exposure to sand, and has an iridescent appearance, he added.

The retiree's childhood memories, as recorded in a photo, include visiting a ship - most likely, the City of Atlanta - with his dad. "We went and saw the radio room and his berth and just walked around the ship, so I remember that vividly."

The scene of "his last trip" is also locked in Haviland's memories. "My sister was in school, but I was too young to go to school, so my mother and I went down to the bluff of the Savannah River, and we waved to him as he left, as we did every time he left the port. We would go down and wave to him, and he would stand on the top deck, and he'd take his hat off and he'd wave, and he would wave to us until the river made a bend and you could see him no more... and that was the last I saw of him."

A website for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration includes details on the ill-fated freighter's final hours, as partially determined via a U-boat known to history as U-123. "In the early hours of January 19, 1942, U-123 fired one torpedo striking City of Atlanta on the port side along the waterline. It struck with such force it set off a massive explosion, scattering debris for hundreds of meters. As U-123 took a 'victory lap,' City of Atlanta capsized to port and sank quickly."

The account adds, "After spotting additional steamer lights, U-123 sped off to intercept while leaving City of Atlanta burning and ... survivors clinging to the wreckage. After six hours, the survivors were finally rescued by Seatrain Texas."

The City of Atlanta, Haviland said, served Boston, New York City and Savannah, Georgia, and was en route to Savannah when the end came, with the torpedo striking at 2:09 a.m. Four men were rescued from the water, including one who died shortly thereafter on the deck of the rescuing ship.

Haviland noted that the submarine's captain was Reinhard Hardegen, who not only survived the war but lived to be 105 years old. A native of Bremen, Germany, Hardegen was credited with sinking or crippling about 20 merchant ships in Allied waters. He died June 9, 2018.

Haviland also recalled lessons from Duffus' books. "I never knew there was German submarine activity off the coast of North Carolina in World War I, and we didn't learn from that, so in World War II, they came back and sunk several ships off of North Carolina."

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 5:58 AM.