Do fundo do mar... Sea bottom

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Delaware online
By Molly Murray
April 27, 2005


The News Journal/BOB HERBERTA
Toy soldier firing a gun is believed to be from an
18th-century shipwreck found in the Delaware Bay.

LEWES -- About 14 feet beneath the surface of Delaware Bay, underwater archaeologist Lee Cox groped around like a blindfolded man in a carnival maze.

Brisk winds kicked up choppy seas and pitched Cox and other divers around in the shallows. The water was filled with silt.

Cox was performing archaeology by groping his way along the bottom in search of shapes from the distant past. By Sunday, he and other archaeologists were certain of what they were feeling in the sand. Now, they have made their conclusions public and announced the discovery of a cache of millstones from a sunken 18th-century cargo ship.

State historians think the grinding stones could have been destined for the dozens of mills that sprang up in Sussex County in the first century after the earliest European settlements (the mid-1600s) in Delaware. The goods probably were being shipped down the Delaware River from a larger community, such as Philadelphia.

"Another chapter in Delaware's rich history is about to unfold," said Harriet Smith Windsor, Delaware's secretary of state and the overseer of historic sites in the state.

The shipwreck could be significant for Delaware and other coastal states because it dates from early Colonial settlement and could yield important discoveries about the region and the types of goods that were traded along the waterway.

If the ship turns out to be a cargo sloop or shallop, it would be the only known shipwreck of its kind in the region, said Charles Fithian, curator of archaeology for Delaware State Museums.

"We haven't worked on a shipwreck of this scale since the deBraak discovery," said Dan Griffith, director of the state's newly formed Lewes Maritime Archaeology Project. The deBraak, a British military ship on convoy duty, sank in a wind storm off Cape Henlopen in 1798. It was discovered two decades ago by treasure hunters.

"This is an investigation in progress," Griffith said. "Every time we go down we learn something new."

A purely accidental find
The Roosevelt Inlet shipwreck was discovered during a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sand pumping project last fall. A dredge accidentally plunged into the underwater site and pumped shards of glass, pottery and other relics onto the Lewes beach.

Since late November, state archaeologists have been investigating whether the site several hundred yards offshore was a shipwreck or the remains of a Colonial-era land settlement that dipped beneath the waterline as sands shifted.

The Lewes discovery came after the Army Corps completed a $3.9 million project to improve the jetty at Roosevelt Inlet, limit sand shoaling in the inlet and rebuild about a half-mile stretch of storm-damaged beach.

In November, beachcombers started finding shards of earthenware pottery, green glass and stoneware scattered over the freshly pumped sand beach.

State and federal officials closed the beach to artifact hunters and started investigating - sifting through mountains of sand, then trying to find the offshore source of the artifacts.

Just scratching the surface
Cox said the dredge probably dug into only a fraction of the artifacts that rest about 2,000 feet off the beach.

Still unknown are the precise location of the ship, what was included in the cargo, and details about the vessel or why it sank. Griffith said the shipwreck probably occurred between 1750 and 1760.

That would have been about 120 years after the first ill-fated settlement in southern Delaware known as Zwaanendael. Those settlers eventually were overrun and killed by American Indians after they established a fort off what is now the Lewes & Rehoboth Canal in Lewes.

"That looks pretty firm right now," Griffith said of the date. "We were still a colony. We were still part of Pennsylvania."

Cox, a partner in the underwater archaeology firm Dolan Research Inc., is under contract with the Corps of Engineers. His company already has completed a survey of the bay bottom using remote-sensing equipment. A side-scan sonar image of the dive site shows a rough and bumpy picture of the bottom, but no clear outline of a ship.

Cox said he thinks it could be under three to four feet of sand. Divers still are looking. The mystery, Smith Windsor said, "is unfolding daily."

Protected site
The offshore dive site is protected under state and federal laws and is off limits to treasure hunters. Corps and state officials said Tuesday that the half-mile strip of beach at Roosevelt Inlet that was closed last fall is now open to the public.

Divers have found brick, stoneware, bottle bases, necks and rims, earthenware and even a complete stoneware jug. They also have found lead sheathing from the ship's hull, and an intact pestle from a mortar and pestle used for grinding. They also recovered tiny military figurines and ships made of lead that were probably part of a game called "The Game of Kings," Fithian said.

Delaware archaeologists hope the discovery will help them better understand Colonial life and trading in the Delaware Valley - perhaps enough to enhance Delaware's Colonial reputation for regional commerce.

Historians know the artifacts come from a variety of countries, including Germany, England and perhaps France. There may even be home-grown pottery from Pennsylvania.


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News GC
April 29, 2005



Ottawa - Winston Churchill once wrote that the only thing that "ever really frightened" him during the Second World War was the threat presented by Germany's U-boats. The Battle of the Atlantic was the struggle to protect Allied ships in the North Atlantic from these marauding German submarines. Every year, Canada remembers the sacrifice made by its armed forces and merchant fleet on Battle of the Atlantic Sunday, the first Sunday in May. This year, Canada Post will honour the Canadians who helped to keep these important shipping lanes open, with a stamp that portrays this battle fought at sea. The stamp will be available in post offices across the country on April 29, 2005.

"Every year, on the first Sunday in May, we are reminded that the peace and freedoms we enjoy today are a legacy left to us by some very brave Canadians," said the Honourable John McCallum, Minister Responsible for Canada Post. "These stamps are a memorial to the courage and sacrifice shown by participants in the Battle of the Atlantic and, we trust, a fitting tribute to those who gave their lives for our freedom."

Vessels crossing the Atlantic carried crucial supplies from Halifax and other North American ports to Britain, and Canadian forces played an important role in protecting these merchant ships from enemy submarines. The air force gave air cover to the vessels while warships escorted the merchant ships across the ocean. Canada shared these duties at first with Britain, and later in the war with the United States. The Canadian navy was required to carry out much of the escort work in the northwest Atlantic. This was a duty that did not come without cost – by the war's end, 22 Canadian naval ships had been lost, and more than 4,000 Canadians had died, including some 2,000 sailors, 750 airmen and 1,650 seamen from the merchant fleet.

The stamp was designed by Derek Sarty of Halifax's GaynorSarty. Sarty's challenge was to reduce the epic story of this battle into a single small image. Sarty selected the images used on the stamp from the extensive files of the Maritime Command Museum in Halifax. Assembling the composite work of several images (a convoy of vessels, a torpedoed supply ship, a Canadian Navy corvette and a German U-boat) required weeks of fine detailed work, Sarty noted. To heighten the visual drama of the stamp, Sarty added fields of colour in nautical tones reminiscent of the period, which also suggest the harsh conditions of the North Atlantic.

The stamp measures 56 mm x 30 mm, and will be sold in a pane of 16 stamps. Lowe-Martin printed 2.5 million of the stamps, using lithography in 8 colours plus varnish, and P.V.A. gum, on Tullis Russell Coatings paper. The stamp is general tagged on all four sides with 13+ perforations. The Official First Day Cover will read HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA.

Additional information about Canadian stamps can be found in the Newsroom section of Canada Post's website, and a downloadable high-resolution photo of the Battle of the Atlantic stamp is in the Newsroom's Photo Centre. Stamps and Official First Day covers will be available at participating post offices, can be ordered online by following the links at Canada Post's website www.canadapost.ca, or by mail order from the National Philatelic Centre. From Canada and the USA call toll-free: 1-800-565-4362 and from other countries call: (902) 863-6550.

Additional information about the Battle of the Atlantic.

For further information, contact:
Cindy Daoust, Ottawa, Ontario(613) 734-4258


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eitb24
April 26, 2005

The Traditional Boats Investigation and Building Centre has almost finished the reconstruction process of the boat Red Bay, one of the boats that accompanied the San Juan galleon in whale hunting in the middle of the 16th century.

In spring 2004, Oarsoaldea S.A got the drafts of the boat and decided to build a replica of the Red Bay, from the year 1565.

Soon, once the building process is confirmed as well as the process of recovery of sea patrimony adjusts to the level of quality required by such a project, and after checking it complies with all the necessary requirements, the San Juan galleon will be also built.

This is a joint project with the Culture Department of the Gipuzkoa county council and the Submarine Archaeology Department of Parks Canada.

The Sea Archaeology Department of Parks Canada, led by Robert Grenier, well-known Submarine Archaeologist worldwide, is very much involved in the recovery of Basque sea culture and particularly in the project of investigation and reconstruction of the San Juan galleon.


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Delaware online
By Molly Murray
April 26, 2005


Divers are finding thousands of pieces of pottery,
glass and even small military miniatures made of lead.

The hundreds of fragments of pottery, glass and bricks pumped onto the beach at Lewes last fall are from a colonial shipwreck just off modern-day Roosevelt Inlet, state historians announced today.

Divers located an 18th-century shipwreck in the shallow waters of Delaware Bay during recent dives, and state officials say it is the oldest sunken ship ever to be found in state waters.

The fragments that landed on the beach during a sand-dredging operation – and those found with the ship – are from Delaware’s early Colonial settlement, dating to about 1750. The beach fragments are just a fraction of the historic treasure that remains on the Delaware Bay floor, said underwater archeologist Lee Cox of Dolan Research, the consultant hired to investigate the offshore site.

Cox said divers yesterday found a cache of millstones – the large, circular stones that would have been used in mills to grind grain and other goods. What they still haven’t found, however, is the outline of the actual ship, he said. They did find timbers from the hull.

Officials also do not know the name of the vessel, the circumstances under which it sank or where it was headed. The mystery, said Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor, “is unfolding daily.”

State archaeologists think the ship probably is a shallow-draft cargo vessel – probably a shallop or sloop – that brought goods from major cities like Philadelphia to smaller outposts.

The offshore dive site is protected under both state and federal laws and is off limits to treasure hunters. But state officials announced today that the half-mile strip of beach at Roosevelt Inlet has been reopened to the public.

State officials closed the beach area in December after beachcombers started finding bits and pieces of ceramics, pottery and glass in an area where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had pumped in sand for a beach renourishment project.


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Diário de Noticias
By Alfredo Teixeira
March 28, 2005


'Vila do Porto' é uma das muitas embarcações visitáveis.

Durante longas décadas, a costa de Matosinhos ficou conhecida pelos marinheiros pelos piores motivos. O maciço rochoso que embeleza a totalidade das praias entre o Porto de Leixões e Angeiras serviu de ratoeira a muitas embarcações, nomeadamente à noite, em dias de tempestade e quando a sinalização luminosa era deficiente e ainda não existiam as comunicações via rádio. Além dos muitos barcos que se dedicavam à faina da pesca, também navios de grandes dimensões ali naufragaram. Por isso, os marinheiros baptizaram esta faixa costeira de Costa Negra. Um mundo de segredos e curiosidades por descobrir e que começa a estar agora ao serviço do turismo.

Mergulho no Passado é o nome da iniciativa lançada pela Câmara de Matosinhos que pretende mostrar essa outra faceta da localidade, conhecida por poucos mas muito ligada à natureza e ao ambiente, servindo de motivação para o turismo e para a investigação e conhecimento da História de Portugal. O que se pretende é que o mergulho subaquático praticado no local por alguns curiosos passe a despertar o interesse dos praticantes da modalidade de todo o País.

No caso particular dos navios afundados, as áreas de influência destes pontos de mergulho são, segundo Guilherme Pinto, vereador do Ambiente na autarquia matosinhense, "excelentes museus vivos, porque aglutinam o património industrial, constituído pelas embarcações, e um património natural riquíssimo, pela fauna e flora que utiliza estes destroços como coral artificial, funcionando estes como ecossistemas naturalizados".

Nas águas de Matosinhos é frequente encontrarem-se variadas espécies de medusas, agulhinhas, aranha-das-anémonas, santolas, taínhas, caboz, carapau e sardinha, bodião, polvos, chocos e lulas, peixe-porco e peixe-diabo, cenouras- -do-mar e estrelas. Manuel José Silva é mergulhador e especializou-se na fotografia subaquática. Acaba de lançar o livro Marés de Luz, que reúne alguns dos seus trabalhos. Afirma que já mergulhou em muitas zonas do mundo, inclusive no Mar Vermelho, mas "esta costa nada fica a dever aos melhores pontos de mergulho em beleza da fauna e da flora".

Com o objectivo de dar a conhecer o património histórico e ambiental existente foi desenvolvida uma sinalética que será colocada ao longo da costa, nos locais de afundamento de cada uma das embarcações. Esta sinalética, produzida em aço inox, vai conter imagens das embarcações aquando do naufrágio, seguidas de um texto explicativo do acontecimento, no qual são apresentadas as características do navio, como a sua dimensão, o número de tripulantes, a sua função, entre outras informações. Os locais de permanência desta sinalética foram escolhidos quanto à facilidade de acesso e à possibilidade de leitura de paisagem desde esses pontos. Assim, quem estiver particularmente interessado no naufrágio do Navio do Norte, o melhor ponto de observação é no parque de estacionamento da praia do Corgo, enquanto para vislumbrar o local onde o paquete de luxo Varonese se afundou e ler a memória descritiva dos acontecimentos o melhor é deslocar-se ao miradouro junto à Capela da Boa Nova.

Todos os mergulhadores interessados em explorar a costa de Matosinhos têm à sua disposição o apoio da autarquia que, através do seu gabinete de arqueologia, dispõe de um conjunto de compilações de documentos e relatos sobre as embarcações naufragadas. Já para encontrar a localização exacta, o melhor é recorrer ao Clube Mergulho Mania e à sempre disponível colaboração da Marinha Portuguesa que patrulha as águas desta costa com o navio Cacine, normalmente ancorado no Cais da Marinha, junto à Marina de Leça da Palmeira. Além da sua actividade de fiscalização das embarcações que navegam ao longo da costa, a Marinha apoia as actividades naúticas e de recreio, sendo frequentes as homenagens feitas aos marinheiros que pereceram nas águas, com rituais próprios deste ramo das forças armadas, e com a deposição de flores nos locais das tragédias.



Do paquete repleto de rejugiados ao submarino 'U-1277' da Alemanha nazi
Por trás das perigosas e aguçadas penedias está todo um mundo por descobrir. Além da deslumbrante flora estão as embarcações que, ao longo dos séculos, foram parte integrante de inúmeras tragédias, numa costa repleta de tristes recordações.

Assim, à entrada do Porto de Leixões encontram-se os destroços do Charneca, rebocador ao serviço da Lisnave que, a 16 de Fevereiro de 1986, ondas alterosas atiraram contra o molhe. O embate abriu um rombo no casco e afundou a embarcação. Da tripulação apenas sobreviveu um elemento.

Não muito longe deste local, também junto ao canal de entrada do porto estão os destroços do Jacob Maersk, petroleiro dinamarquês de mais de 261 metros e construído em 1966 e que ali se afundou, a 29 de Janeiro de 1975. O navio explodiu quando manobrava para atracar no terminal A de Leixões, o que resultou na morte de seis tripulantes de um total de 32. O incêndio lavrou durante três dias. Até 1996, este acidente esteve classificado em 12.º lugar na lista dos maiores derramamentos de crude a nível mundial.

A 200 metros da praia estão os destroços do Ruy Barbosa, paquete brasileiro de 149 metros, construído em 1913, que a 31 de Julho de 1934 encalhou quando navegava rumo a Leixões devido ao denso nevoeiro. A bordo estavam 125 tripulantes e uma centena de passageiros, a maioria dos quais judeus fugidos da Alemanha nazi com destino ao Brasil. Não houve vítimas.

O submarino alemão da Segunda Guerra Mundial é o que mais suscita a curiosidade dos mergulhadores. O U-1277 pertencia à classe VIIC41 e tinha o comprimento de 67,23 metros. Integrado na 11.ª flotilha de submarinos da Marinha de Guerra do Reich, deixou a base em Bergen, na Noruega, para aquela que foi a sua única missão de combate. A 4 de Maio de 1945 recebeu ordens para se render e se entregar no porto aliado mais próximo. O comandante decide, no entanto, afundá-lo na madrugada de 4 de Junho, ao largo do Cabo do Mundo.

Perto da Praia da Boa Nova está o Veronese, paquete inglês construído em 1906. A 16 de Janeiro de 1913, a embarcação encalhou devido ao forte temporal que se registava. Das 232 pessoas que seguiam a bordo salvaram-se 192. Junto ao molhe norte do Porto de Leixões encontram-se também os destroços do Vila do Porto, navio motor lançado à água em 1949. Encalhou e naufragou a 20 de Março de 1955, na sequência de um forte temporal no Leixão Grande.


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Clix


NRP Delfim.

A Câmara Municipal de Viana do Castelo está a desenvolver contactos com a Marinha portuguesa com o objectivo de transformar um submarino, que irá ficar ancorado na cidade, em navio-museu.

O projecto surge na sequência da intenção manifestada pela Marinha de ceder à sociedade civil antigos navios das suas frotas com vista a serem aproveitados para preservar o património histórico.

O objectivo da autarquia de Viana do Castelo é «criar um pólo de visitas a navios», o qual incluiria o antigo navio-hospital Gil Eannes, que já recebeu desde 1998 mais de 273 mil visitas e integra, desde 2003, uma Pousada da Juventude.

Para além do submarino, a câmara municipal também pretende transformar em museu o antigo bacalhoeiro Maria Manuela, «que está desactivado em Aveiro e que poderá, eventualmente, vir a aumentar essa colecção de embarcações visitáveis».


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ABC
April 25, 2005



A Melbourne-based group of amateur archaeologists has found the resting place of a ship which took medical staff to Gallipoli and brought wounded and returned soldiers back to Australia.

The wreck of the Kanowna was found on Saturday, about 50 kilometres out into Bass Strait.

The ship hit a rock and sank off south-east Victoria's Wilson's Promontory in 1929.

Greg Hodge from the Southern Ocean Exploration group says he hopes the find adds to this year's Anzac Day commemorations.

"There's a lot of people who probably put a lot of work into her and served on her and supported our troops and our troops coming home...I guess what I'm feeling is that there's a bit of closure for some people that they know where she finally is now," he said.

Mr Hodge says he was thrilled the 18 month search resulted in the find just in time for Anzac Day.



Ship History
W. Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton Scotland built the 6,993-ton twin screw TSS Kanowna in 1902. The ship was owned and operated by the Australian United Steam Navigation Company on the Fremantle-Sydney route. The ship was requisitioned as a troop transport on 8 August 1914 and embarked troops for New Guinea. Commonwealth control ended 21 August 1914.

The TSS Kanowna was requisitioned again 1 June 1915 and proceeded to England where she was converted to a hospital ship with accommodation for 452 patients. For the next three years she transported sick and wounded between England and Australia as HMAS KANOWNA.

The ship was returned to the Australian United Steam Navigation Company on 29 July 1919 and resumed service as a passenger and general cargo liner. Steaming between Sydney and Melbourne, she ran on to rocks in foggy weather near Cleft Island (Skull Rock) south of Wilson’s Promontory on 18th February 1929. Boats were immediately lowered and passengers were transferred to SS Mackarra.

It was first thought that the vessel could be saved, but owing to her boiler fires being extinguished she could not be beached. After remaining afloat for several hours, she sank the following morning. The steamship Dumosa also attended the site and took aboard the Kanowna’s officers and men.

A Court of Inquiry found the Master had committed an error of judgment and should have slowed his vessel in the fog. The Kanowna is likely to lie in 80msw.

Source: Southern Ocean Exploration.


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The Daily News
By Patricia Smith
April 27, 2005

BEAUFORT - Pirate ships and cannons just go together.

And when people visit the N.C. Maritime Museum's exhibit of artifacts from a vessel archaeologists think might have belonged to the legendary pirate Blackbeard, they want to see the big guns.

"It's probably the most logo thing off this ship that people think of in relation to pirates," said Connie Mason, collections manager for the museum.

Soon museum visitors will get their wish.

The first two cannons to arrive at the museum from the Queen Anne's Revenge shipwreck site came from the conservation lab Tuesday. And the plan is to get them out for public display quickly - sometime in May, said museum director David Nateman.

"The actual interpretive exhibit won't be ready at that time," Nateman said and added that the museum will work up some type of interim display.

"The intent is to bring the smaller one to the museum and leave the larger one at the repository," Nateman said.
The smaller gun may have been a rail gun, and the museum plans to display it that way, Nateman said.

There was no apparatus, such as a carriage, found associated with the weapon at the shipwreck site, said David Moore, curator of nautical archaeology at the museum.

Rail guns were attached to the rails of the ship, Moore said. They could swivel on their base and were light enough to be mobile.

"If you're getting attacked by another ship you could literally pick it up and move it to another location," Moore said.

Markings on the smaller gun indicate it once weighed 199 pounds, Moore said. It currently weighs only 175 pounds because of loss from either corrosion or the conservation process, he said.

The gun is of English make and probably shot a 1-pound cannonball, Moore said. Because of the way it was made, was fairly unusual in its day, he said.

"According to some of the experts, English guns were rarely made with a two-part mold, especially this early," Moore said.

The larger cannon currently weighs 325 pounds and doesn't have a marked weight, said conservation lab manager Wendy Welsh.

It is marked, however, by a definite date, 1713, Moore said. It's one of only two artifacts retrieved from the shipwreck marked by a date. The Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground in Beaufort Inlet in 1718.

"This is the one artifact that establishes a date that it cannot go any earlier," he said.

The larger gun appears to be a carriage gun and bears the letters "IEC" for Jasper Ehrencreutz, a Swedish family that manufactured guns from the mid-17th century through the 18th century, Moore said.

The two cannons were retrieved from the shipwreck site in 1999. They were both in a single concretion that divers nicknamed "Baby Ruth" because of its resemblance to the candy bar.

The museum expects to receive a third cannon from the Queen Anne's Revenge site this summer, Nateman said.

Moving the cannons to the museum will free space at the conservation lab that will be needed for the two to three cannons and other artifacts the Queen Anne's Revenge Project plans to bring up from the shipwreck site next month, said project director Mark Wilde-Ramsing.

The project will begin site preparations Monday for a monthlong dive funded by a $145,000 grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation.

"It's going to be four weeks of excavations," Wilde-Ramsing said.

The divers plan to dig up 16 different 5 foot-by-5 foot units from various areas of the shipwreck, he said.
It will be the longest excavation dive for the project in several years and Moore said he is excited about the opportunity.

"I'd like to find something to finally prove once and for all that this is the Queen Anne's Revenge to silence the naysayers," Moore said.

The project recently came under criticism from two East Carolina University maritime studies professors and an archaeologist who formerly worked with the Queen Anne's Revenge Project.

They claimed those associated with the project might have slanted evidence associated with the wreckage to make it fit a preconceived notion that it was Blackbeard's flagship.


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Houston Chronicle
By Thomas H. Maugh II
April 23, 2005

A Louisiana archaeologist has discovered the remains of a massive Maya salt-producing complex submerged in a lagoon off the south coast of Belize.

The underwater site also revealed the first wooden structural artifacts from the Maya empire, including wooden poles and beams used in constructing the salt factories.

A wooden paddle from the canoes that were used to distribute the salt over inland waterways also was discovered — the first time such an object has been found.

Archaeologist Heather Mc- Killop of Louisiana State University reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that she and her colleagues have so far discovered 45 separate facilities for salt production in the mangrove peat bogs of Punta Ycacos Lagoon.

"There are many more sites there," she said in an interview.

The discoveries are "tremendously exciting," said archeologist Tom Guderjan of Texas Christian University, who was not involved in the research.

"We have never, in that region of the world, found preservation of architectural materials (wood) like she has found underwater."

The discovery of the paddle is particularly intriguing, he said, because even though Maya pictures show canoes, researchers previously found no traces.

"We've all been looking for the canoe," Guderjan said. Finding a paddle gives hope that a canoe also will surface. "It could be 6 inches under the muck."

Salt played a crucial role in ancient economies because humans needed it to survive and also desired its taste. It also has a variety of secondary uses, such as the preservation of fish.

The cities of the Maya civilization are largely located in areas that have a scarcity of salt.


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Sun Sentinel
By Lisa J. Huriash
April 24, 2005

The underwater conservation group that discovered a historical anchor buried underneath the ocean will soon be embarking on a new project off the coast of Pompano Beach.

Vone, a nonprofit, all-volunteer group based in Pompano Beach, specializes in underwater archaeology and does everything from looking for shipwrecks to discovering coral reefs to picking up trash to finding lost divers.

On April 12, the Pompano Beach City Commission gave tentative approval to expand its rules on scientific activities to allow Vone to start its next major endeavor late this summer: digging for a shipwreck thought to have happened in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

The project is known informally as the Canadian wreck, not because the ship originated in Canada but because of the man who discovered it, Vone founder and president Stephen Attis said.

A Canadian was vacationing in the area in the 1970s at the same time a governmental agency was installing sewer outfall pipes, which take treated sewage and pump it into the ocean, Attis said. He thinks when the crews were digging for the pipes, they cut into the wreck. When the Canadian man was wading in the water, "a stone's throw from the beach," he found timbers with spikes on them that look like arrowheads.

"This gentleman picked some of the wood fragments up and he kept them for a long time," Attis said. "In the late '90s, he kept one and gave the others to the Marine Archaeology Council. He knew they might be significant.

"Attis said experts don't know anything about the ship yet but think there's potential for a great discovery. Years after applying for the state's Department of Environmental Protection and city permits, he is close to setting the date to begin excavations. He's still waiting for permission from Broward County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and final approval from Pompano Beach, which could come as early as Tuesday.

Using machines that clear the sand, he'll have to dig a hole straight into the sand, probably about 6 feet deep."There's no gold or silver," Attis said. "The treasure is in the story of the wreck and what we can learn."

Dan Hobby, executive director of the Pompano Beach Historical Society, said it would be quite a find if divers can locate that ship like they have others.

"It's a fascinating part of our history that's very little understood, in part because people can't see the remains," Hobby said. "It really pushes the history of this area back considerably. And if you put yourself in the place of the sailors and the drama and probably terror that accompanies the sinking of the ships, it's really the stuff that novels and movies are made of."

One of Vone's greatest finds was several years ago when it found a rotting anchor that is displayed in a Pompano Beach city park and is possibly from the Gil Blas, a ship that wrecked in the 1800s.

Divers went digging into the wreck in 1997 and think they found the famous ship.

The Gil Blas, a 200-ton, twin-masted brig, was transporting Cuban cigars and sugar from Havana to Spain on her maiden voyage when it went aground during a hurricane in September 1835, a mile north of the Hillsboro Inlet.

Eventually Vone will also be hunting to find the anchor of the L' Athenaise, as well as the shackles used for its prisoners.

L' Athenaise, under British control, was transporting French prisoners back to Europe at the time of the 1804 wreck. As told through historical research, the ship was caught in a storm while the captain was drunk. Anchors were thrown out, but eventually the ship would wreck on the northern coast of what is now Broward County.

"What's really cool is when you get to hold something in your hand that's hundreds of years ago and you get to preserve it for future generations long after we're gone," Attis said. "This area is so rich with history people don't realize."


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CDNN
by Lamar Bennington
April 24, 2005


USS Cooper.

PUERTO GALERA, Philippines -- Two leading Asia Pacific dive resorts have announced they will sponsor a world-record deep dive attempt to the wreck of the USS Cooper.

Roscoe Thompson of Action Divers and John Barratt of Dive VIP told CDNN their respective companies will combine their expertise to provide logistical support and funding for the technical dive team that will attempt the world-record dive on May 28, 2005 to place a large memorial bronze plaque on the USS Cooper.

If successful, the dive will be the world's deepest scuba dive to a shipwreck.

The USS Cooper sank on December 3, 1944 during the Battle of Ormoc Bay after it was hit by a Japanese torpedo. Of the 359 officers and enlisted personnel aboard the American destroyer, 191 died.

PBY Catalina flying boats dodged heavy fire to rescue 168 crew, some of whom are still alive and planning to be aboard dive support vessels at the Bay of Ormoc on May 28 to pay their last respects to fallen comrades.

Thompson and Barratt emphasized the significance of the dive which aims to honor those who died at the Bay of Ormoc in 1944.

"The USS Cooper is extremely deep and demanding for the technical dive team, which will employ sophisticated diving techniques and utilize cutting edge technical diving equipment to safely complete the dive," Thompson told CDNN. "While any world-record attempt is of considerable interest to the scuba diving community, the true significance of the dive is to honor the 191 men who made the ultimate sacrifice to defeat the Japanese in World War II."

"Absolutely right," agreed Barratt. "This is not about us and if successful, the depth record will be a mere footnote to a dive that aims to express the debt our generation and all future generations owe to those who fought so courageously to defeat the Japanese at Ormoc Bay."

More about the DD-695 USS Cooper
. Allen M. Sumner Class Destroyer:
. Displacement: 2200 tons
. Length: 376'6"
. Beam: 40'10"
. Draft: 15'8"%
. Speed: 35 knots
. Armament: 6 5"/38, 2x5 21" torpedo tubes
. Complement: 345
. High-pressure super-heated boilers, geared turbines with twin screws, 60,000 h.p.
. Built at Federal, Kearny and commissioned 1944

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The Victoria Advocate
April 24, 2005

When we think of shipwrecks we often think of treasure - old and silver, jewels and other things of value - but never was a greater treasure found along the Texas coast than when archaeologists of the Texas Historical Commission found and recovered the French explorer Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle's little ship La Belle from the bottom of Matagorda Bay.

The story of La Salle's historic journey to Texas, the subsequent sinking of La Belle during a brisk norther in February 1686, and the recovery of the ship more than 300 years later is quite a story.

That story is detailed in a new 176-page book from Texas A&M University Press appropriately titled "From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle's Shipwreck, La Belle."

The book was written by James E. Bruseth and his wife, Toni S. Turner. Bruseth is director of the archaeology division of the Texas Historical Commission and served as director of the excavation of La Belle. Turner assisted in many aspects of the project. She was also involved with the fundraising, $6 million being required to recover and conserve the artifacts.

Their book tells the story of the La Salle expedition and colony in Texas in a way that it has never been told before.
Written for a general audience, "From a Watery Grave" will find a welcome place for years to come on the bookshelves of historians, archaeologists, school and public libraries and anyone interested in the very beginnings of the history of Texas.

With 126 color and 13 black and white photographs, maps and other illustrations, the book is like having a museum at your fingertips. As one who has heard Bruseth present numerous programs on both the excavations of La Belle and La Salle's Fort St. Louis, and having been with him on various occasions during both projects, I know him as an accomplished archaeologist and historical researcher with exceptional skills in communication.

Bruseth's love of archaeology and the history of Texas is evident in this book, with a similar book being planned on the Fort St. Louis Archaeological Project. Anyone who takes the time to read "From a Watery Grave" will have a good understanding of why there was so much excitement over the finding of La Belle.

The authors have put the entire story of the little ship together in one place, and it is quite a story.

From La Salle's off-course arrival in Texas, establishment of Fort St. Louis, the sinking of his only remaining ship and the recovery of the wreckage three centuries later, it is a story like no other in Texas history.

Still hoping to find his way to the mouth of the Mississippi, La Salle had loaded the little ship - only a bit over 54 feet in length - with everything that a New World colony would need for survival.

The discovery of the wreckage by THC archaeologists in 1995 would provide the most significant historical treasure anybody could have ever hoped to find on the Texas coast.

There were more than a million artifacts recovered, with some of the most interesting being featured in the book.

Many of the artifacts are now on display in the Bob Bullock State History Museum in Austin and the participating La Salle Odyssey museums in Victoria, Corpus Christi, Rockport, Edna, Port Lavaca, Bay City and Palacios.

The artifacts - three bronze cannons, muskets, trade beads, axes, rings, bells, dishes and numerous other items - are all a part of the story of the expedition that was intended to establish a French presence at the mouth of the Mississippi.

With the sinking of La Belle, all hope for La Salle's stranded colony on Garcitas Creek in present southeastern Victoria County went down with the ship - the rest of the story being what eventually would happen to La Salle and to his ill-fated Fort St. Louis.

While the book concentrates on La Belle, its recovery and the study and conservation of the artifacts, the authors also review the history of the expedition and of the man whose vision for the New World ended in such tragedy in Texas.

All of Texas history as we know it today begins with the brief French presence in Matagorda Bay and on the Garcitas, the French encroachment being the inspiration for Spain to begin the establishment of missions and presidios in the vast lands north of the Rio Grande.

In a foreword to the book, the noted historian T.R. Fehrenbach says Bruseth and Turner "have created a splendid book, scientifically, historically, and visually" and that he believes the book, as well as La Belle, will become a Texas treasure.

That it is, not often does one find a book about such an important segment of Texas history presented in such a way, so easy to read and so well illustrated. Every student of Texas history young and old alike should read "From a Watery Grave" and, where possible, visit one or more of the museums to see some of the artifacts.

One who reads this book - or even just looks at the pictures - can not help but have a better appreciation for Texas history.

We all know about the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto, but something else every bit as important was happening down along the Texas coast 150 years before and the recovery of La Belle has helped to bring that part of our history into perspective.

Without it there wouldn't have been a watery grave or any of us here today to read about it.


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Navy News Stand
By Cara Berkley
April 19, 2005


USS O-9 (SS-70).

WASINGTON (NNS) -- The Naval Historical Center (NHC) received the official report in April from a September 2004 survey, which shed light on the loss of the submarine USS O-9, which mysteriously sank June 20, 1941, with the loss of all 33 Sailors.

Coordinated with the NHC, the survey was undertaken by the National Undersea Research Center (NURC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the History Channel Series, Deep Sea Detectives.

“The NHC is responsible for archiving the Navy's history and as such, safekeeping this report ensures that the Center and the Underwater Archeology Branch in particular continues to fulfill its mandate," said Dr. Robert Neyland, Underwater Archaeology Branch, NHC.

The wreck of the submarine, renumbered SS-70 in 1941, was examined over three days using a NURC research vessel and remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The Research Center's staff and crew were able to confirm the exact position of O-9, which is situated at an upright angle at an average depth of 409 feet and remains virtually intact despite the decades it has spent permanently submerged on the New London seabed.


“The objectives of the survey included determining the condition of the vessel, collecting video and photographic documentation, and investigating a potential cause for the submarine's loss," said Dr. Susan B.M. Langley, senior scientist/principal investigator. "The report indicates that these aims were largely achieved despite the interference from marine life."

The film crew faced the challenge of navigating the ROV while carefully avoiding entangling fishing nets that surround the submarine's bow. When approaching from the stern, the survey discovered that the most severe damage to the vessel is in the vicinity of the engine room and the aft battery compartment.

"Dr. Langley's survey of the USS O-9 provides the Navy with a fresh look at the wreck and the grave site," said Neyland. "This survey and the following documentary illustrate that the Navy's history, tradition, and sacrifice survives in the sea."


Side-scan sonar image of the remains of the submarine USS O-9 (SS-70) off the Isle of Shoals, New Hampshire in more than 400 feet of water.

Due to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, just six months after the sinking, the tragedy was almost forgotten. This remained the case until 1997, when retired naval officer and diver Glen Reem personally persuaded Klein Associates, a sonar designer and supplier, to run a sonar search to relocate the stricken submarine, reopening interest in the O-9 mystery.

During the survey, a film crew from History Channel’s Deep Sea Detectives documented, filmed and chronicled the research team’s activities, which will be featured on an upcoming episode entitled “The Forgotten Sub of WW II”, which is due to air in May. Descendants of the lost Sailors also participated in the documentary by throwing a commemorative wreath in memory of their relatives who have not received the same attention as their shipmates lost in action during World War II.


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Yahoo! News
By Jeannette J. Lee
April 23, 2005


The World War II-era Japanese
midget submarine. AP Photo.

HONOLULU - From junked trucks to World War II submarines, vast fields of far-flung wreckage exist beneath the blue-green ocean off Hawaii.

"It's like an obstacle course under water, especially at Pearl Harbor," said John Smith, science program director at the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory. "Finding the more interesting artifacts is a real challenge."

A World War II-era Japanese submarine scuttled by the U.S. Navy is the laboratory's latest significant find among thousands of wrecks, most from the past two centuries.

The ship is one of two I-400 Sensuikan Toku class subs captured in the Pacific a week after Japan surrendered in 1945. Both subs were deliberately sunk by the U.S. when Russian scientists demanded access to them. The 400-foot-long hulks were the largest built before the nuclear ballistic missile subs of the 1960s.

In 2002, the waters off Oahu also yielded a Japanese midget submarine that was hit an hour before Japan's aerial attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

"These are incredibly valuable archaeological sites," said John Wiltshire, acting director of the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory. "Sometimes in the marine environment, you can preserve things you can't preserve on land."

The value of Hawaii's undersea wreckage is historical rather than monetary. Hawaii's shipping boom began in the 1800s, well after piracy's heyday in the late 1600s to mid 1700s.

Most cargo ships navigating the island chain in the 19th century carried goods that would have disintegrated by now, such as sugar, lumber, phosphates, sandalwood and furs, said Rick Rogers, who has written several books on Hawaii's shipwrecks.

Treasure hunters scouring the Hawaiian ocean bottom for doubloons or pieces of eight are more likely to find submarines, old whaling and merchant ships, fishing boats or 20th-century recreational craft and land vehicles.

Rogers, a former Army salvage diver, believes just one of the few tales of undersea treasure in Hawaii is worth seeking. He has spent 25 years and thousands of dollars searching for two galleons carrying Spain's entire annual cargo of Oriental trade goods, including porcelain, silk and spices.

References to castaways and shipwrecks in Hawaiian legends stoked Rogers' interest in the ships. He believes one went down off Maui in the late 16th century, the other in 1693 off the Big Island's Kona coast.

Finding information on wreck locations takes some work. There are no comprehensive databases or maps of sunken objects, just partial lists, and the Navy limits the release of some locations to prevent looting.

Certain sunken vessels, such as the battleship USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, are federally protected gravesites and cannot be used for recreational diving.

Diving companies, however, have marked the 10 most well-known wrecks on Oahu with small buoys.

Having so many military vessels underwater could raise concerns about unexploded munitions, but experts say the material is far from the shoreline and popular beaches.

"I've never heard of an instance when anyone has been injured by these old munitions," said Suzette Farnum, who owns Captain Bruce's diving company on Oahu's Waianae coast with her husband. "I'd assume the salt water has kind of trashed them anyway, but you don't want to take that chance by picking them up."

Undersea artifacts in shallower waters can actually benefit the environment, serving as sturdy skeletons for thriving undersea habitats.

The Mahi, a scuttled Navy minesweeper off the Waianae Coast, has grown into a 190-foot artificial reef that is home to corals, leaf scorpion fish, pufferfish, triggerfish, eels and magnificent eagle rays.

The nearby LCU, a 100-foot landing craft utility ship, houses two timid white-tipped reef sharks that flee when divers approach.

"Marine life tends to like these wrecks because there are nooks and crannies to hide in," Wiltshire said.
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On the Net:
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration: http://www.noaa.gov/


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CDNN
by Evan T. Allard
April 21, 2005

HONIARA, Solomon Islands -- The government of the Solomon Islands wants help from the United States to deal with oil leaks from deteriorating World War Two shipwrecks.

Officials told CDNN the Solomon Islands need U.S. help to assess the environmental impact of the leaks and if possible, stop oil from leaking into fragile marine ecosystems that islanders rely on for their sustenance.

During World War Two, heavy fighting took place between the Japanese and the United States in the Solomon Islands and hundreds of warships sank in the area.

As the shipwrecks get older and deteriorate, leaking oil from the vessels poses an increasing environmental threat.
Colin Beck, the Solomon Islands' ambassador to the United Nations, told CDNN that his nation lacks the expertise and know-how to deal with environmental problems caused by leaking oil from sunken warships.


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Humbul
April 21, 2005

Web Address (URL):
http://www.humbul.ac.uk/output/redirect.php?URI=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucl.ac.uk%2Farchaeology%2Fkuwait%2F

The British archaeological expedition to Kuwait (BAEK) is a project which began in 1998 in the area known as H3, As-Sabiyah, to search for archaeological evidence of early seafaring in the Middle East.

The project was undertaken by a British team in collaboration with the Department of Antiquity and museums in Kuwait. The actual excavation began in 1999 and ended in 2004.

The Web site details information about the valuable discoveries, which include: pottery; ceramics; artefacts; stone boats and tools.

In addition, there are pictures and references to the project. Detailed information about the project team is also provided.

It is a good site full of historical information that would suit researchers as well as the members of the public who are interested in maritime history and archaeology.


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Omnis Scientia
April 15, 2005

ANDREWS: Five compartments. She can stay afloat with the first four compartments breached. But not five. Not five. As she goes down by the head, the water will spill over the topos of the bulkheads... at E Deck... from one to the next... back and back. There's no stopping it.

SMITH: The pumps...

ANDREWS: The pumps buy you time... but minutes only. From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic will founder.

ISMAY: But this ship can't sink!

ANDREWS: She is made of iron, sir. I assure you, she can. And she will. It is a mathematical certainty.

Aunque este diálogo entre Thomas Andrews, el constructor del Titanic, Edward J. Smith, su capitán, y J. Bruce Ismay, director de la White Star Line, dueña del transantlántico, pertenece a la película Titanic, película dirigida por James Cameron en 1997, la tensión que se vivió cuando Andrews, después de comprobar los daños causados por el iceberg, estimó que al Titanic no le quedaban más de un par de horas de vida no creo que fuera muy diferente.
Hoy se cumplen 93 años de uno de los naufragios más famosos de la historia. El hundimiento del Titanic simboliza, por una parte, las grandezas y las miserias humanas y, por otra, es una metáfora de que cualquier avance tecnológico no tiene nada que hacer frente a la naturaleza.

La historia se remonta a una noche de verano de 1907. J. Bruce Ismay, director gerente de la compañía naviera White Star Line asistió a una cena ofrecida por lord James Pirrie, presidente de Harland and Wolff, unos gigantescos astilleros situados en Belfast que construían los barcos de la White Star Line, en su residencia londinense de Downshire House (curiosamente, ahora es la sede de la Embajada de España en el Reino Unido). El tema de la conversación giró en torno al Lusitania, el flamante nuevo transatlántico de la Cunard, rival de la White Star Line, que estaba a punto de hacer su viaje inaugural. Se esperaba que hiciera añicos el récord de velocidad para una travesía del Atlántico y pusiera a la Cunard muy por delante de otras compañías navieras.

Según se cree, durante esta cena Pirrie e Ismay se fijaron el reto de construir dos grandes transatlánticos (a los que luego se uniría un tercero), cada uno de los cuales sería un cincuenta por ciento mayor que las 30.000 toneladas de desplazamiento del Lusitania y tendría casi 30 metros más de eslora que los 240 de éste. Serían tan grandes que ningún astillero tendría un dique seco para albergarlo. Más que la velocidad, el concepto de estos transatlánticos estaría basado en el lujo y la comodidad, aunque serían lo suficientemente rápidos para que la travesía entre el Reino Unido y Nueva York se realizara en menos de una semana.

El 16 de diciembre de 1908 empezó a construirse el que sería el primer transatlántico de esta serie, el Olympic. Tres meses más tarde, el 31 de marzo de 1909 empezó a construirse el Titanic. En la construcción de ambos barcos participarían unos 10.000 obreros. Ambos transatlánticos eran casi idénticos, aunque el Titanic sería unos metros más grande y tendría un equipamiento más lujoso. Inicialmente planeado para el 10 de marzo de 1912, el viaje inaugural del Titanic tuvo que ser aplazado un mes debido a un accidente del Olympic, que obligó a que los materiales y obreros se concentraran en su reparación. Finalmente, el 10 de abril de 1912 el Titanic zarpó de Southampton. Tras hacer escala en Cherburgo (Francia) y Queenstown (Irlanda), se dirigió rumbo a Nueva York. Para su viaje inaugural, se eligió a Edward J. Smith, un capitán con más de 25 años de experiencia en la White Star Line, y que con este viaje esperaba poner el broche de oro a una prolongada y distinguida carrera.

En cuanto a lujo, el Titanic era la última palabra. Tenía dos suites de primera clase con 15 metros de cubierta de paseo privadas. Los camarotes de primera clase estaban decorados en diversos estilos, había ascensores, un gimnasio, baños turcos, una piscina, un restaurante a la carta, además de los comedores, el Café Parisien, réplica de una terraza de un café parisino, y la escalera principal más espectacular que pudiera imaginarse para un barco. Un billete en primera clase costaba 5.000 dólares, una fortuna para la época. La segunda clase era, en muchos aspectos similar a la primera de otros buques y hasta los camarotes de tercera clase resultaban impresionantes para lo que eran los estándares.

En en apartado tecnológico tampoco desmerecía. Tenía más de 52.000 toneladas de desplazamiento, medía 267 metros de eslora, 29 de manga y 53 metros de altura desde la quilla hasta la punta de las chimeneas. Para su construcción se utilizaron los últimos avances tecnológicos y el casco estaba dividido por 15 mamparas que generaban 16 compartimentos estancos. Su diseño le permitía flotar hasta con 4 de los compartimentos estancos anegados. Se creía, pues, que era insumergible.

La travesía se produjo sin problemas hasta el 14 de abril, cuando se empezaron a recibir avisos de bancos de hielo e icebergs en la ruta del Titanic. Ninguno de estos avisos pareció preocupar ni Smith ni a Ismay y las advertencias posteriores parece que ni siquiera llegaron al puente. Al caer la tarde, empezó a bajar la temperatura y el capitán ordenó que el barco modificara ligeramente su rumbo hacia el sur, quizás para evitar el hielo que tenían delante. La noche fue excepcionalmente tranquila. No había Luna y el mar estaba en calma. Frederick Fleet, uno de los vigías que se encontraban en la atalaya vio un objeto negro que se interponía en el camino del transatlántico. Avisó al puente e inmediatamente se dio la orden para virar todo a babor, al mismo tiempo que el barco daba marcha atrás. Se vivieron momentos de angustia mientras que la masa oscura se acercaba sin que el Titanic modificara aparentemente su rumbo. Finalmente, la proa del barco empezó a virar y parecía que iba a sortear con éxito el iceberg. Sin embargo, cuando este pasaba velozmente por estribor, se oyó un sonido de rascado, algo que algunos pasajeros y miembros de la tripulación describieron como una vibración, como rodar sobre un millar de canicas o como un sonido inquietante de algo que se rasga. Eran las 22:40 de la noche. Tras inspeccionar los daños, Thomas Andrews le comunicó al capitán que el iceberg había hecho una brecha de más de 60 metros en el costado de estribor. Los daños alcanzaban hasta el sexto compartimento estanco. Veinte minutos después de la colisión se sabía que el Titanic estaba condenado, pero lo peor estaba aún por llegar: a bordo viajaban 2.224 personas, pero solo había botes salvavidas para 1.178. Aunque resulte increíble, el Titanic llevaba más botes salvavidas de lo que exigía la reglamentación.

A las 12:05 se empezaron con los preparativos para arriar los botes salvavidas, al mismo tiempo que el capitán se dirigía hasta la sala de radio para dar instrucciones a los operadores para que emitieran la llamada de auxilio estándar CQD. Más tarde se decidió probar la nueva señal, SOS, convirtiéndose en el primer buque que lo hacía. Entre los barcos más cercanos al Titanic figuraba el Californian, a decena de millas de distancia, pero un cúmulo de circunstancias hizo que no se dieran cuenta de lo que estaba pasando. Varios barcos contactados se prestaron a cambiar su rumbo para prestar auxilio. Alrededor de las 12:45 empezaron a botarse los primeros botes salvavidas. A pesar de que la tripulación tenía órdenes de dejar subir solo a mujeres y niños, la mayoría de los botes iban medio vacíos y en algunos iban hombres. Muchos no se creían que el barco se hundiría y confiaban en regresar al barco enseguida. A esa misma hora se empezaron a lanzar las bengalas de emergencia, cinco en total. No voy a entrar en detalles sobre los dramáticos momentos que vivieron los pasajeros y las muestras de valor y cobardía de algunos de ellos. Cualquiera que haya visto la película Titanic puede hacerse una idea de lo que pasó (eliminando la trama Jack-Rose, la aparente desaparición de la segunda clase y la licencia del suicidio del primer oficial Murdoch, la película de James Cameron es bastante fiel a lo hechos).

El último bote salvavidas se arrió a las 2:05. Quedaban más de 1.500 personas a bordo. Mientras tanto, la proa del Titanic se hundía cada vez más y la popa empezó a elevarse sobre la superficie. La inclinación hizo que toda la carga y los objetos móviles se desplazaran en dirección a la proa generando un gran estrépito. Las luces, que habían permanecido encendidas, se apagaron de repente y el Titanic se convirtió en un oscuro perfil recortado frente al cielo estrellado. La tensión estructural a la que estaba sometido el barco se hizo insoportable y empezó a partirse entre la tercera y la cuarta chimenea, justo entre los lugares donde había grandes espacios abiertos como los comedores y la sala de calderas. Al partirse en dos, la proa del Titanic desapareció bajo la superficie, y la popa cayó y por un momento se mantuvo casi en equilibrio con el agua. Pocos segundos después empezó a hundirse, con el extremo roto inclinándose y la sección de popa elevándose hasta situarse casi perpendicular al agua. Así se mantuvo durante unos instantes y luego empezó a hundirse, cobrando velocidad a medida que descendía hasta desaparecer bajo el agua a las 2:20 del 15 de abril.

Dispersos por el océano, los botes salvavidas, muchos de ellos ocupados a la mitad de su capacidad, se perdieron mutuamente de vista. Tras el hundimiento, el silencio de la noche se vio interrumpido por los gritos de los supervivientes que flotaban en las gélidas aguas, que poco a poco fueron disminuyendo en intensidad hasta desaparecer. El Carpathia fue el primer barco que llegó al lugar del naufragio, donde solo consiguió rescatar a 706 supervivientes.

La localización exacta el hundimiento fue un misterio hasta que un equipo franco-americano liderado por el oceanógrafo Robert Ballard localizó los restos el 1 de septiembre de 1985. Se encontraban una decena de kilómetros de la posición que fue dada inicialmente en los mensajes de auxilio y a 3.800 metros de profundidad. Al año siguiente Ballard regresó al Titanic con una segunda expedición en la que usó el sumergible Alvin y un robot teledirigido, el Jason Junior, para explorar el interior de los restos.

Desde entonces, numerosas expediciones han explorado los restos e incluso han rescatado objetos que han sido mostrados en varias exposiciones.


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Indymedia
April 21, 2005



Plans for large dams in southeast Turkey including the discredited Ilisu dam project may yet go ahead in spite of adverse impacts on cultural and environmental rights, according to a new report by the National University of Ireland, Galway and the Kurdish Human Rights Project. The report provides new evidence from hydroelectric dam projects planned for the Munzur, Tigris and Greater Zap rivers.

The study, a report of a fact-finding mission to the region carried out by Maggie Ronayne, Lecturer in Archaeology at the National University of Ireland, Galway, demonstrates how archaeology in particular supports the case of thousands of villagers adversely affected by these projects, most of whom do not appear to have been consulted at all about the dams and many of whom want to return to reservoir areas, having already been displaced by the recent conflict in the region....

The overwhelming response in particular from women and their organisations is one of opposition to the negative impact on them and those in their care; yet women have been the least consulted sector.

The reservoirs would submerge evidence for hundreds and potentially thousands of ancient sites of international importance, including evidence of our earliest origins as a species, the beginnings of agriculture, and the remains of empires including those of Rome and Assyria. The heritage of Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians and others from the last few hundred years and holy places from several traditions within the Muslim and Christian faiths, many still used in religious practices today and some dating from over 1000 years ago, will go under the reservoir waters.

According to report author Maggie Ronayne: 'The GAP development project of which these dams are part is destroying a heritage which belongs to the whole of humanity and contravenes the most basic professional standards.

Governments and companies involved with these projects are ignoring its serious implications: the destruction of such diverse cultural and religious heritage in a State with a history of severe cultural repression. Turkey's progress on cultural rights for the Kurds and others has been an object of scrutiny in recent years; the EU must consider cultural destruction on this scale in that context.

'One of the major findings of the report is that there is a new consortium of companies coming together to build the discredited Ilisu Dam which would displace up to 78,000 mostly Kurdish people, and would also potentially cut off downstream flows of water to Syria and Iraq.

The ancient town of Hasankeyf, culturally important to many Kurdish people and of international archaeological significance, will not be saved by new plans to build the dam despite the promises of the Turkish prime minister and the would-be dam builders. In any case, the cultural impacts of Ilisu are much greater than this one very important town.

From 2000 to 2002, campaigners, human rights and environmental groups and affected communities successfully exposed fundamental flaws in project documents and plans for Ilisu, which contributed to the collapse of the last consortium of companies planning to build it. But the basis for the project this time remains essentially the same.


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Tampa Bay Biz Journals
April 20, 2005

Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. got some good news from the Spanish government on its effort to exhume what it believes is a valuable British warship sunk in the late 1600s.

Through its Spanish counsel, Odyssey received a report that after high-level intergovernmental meetings planned for later this month, Odyssey should be able to resume work on the Sussex with the cooperation of the appropriate authorities, it said.

The HMS Sussex was a large English warship lost in a severe storm in the western Mediterranean in 1694.

Odyssey believes that it has located the shipwreck of HMS Sussex and signed an exclusive partnering agreement with the government of the United Kingdom for the archaeological excavation of the shipwreck.

The process has had controversy.

The Council for British Archaeology and "a number of other archaeological organizations" have voiced extreme concerns about the commercial treasure hunting contract with the U.K. government, it said in a 2002 release.

Work on the HMS Sussex had been suspended when Spanish officials raised issues about sovereignty earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Odyssey's 251-foot deep-ocean archaeological platform is working in the western Mediterranean, inspecting and conducting preliminary excavations on several shipwreck sites located recently by the Research Vessel RV Odyssey.

By the end of April, it is anticipated that sufficient preliminary survey work will have been accomplished on at least three of the shipwrecks located in the western Mediterranean to provide Odyssey's research department sufficient artifacts and information to determine whether to continue excavations.

After finishing preliminary excavations on these shipwrecks, the Odyssey Explorer will either continue the Sussex operations, or begin work on sites discovered in the 2005 search program, code-named the "Atlas" project.

"We can work on the Sussex any time of year and it's presently protected from anyone else by our exclusive agreement with the UK. Most targets in our 'Atlas' search area typically only present a weather window through the fall, so it makes sense to move there while we continue to cooperate with the UK and Spanish governments in planning the Sussex operation and other cooperative efforts," said Greg Stemm, Odyssey's co-founder, in a release.
Odyssey is trying to work out its relations with Spain before resuming work on the Sussex.

"While we believe operations could legally resume on the Sussex at this time, the long-term growth of the company is best served by cooperating with the United Kingdom and Spain to show our good faith and ability to allow for cooperation on sovereign immune shipwrecks," said John Morris, Odyssey's co-founder and CEO.

Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration (AMEX:OMR) has several shipwreck projects in various stages of development throughout the world. Odyssey has an exclusive partnering agreement with the Government of the United Kingdom for the archaeological excavation of the shipwreck believed to be HMS Sussex.


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Navy Times
By Christopher Munsey
April 20, 2005

Seventeen members of Hawaii-based Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One are using their diving skills to help find remains of American fliers lost in a World War II bombing raid in the Pacific.

The recovery team is searching the wreckage of a B-24J Liberator bomber lost to Japanese anti-aircraft fire during a raid Sept. 1, 1944, in the Palau island chain.

The recovery team was sent out by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, said spokeswoman Army Maj. Rumi Nielson-Green.

The four-engine bomber was shot down with 11 crew members, crashing offshore between the islands of Koror and Babelthuap. Three crew members were captured and later executed by the Japanese, while it’s believed that eight went down with the aircraft, Nielson-Green said.

Wreckage of the aircraft is strewn across an area offshore in water ranging from 34 to 54 feet deep, she said.

“If we didn’t have the MDSU guys involved, it’d be difficult for us to run this operation,” she said.

The work will run until late May, she said.

MDSU-1 previously assisted with a recovery off the coast of Vietnam, she said.


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This is Lincolnshire
April 21, 2205

Historians have launched a hi-tech search for an ancient bowl which was found in Lincolnshire but has been missing for 130 years.

The Royal Society of Antiquaries is posting a 19th century drawing of the eighth century Witham Bowl on its new website, being launched tomorrow.

The silver artefact was found in the River Witham, at Washingborough, near Lincoln, in 1816.

It is a hanging bowl from the Middle Saxon period and features a mysterious animal at its centre - thought to be a dog or a water monster.

Historians have described the bowl as "the most remarkable piece of pre-Conquest plate ever found".

Though the bowl's exact purpose is unknown, it is believed that it would have hung on a wall.

It would have been filled with water, with the animal's head poking above the surface.

It was last seen as part of an exhibition in Leeds in 1868. One suggestion is that the bowl was sold as part of a collection at Christie's in the 1920s.

But archeologists, academics and historians have researched this theory and drawn a blank.

The Society of Antiquaries of London hopes that by putting pictures of the bowl on its website, the mystery of its disappearance may be solved.

The site will feature 4,000 drawings and ancient relics from its collection at Burlington House, in Piccadilly, which includes what is purported to be Oliver Cromwell's wart.

Workers believe that the Witham Bowl may have been hidden in someone's attic or may be on display in someone's home.

Archeology Data Service director Professor Julian Richards said: "People often think archaeology is about buried treasure.

"In reality the treasure often lies buried in archives and stores that are inaccessible or poorly documented."

Jim Bonnor is Lincolnshire County Council's senior built environment officer in conservation services. He said that the rediscovery of the Witham Bowl would be fantastic for the county.

"Without a doubt it would be a fantastic treasure to display in the new museum alongside other finds like the Witham Shield," he said.

"The Witham is a rich source of archeological discovery."


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Boston University
April 20, 2005

Discovery in Red Sea region includes steering oars, other evidence of Egypt’s sea-faring past.
(Boston) — When Kathryn Bard reached through the small hole that opened in a hillside along Egypt’s Red Sea coast, her hand touched nearly 4,000 years of history.

The opening that Bard, an associate professor of archaeology at Boston University, and her team’s co-leader Rodolfo Fattovich, a professor of archaeology at Italy’s University of Naples “L’Orientale,” discovered was the entrance to a large, man-made cave. Two days later at a site about 30 meters beyond this cave, the team removed sand covering the entrance to a second cave, one that held the well-preserved cedar timbers of an ancient Egyptian sea-faring vessel.

The timbers, together with limestone block-anchors, curved cedar steering oars, rigging ropes, and other items, are from ancient Egyptian ships. In addition to the nautical items in the second cave, and the two antechambers discovered to branch from it, the archaeologists found limestone tablets with hieroglyphic inscriptions that detail long-ago trade expeditions to the Red Sea region known as Punt.

Bard and Fattovich will present their findings on the two caves — and discuss the promise their discoveries hold — to fellow archaeologists on April 23 during the 56th annual meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) in Cambridge, Mass.

Bard and Fattovich and their team made the dual discovery in late December while working at Wadi Gawasis, the site of the pharaonic port of Mersa Gawasis on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. The cave they unearthed not only contained artifacts that spoke of ancient Egypt’s sea-faring vessels, it also had been constructed from recycled items from such vessels. Limestone anchor blocks and cedar beams from a ship, along with mud-brick and plaster, had been used to stabilize the walls forming the cave’s entrance.

Inside the entrance were the two cedar steering oars found by the group. The scientists speculate that the oars may have been used on 70-foot-long ships from a 15th -century naval expedition launched by Egypt’s Queen Hatshepsut to the southern Red Sea trade center, Punt. Well-preserved and intact, the oars are the first complete parts from a sea-faring ship to have been found in Egypt. Near the oars were found pieces of pottery dating from 1500 – 1400 B.C.

The cave also held hints of use as a temple. Near its entrance, the research team found small carved niches, four of which still held limestone tablets, known as stelae. One stela, the best preserved, bore hieroglyphic inscriptions describing expeditions to Punt and to Bia-Punt, the location of which is unknown. It also told of two officials, Nebsu and Amenhotep, who led the expeditions. Other inscriptions on the stela include an offering scene to the god Min, the god of the Eastern Desert also associated with fertility, and a cartouche of King Amenemhat III, who ruled Egypt around 1800 B.C. The stela’s text provides new information about King Amenemhat III, suggesting he ordered the previously unknown expeditions to the Punt and Bia-Punt regions.

The team of archaeologists plans to return to the excavation site at year’s end, this time with a researcher who will use ground-penetrating radar to determine if there are additional caves in the area and, if so, what their configurations are.

BU’s Department of Archaeology, part of the university’s College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, provides education and training in the recovery, analysis, and interpretation of archaeological materials while ensuring training in related fields such as classics, art history, anthropology, and history. Degree programs in the department also include classroom and practical training in biological and physical sciences and in quantitative methods.

Boston University, the fourth largest independent university in the United States, has an enrollment of more than 29,000 in its 17 schools and colleges.


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The objective is to conduct a non-intrusive survey of the wreck site to see if further clues as to the ships identity, nationality, wrecking process and purpose can be found. The team will measure and record the remaining lower hull structure. Archaeological training will be given on survey equipment, including ADMAT's own Underwater Survey Diver course Pt 1&2, Proton Magnetometer Diver Course (both PADI SDC unique to ADMAT) and various relevant archaeological courses will also be run. This is avery practical course, with as much diving as we can do. All team members will be expected to muck in and take active part in all tasks.

This field school is open to all divers and students, on the condition that they have a teamwork attitude. Anyone interested in taking part and joining the team will find all the information on ADMAT's web pages http://www.admat.org.uk/ or http://www.admatusa.org/ under "Florida" or can contact Simon Spooner direct on simon@admat.org.uk .

Source: Subarch


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ADMAT
April 15, 2005

The non-profit Anglo~Danish Maritime Archaeological Team (ADMAT) is proud to announce that a new non-profit maritime archaeological division has opened in the U.S. The new organisation, which has filed for (Section 501(c)(3) Charity) status, is called ADMAT USA.

ADMAT USA, based in New Jersey, has a mission statement of assisting the U.S. to preserve and record its historic shipwrecks and Underwater Cultural Heritage, enabling students and divers to participate.

ADMAT USA's President is Kathy Schubert, who has a background and degree in archaeology from Monmouth University. Two weeks ago, during Dr. Spooner's (President and Co Founder of ADMAT) "Excavating Shipwreck" Lecture series onboard the Queen Mary 2, Kathy Schubert stated:

"This is a such great opportunity for students and divers to take active part and help preserve and record the exposed shipwrecks around the U.S. Coastline. Our first project will be in the Florida Keys and will enable unknown shipwrecks to be recorded in detail. We welcome all interested parties to take part in what ever way they can".

Further information on ADMAT USA can be found on www.admatusa.org.

Kathy Schubert can be reached atkschubert@admatusa.org.

Source: Subarch


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CDNN
by Nathan Parry-Davies
April 20, 2005

MOREHEAD CITY, North Carolina -- In the wake of recent busts of scuba divers stealing artifacts from protected historical shipwreck sites, experts have criticized North Carolina's plan to allow recreational divers to explore wreckage thought to be Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge.

It's all about boosting tourism said one critic of the program who believes the site should be fully protected while archaeologists continue to study artifacts that could provide irrefutable evidence the shipwreck is the Queen Anne's Revenge.

A North Carolina state official told CDNN a new program called 'Dive Down' will not only open the wreck site to more than 300 divers annually, but because each diver will have to pay local dive shops $500 to explore the shipwreck, more than $150,000 will be pumped into the local economy.

But Mark Daniel, who helped discover the shipwreck in 1996, and Donny Hamilton, a renowned archaeologist at Texas A&M, harshly criticized state officials for not doing enough to protect the shipwreck and for opening it to recreational scuba divers.

"I know divers who work only at night," Daniel told reporters. "There are people like that."

While Daniel and others believe the ship is vulnerable to 'finders keepers' divers who feel it's their right to take any and all artifacts from shipwrecks, North Carolina officials defended the program saying the U.S. Coast Guard is capable of protecting the site.

"Sure. That's like placing a buoy over the wreck with a big billboard that reads 'Free Artifacts'", said a veteran wreck diver who earns more than $50,000 annually selling stolen shipwreck artifacts on eBay.

"Only five hundred bucks for a guided tour of the exact location of the artifacts," he added. "Hell, I'll pay twice that and still quadruple my investment."


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This weekend, April 21 – 24, Odyssey Marine Exploration will host a public display of select SS Republic shipwreck artifacts and their new jewelry and collectible product line.

Custom shipwreck jewelry featuring gems, glass, gold coins and silver coins – as well as rare coins and bottles will be available for purchase. A stunning collection of Civil War and Spanish Colonial era shipwreck artifacts will also be on display.

To learn more about this event, and which shipwreck items are currently available for purchase, call Odyssey Marine Exploration at 1-877-679-7325.

Odyssey co-founder Greg Stemm and other members of the Odyssey team will be available at different times during the event to talk about the discovery of the SS Republic shipwreck and the collection of artifacts recovered from nearly 1,700 feet deep.

The SS Republic collection will be displayed at the Gold and Diamond Source in Clearwater, Florida.

Viewing times are: •
Thursday, April 21, 5:30 pm to 9 pm (VIP Preview-Invitation Only) •
Friday, April 22: 10 am to 7 pm•
Saturday, April 23: 10 am to 6 pm•
Sunday, April 24: 11 am to 5 pm

The store is located at 3800 Ulmerton Road, Clearwater, approximately 2.5 miles west of the Howard Frankland Bridge on the South Side of the Street.


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mlive.com
By Art Aisner
April 19, 2005

Robert Ballard hopes to spark interest of young people in sea exploration, science.
Megan Jensen had a tough choice Monday: attend one of the final classes of the semester or skip it to meet Robert Ballard, the famed scientist/explorer whose discovery of the Titanic and other relics resting on the ocean floor captured her imagination as a child.

Despite final exams looming next week, the naval archaeology and marine engineering junior at the University of Michigan chose the latter. And her career may be better off for it.

As he hobnobbed with local business and community leaders before his talk before a few hundred people at the Washtenaw County Economic Club, Ballard took time to meet Jensen and her friend. He posed for a photo, signed her copy of one of his books and offered some career advice if she is to pursue her obvious passion for marine study. Then he offered her his personal e-mail address and those of students at the Institute for Archaeological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, which he directs.

"That was unbelievable," said an awestruck Jensen, who remembered adding the term deep-water submersibles to her vocabulary at age 10 after seeing Ballard on a television series.

"It's amazing how open he was to hearing about my career goals and that he was willing to advise me to help make those happen. I never expected that."

It's all part of Ballard's approach to strengthening young people's interest in sea exploration, science and math. Sparking such interest has been one of his chief efforts since gaining fame for the 1985 Titanic discovery and others that followed.

"I'm in the process of passing the baton," said Ballard, 63. "These kids will rewrite the history books. It takes a lot to impress them, but we can."

Ballard wowed the crowd at the Ypsilanti on Marriott at Eagle Crest Monday with a slide show depicting his numerous expeditions and recent finds, which include a 1,500 year-old wooden trade ship on the floor of the Black Sea. He said there may be more than 1 million such shipwrecks in deep waters where wood bores don't exist.

Ballard hopes to find many of these shipwrecks and let children around the country participate through the JASON Project, which he founded in 1989 and which now allows roughly 2 million middle school students to view underwater explorations and other scientific experiments in real time from around the globe through fiber optic and satellite technology.

More than 52,000 students in Michigan participate in the program from five network sites around the state, and organizers are looking to expand the project locally, said Pat Thornberry, project manager for JASON in Michigan.

For the last three years, Ballard has sat on a presidential commission on oceanography and lobbied Congress to fund more deep-sea exploration initiatives. The efforts culminated last year with the donation of a U.S. Navy vessel, the USS Capable, the nation's first ship dedicated to sea exploration.

"Our maps of Mars are much better than what we have now on the Southern Hemisphere," Ballard said. "That's how out of whack we are in the dedication of resources for scientific exploration."


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CDNN
by Luther Monroe
April 17, 2005

SOLOMON ISLANDS -- A French expedition is on the way to the Solomon Islands to study the fleet led by Jean François Galaup de Lapérouse which mysteriously disappeared in 1788.

The 'Jacques Cartier' naval transport vessel departed from Noumea, New Caledonia with more than 70 crew and scientists including archaeologists, surveyors, forensic surgeons, geophysicists and research divers.

The expedition is financed by the French government and organized by the Solomon Association of Noumea which has led several previous expeditions to Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands where Laperouse's frigates went down with all hands in 1788.

The fate of the 'La Boussole' and 'L'Astrolabe' remained a mystery for decades despite several expeditions sent to find the missing fleet.

Finally in 1826, some 38 years after the fleet disappeared, Captain Peter Dillon anchored off Tucopia and noticed articles, including a sword guard with Laperouse's initials, that he thought might be from the missing frigates.

After questioning natives about the eating utensils, bolts, chainplates and other items of European origin, Dillon learned that Perouse's ships were hit by a strong gale and driven onto rocks off Vanikoro where all hands drowned or were massacred by natives who feared they were evil spirits.


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WisTV
April 18, 2005

Charleston - A broken depth gauge once filled with mercury could hold clues to why the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley sank in 1864.

Archaeologists say the gauge was either broken on Feb. 17, 1864, when the sub sank the Union blockade ship Housatonic, or shortly afterward.

The sub was raised from the Atlantic almost five years ago and was the first in history to sink an enemy warship. It's still not clear why the submarine sank shortly after attacking the Housatonic.

Maria Jacobsen is the senior archaeologist on the Hunley project. She said a pool of mercury was found at the feet of the sub's commander George Dixon. That indicated that the gauge had to break after the sub left on its mission.


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