Shipwrecks - Time Capsules of Human Civilization

Richest Shipwreck Treasure - Notre Dame de Deliverance

Sub Sea Research has announced the identity of the wrecked vessel that I was one of the first to dive and assist in the identification of the vessel accompanied by Tim Taylor, Doug Rice and Warren Miller- http://www.nauticalresearch.com/page9.html . Our group filmed and retrieved several small items that were critical in the identification of this vessel that included pieces of the port side red running light and bottles. A picture of these items can be found on Sub Sea Research's website at: http://subsearesearch.com/news.htm .

Underwater explorers who’ve examined the wreck say their research indicates that it’s the Notre Dame de Deliverance — a 166-foot, armed merchant vessel of French origin. The research includes surveys of the site by state-of-the-art remote sensing devices, ROV’s and divers, a study of historical records, and the discovery that a few silver items — including a crucifix, plate and some coins — were brought up years ago by other salvagers. Recent underwater video footage is now being analyzed to determine the best procedure for recovery.

Greg Brooks and John Hardy of the Sub Sea Research states “It was one of the richest ships ever lost,” they estimate the value of the Deliverance’s trove could be between $2 billion and $3 billion. The Deliverance departed Havana on Halloween with an armed escort of seven or eight smaller, schooner-like vessels according to Brooks’ research in Cuba and elsewhere. The ship soon met a fate that Brooks now believes was remarkably similar to what befell the Atocha and its hapless crew in surrounding waters 133 years earlier. The complete press release can be found at: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prwebxml268879.php . Sub Sea Research runs a very classy operation and it was a pleasure working with them on the nautical archaeological end of their expedition.

Discovery of the USS Monitor

I was reading a story fresh off the news wires about a tale of a black cat aboard the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor that was supposedly placed inside a cannon by a superstitious but desperate sailor as the vessel was sinking. Personnel at the Monitor Center in the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, VA are in the process of excavating the cannon and examining the contents within its barrel-very vigilant for the potential remains of this black cat. So far, the cat's remains have not been found. To read the account of the sailor, select this link to CNN News.

The USS Monitor was a very revolutionary vessel that was the prototype for all military vessels today. The discovery of the Monitor was not by salvors or divers that regularly dive the Graveyard of the Atlantic but was found by a group of geological and oceanographic scientists that were conducting topographical measurements on the ocean floor. The wreck was discovered in 1973 by the lead scientists Robert Sheridan, Harold Edgerton, Gordon Watts and John Newton and several members from Duke, University of Delaware and University of Rhode Island. One of the best nautical books that you will ever read is Robert Sheridan's book on the discovery of the Monitor entitled Iron from the Deep - The Discovery and Recovery of the USS Monitor. The interactions between the the academic world, the military and the government is a a unique glimpse into the maniacal world of bureaucracy and ego. Although there is a fair amount of science, it is extremely interesting and lends credibility for the discovery and identification of the Monitor. I met Dr. Sheridan over 15 years ago when I was diving the Monitor in collaboration with NOAA and continue to speak with him on a semi-regular basis. He is currently retired as professor emeritus at Rutgers University and still very involved in the story of the Monitor. I find it quite interesting that the story of the finding and recovery of the Monitor has always downplayed the role of these fine scientists. Hopefully, with the new Monitor Center, their scientific exploits and their significant role in the discovery of Monitor will be captured for the generations of future marine scientists.

Lots of Wrecks, Much to Report

We have spent the past month almost exclusively reporting on RMS Titanic. It has been quite an adventure revisiting this lost liner and I can certainly report that the second time was better than the first! We had a chance to premiere video footage from the 2005 expedition at Whitaker Center for the Science and Arts this past Friday and this gave me my first opportunity to look at the film footage. Judging from the audience response and my own personal observations, this video footage was much more vibrant and dynamic than the film footage that we took in 2003. We will be releasing segments from this video footage in September so please come back often for the latest news.

In the meantime, let me entice you with some other wrecks that we have had an opportunity to explore throughout the summer. We will update you on a seventeenth century French merchant ship that is reportedly the richest shipwreck find ever recorded that we were the first to dive last December.  Another major project that I led was a discovery/exploration project on a lost Navy wreck in collaboration with the US Naval Historical Center and NBC News. The complete two-hour undersea documentary will tentatively be shown by NBC in November. Another lost liner that we will profile in the coming weeks is photos from our Empress of Ireland ten-day diving expedition. We have been spending some time diving the shipwrecks of the St. Lawrence River that we will get you informed about including the oil tanker Jodery. There have been some updates to the Griffon story that we would like to share with our readers in the next week. Another wonderful ship that we have explored this summer is the early Cunard liner SS Oregon, which held the Blue Riband, emblematic of the fastest transatlantic crossing, that collided and sank in 1886.

We have completed our fifth month as a weblog and have had a huge reader response. We would like to thank you for your past support for our shipwreck blog and will promise you that we will continue to give you new and interesting stories directly from the source. We do not regurgitate shipwreck news from other sites, we develop and create the stories from our own experiences and adventures. This fact makes our site most unique and we thank you for making it a tremendous success!

Titanic Logs - July 17th Great adventure, Nice to be Home!

This is our last segment of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

We had a late breakfast this morning following a night of revelry and festive spirits. It is time to take on the onerous task of packing all my bags and cleaning out my cabin that has been my home for the past couple of weeks. We plan on taking on the St John's harbor pilot at about 10 am and will arrive at the dock at 11:30 am. Once on the dock, there will be a rapid change of passengers from one expedition to another, as James Cameron's group will immediately board Keldysh.

There were many other people on this expedition that made the entire adventure very pleasing. In particular, three members of Deep Ocean Expeditions staff were wonderful. This includes our two gourmet chefs, Robert Bartl and Michael Holz, and our ship physician, Dr. Tia Renouf. Passengers that observed the entire Titanic experience but did not dive included Snezhana Proznina-Russia, Danny Goldsmith-UK, Brigitte Saar-Germany, Andrew Brooking-UK, Joan Walsh-USA, Melody Anderson-USA and Hubert Much-USA. I would like to thank all the people from Deep Ocean Expeditions for their guidance and support throughout the entire trip. This includes Mike McDowell, Belinda Sawyer, Rob McCallum, Peter Batson, Kelvin Magee, Don Walsh and Ralph White. Deep Ocean Expeditions is one of the finest adventure operations in the world and I would highly recommend their services. A link to their operation can be found on the right side panel of this weblog. Finally, I would like to personally thank all the officers and crew of the Keldysh and MIR for a wonderful expedition. These nautical experts and scientists are the leaders in their field for underwater ocean exploration!

One final note--we will be distributing our high-quality digital photos and video from this expedition in the next few weeks. Details on this distribution will be given in a future weblog (blog) article so please come back soon for a viewing of these fine photos and film.

Titanic Logs - July 16th Take Her to Port!

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

Last night, we left the dive site of Titanic for our return to the port town of St. John's Newfoundland, Canada following the retrieval of the MIR submersibles. The weather is clear and the seas are calm and we are anticipating our arrival at the dock in St John's at noontime on Sunday, July 17th. Since there will be a short turnaround at St John's, with James Cameron and his crew boarding Keldysh for a return trip back to the Titanic site, the transponders were left on station. By now, everyone is ready to go home and return to dry land.

Since we have about a day and a half run time into shore, there are several activities planned throughout the day. As for me, I have the entire day free and I spent a majority of it down in the submersible lab where Kelvin Magee is preparing for James Cameron's arrival once we hit port. Kevin is in charge of the fiber-optic cabling for the live remote feed from the MIR down on Titanic for the Discovery Channel. Since Kelvin is a technical diver, we had a close kindred spirit as it relates to our underwater experiences. The tech diving community is very small and everyone knows everyone-and we had a good time chatting about some of our diving colleagues. In our world, it is amazing the things that you can do with duct tape and electrical ties! The amount and creativity of the technology used to report live from Titanic is staggering. Almost everything had to be created from scratch and it took quite a bit of innovation to make it all work together. I was truly impressed with James Cameron and his entire operation. This was an incredible achievement to accomplish and they should be congratulated!

Titanic Logs - July 15th Last Dive Day

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

Today is our last dive day out on the Titanic site and everyone is very enthusiastic for our last set of aquanauts. Once again, the weather has been terrific and the seas are very flat and calm. Another pod of whales has come to visit with us for our launch of the MIR submersibles. In MIR I this morning, we will have Reda Anderson from Beverly Hills California, Nik Halik from Melbourne Australia and the submersible will be piloted by Victor Nescheta. Reda brought along her granddaughter, Melody on Keldysh's decks to see her off. As a favor to her granddaughter, Reda brought with her Melody's large stuffed Scooby-Doo doll for a trip down to Titanic. My good friend Nik is an investment manager and spends quite a bit of time in both Greece and Russia. While in Russia, Nik is going through astronaut training and hopefully will be in a position to explore outer space soon. Being in the MIR submersible is very much like being in a small space capsule.

Thirty minutes later, MIR II is launched with Genya Cherniev at the controls. The aquanauts for this special MIR trip down to Titanic are our expedition leader Rob McCallum from New Zealand and my fellow technical diver from Vancouver Canada named Kelvin Magee. These two aquanauts and Genya, who is the most skilled at video presentations, will be laying out the framework for James Cameron's Live Documentary for the Discovery Channel later this month (July 2005).  Following a day of further relaxation, I had two presentations to give to the other fellow passengers. The first presentation was a multi-media showing of the collision, sinking and diving to the wreck site of the Canadian Pacific liner, Empress of Ireland. The second presentation was more of a voice-over on Robert Ballard's late-2004 National Geographic Titanic  documentary called Titanic Revisited which Nautical Research Group provided film footage for its use. Following dinner, we cheered the last of our comrades that made the dives to Titanic.

Titanic Logs - July 14th Back in the Saddle

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

'Dive Day 4' and everyone is excited to be back in the saddle again! As for me, I will be spending a relaxing day reporting on the dives via this weblog and preparing my lecture tomorrow on the Empress of Ireland. Today's divers are quite the characters and having them all down on Titanic during the day will make for a very quiet Keldysh.  In MIR I will be my original dive partner, Trevor Montgomery AKA Monty from Melbourne Australia and the other diver is Steve Wickens, a UK engineer currently working in the Middle East. Fresh from 'walking' last evening's "red carpet", Anatoly Sagalevitch will be piloting MIR I. Once again, we have had excellent weather and MIR I launched around 9:50 am followed about 30 minutes later by MIR II with Victor Nescheta at the helm. The divers in MIR II are two of the Arizona boys named John Lennon and Chris Vinger. Both of these fine gentlemen brought with them pictures of their wives, children and pets. All throughout the expedition, these great guys talked very fondly of their families and it was nice to see pictures of their home life.

As MIR II was launched, a large pod of pilot whales were seen off our bow. There must of been over a hundred whales that were seen jumping through the water. Following the launch of the submersibles, our resident deep sea organism biologist, Dr. Peter Batson gave us another fantastic lecture about the deep-sea animals that reside at 12,000 feet and include many of the 'critters' that we routinely encounter while down on Titanic. Following lunch, we had some videos of Deep Ocean Expeditions trip to French Polynesia and a viewing of James Cameron's documentary on Bismarck. Bismarck is a wonderful dive and the battleship is in great condition. For those into doing things to the extremes, Bismarck is even deeper than Titanic by almost 1000 meters. I look forward to the day that I get a chance to visit this wonderful remnant of World War II.

Titanic Logs - July 13th Day of Rest

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

Today is a day of rest for me, as well as the crew of the MIR submersible team. We have had three straight days of perfect weather and successfully accomplished 6 submersible dives to the Titanic. Last night, I had a very late night after our MIR submersible was recovered by Keldysh. By the time we got back on the deck of Keldysh, it was almost 9:45 pm and MIR I had already been back for over 3 hours. I felt very satisfied with our dive and visited all the spots that I had planned on visiting with the exception of the Grand Staircase. As we disembarked from the MIR, I was given a flute of champagne (or sparkling white wine?) and proceeded to down the flute in one gulp, followed by a bathroom run. My modified diet had served me well while in the MIR for over 12 hours. When I got back out on deck, they gave me the entire bottle of champagne and brought me to the dining room for a wonderful gourmet meal. Stripping out of the NOMEX fire-proof suit, I had a scrumptious meal with many of my fellow observers that took an opportunity to grill me about my wonderful experience. By the time I finished dinner and changed, it was about 11:30 pm but I was too excited to sleep. I decided to stay up with my good friends from Arizona ( Brian Day O'Connor, Chris Vinger, John Lennon and Eric Crown) until the wee hours talking about our Titanic adventures and other sultry tales.

The next morning, I got a chance to sleep in until 8 am and made sure that I returned the NOMEX suit back to Mother before she tracked me down.  I was slated to give two Andrea Doria presentations today - one of the presentations was our Corporation's copyrighted film and the other one was presenting Peter Gimbel's early 1980 expedition to this beautiful Italian liner. Today's activities included a Group Expedition Photograph and later our big BBQ dinner extravaganza out on the patio deck of Keldysh. During this buffet, the Russian crew re-introduced me to "Sheila". Sheila is not a person nor anything living. Sheila is their special homemade vodka that they make somewhere in the deep bowels of Keldysh. I have no idea what is in Sheila but I can certainly attest that it is VERY strong. The movie for the evening was James Cameron's Titanic. I would of thought that everyone had watched this film many times and that the attendance would be sparse. However, I was so wrong as everyone came to watch the film including Anatoly Sagelevitch, who was one of the stars of the film.  In his movie role, Anatoly had this famous line "No gold???" that sent our audience into an uproar. I really admire and respect Anatoly. He is truly a warm and wonderful person!

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 10

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

Moving away from the extreme stern area, I asked our submersible pilot, Genya, to visit the huge A-frame engines. As we came along side of the shattered stern section, I am amazed at how violent the implosion of this stern section was during its rapid descent to the ocean floor. Although certain items were clearly recognizable, the difficulty was trying to put these items in the overall context of what Titanic originally looked like.  As we made our way to the engines, a startling sight appeared in the debris area adjacent to the main stern piece. There on the ocean floor laid a perfectly intact lifeboat davit. I had never previously seen a lifeboat davit in the stern and quite frankly was surprised. With the shearing action on the stern and its rotational descent, I would of expected the davits to have been torn off and destroyed. This davit looked in perfect condition and very similar to those found lying on the bow's decks. The finding of this davit conclusively proves that the break in Titanic was at the stern expansion joint and there should be other davits found in the stern area of the ship. However in my other previous Titanic expedition, I had never seen a davit in this area before.

Viewing the gigantic A-frame engines is an awesome sight. No words, pictures or film can capture the enormous size that these engines portray.  On top of the engines is a steam release valve and a whistle. The engines completely bisect the entire longitudinal plane of Titanic and are the largest structures on the ship. The entire size of the engines can not be seen through the MIR's small portholes in one viewing, but as we move from top to bottom to top again, it is very clear that these behemoths must of been the largest ship-related structure ever built.

As our time is about to end for our visit to Titanic, we decided to take a cursory view of the debris field aft of the engines. In this area we saw one of the stern cargo cranes that was ripped off the ship during descent. Out in the debris field is littered with many pieces of ship plumbing, toilets and sinks. Additionally there are many pieces of porcelain china, bottles and floor tiles that look like a fine restaurant was dumped on its side and all the contents had spilled out. We had very little time for viewing the debris field as our carbon dioxide scrubber needed replacement and we were well over our anticipated time for being down on the wreck. When Genya asked rhetorically, "Do you want to go up?", there was no immediate answer from either myself or Robert Goldsmith. Although we had been on the wreck site for close to seven hours, neither of us wanted this experience to end. Reluctantly, I finally said to Genya that we wanted to take a few minutes to formally say goodbye. After another moment of silence to pay our respects to the dead, we expelled some of our water ballast and began to slowly rise above the ocean floor. This last moment on the Titanic will forever be ingrained in my mind as we will spend another 2-1/2 hours returning to the surface. Once on the surface, the cowboys attached a line to the support vessel Koresh and we are transported to Keldysh for extraction.

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 9

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

I would of liked to have spent more time in the debris field but we spent a large amount of time on the bow section and it is very important to observe the morphological changes within the stern section. Many scientists have found it extremely difficult to quantify structural changes in the stern section because of its inherently poor condition. The effects of the Titanic's implosion due to its rapid descent to the ocean floor has left this section looking like it went through a food processor. Despite this massive destruction, there are several areas of the stern section that we can photometrically evaluate for change.

The first area that we will observe is the poop deck area that is the farthest aft section of the stern. For those unfamiliar with this part of the ship, in James Cameron's movie, Titanic, it was the area that Rose feigned jumping off the end of the ship.This area has collapsed over the years and it would be a good site for our study. Last year, Robert Ballard explored this area of the ship and found that a plaque that he placed in 1986 had disappeared. Although Dr. Ballard had attributed this disappearance to someone would may have had malicious intent, I can reassure everyone that the true reason was not so sinister. Dr. Ballard's plaque was originally placed on the edge of this section of the poop. Over the years this section has collapsed several feet and the plaque, quite simply, fell off the backside of the stern. Although we did not spend the time to look for the plaque, my guess is that the plaque is slightly buried by fallen rusticles and other debris that came down with this collapse.

The next area that we will visit is one of the most exhilarating sites on our expedition. With our submersible pilot's experience and skill (Genya), we will be examining the port side propeller. This propeller is huge! What is most noticeable is the fact that this bronze propeller is in pristine condition. The three huge blades of the propeller are enormous and even the blades identifying serial numbers can be read. For those conspiracy theorists that believe that Titanic was switched with its sister ship Olympic, I am sad to report that this propeller's serial numbers match EXACTLY that of Harland and Wolff's original records for TITANIC.

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 8

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

The next destination for our photometric analysis of Titanic is the stern section of the ship. In order to get to the stern, the MIR submersible will have to transnavigate through the 800-meter debris field. To understand the way Titanic came to rest on the ocean bottom, it is important to know the sequence of events that occurred during its break-up on the surface of the ocean on April 15th, 1912.

As Titanic was taking in icy cold seawater from the bow, each compromised watertight compartment filled until Titanic started to sink nose first. The tremendous amount and weight of this water caused the ship’s stern to rise. As the nose got even more perpendicular to the ocean while sinking, the stern rose to such a point that the ship could not sustain its structural integrity. This stress caused the ship to break into two pieces believed to have occurred at the aft expansion joint. The two sections of the ship separated from each other very near the surface and each section had an independent path to ocean floor. Since the bow section was filled with water, the pressure within its compartments was fairly equalized and the bow rapidly sank to the bottom with great velocity. As it struck the ocean floor, the bow hit with such a jolt that over 2/3’s of the bow is under the ocean floor. Despite the rapid rate that the bow hit the ocean’s floor, the integrity of the bow is very intact because it was filled with water at the surface. Unfortunately the stern was not so lucky. The stern sank with much air trapped inside its compartments. As the stern sank, it started to rotate, as the air tried its best to escape. However, these compartments were not strong enough to withstand the water pressure and the stern eventually imploded. By the time it hit the ocean bottom, the stern looked like it went through a food processor, and its steel plates were shredded by this rapid descent. The aft section of Titanic’s stern is facing the aft section of the ship’s bow. The distance between the two sections of the ship is called the debris field because it contains many items of the ship that were released as the ship was making its way to the ocean floor. The next stop for our study is the poop deck area and the port propeller.

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 7

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

Examining Titanic's port side Officer's Quarters reveal a very similar morphological structure to that of the starboard side. Several windows of these quarters were opened and I used both my video camera's optical and digital zoom to get some nice internal shots within these cabins. At no time did we come in contact with Titanic as this was always our primary consideration. I took additional pictures of the expansion joint on this side of the ship to compare with the photos taken on the starboard side. It will be interesting to see if the widening of the expansion joint is uniform for each side or not. Going forward of the expansion joint, the officer's quarters show a marked structural decay. On this side of the ship, we can see a couple of lifeboat davits lying on the boat deck. During this latest pass of Titanic's bow, we ended up on the port side of the wheelhouse where the bridge wing would of been located.

Before we left the bow section of Titanic, I had two places that I wanted to visit to assess the ship's structural deterioration. The first place was the starboard side hull, aft of the anchor and forward of the first lifeboat davit. There is a huge hole in the starboard side of Titanic that is getting bigger and bigger. This hole is so large that it could literally "swallow" the MIR and the integrity of the bow is certainly compromised by this ever-widening gap. The bow section of the ship is settling into the ocean floor and is creating torque on the rest of the intact bow section. In 2003, we discovered a new tear in the starboard hull just aft of this huge hole and we took some additional pictures to assess the changes over the past two years. We will be revealing the changes to this area in the next few weeks.

The second place that I wanted to visit was the boiler room area at the farthest aft portion of the bow section. In 2003, we did not visit this area as we spent time looking at the Grand Staircase instead. This time, we decided not to go to the Grand Staircase but to spend our time at the Boiler Room. I am very glad that I did. These boilers are HUGE! No pictures, video or 3-D IMAX can portray the immense size that these boilers are. There were a total of 29 boilers - 24 double-ended and five single-ended. Seeing these boilers embedded in the aft section of the bow was a humbling experience. Before we left the bow section, we stopped our video and had a moment of silence for all the people that perished on Titanic. It was hard to keep our composure during this moment of silence as we paid our respects to the dead!

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 6

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

After exploring the mast thoroughly, we pass over the cargo hold, windlass and large cargo cranes on our way to the bridge area. The best known structure on the bridge is the telemotor, where the ship's wheel was attached. In front of the telemotor is the wooden frame of where the bridge once was and this frame has now become a platform for the placing of memorial plaques. It is obvious that this wood must of been treated otherwise the wood-boring worms would have consumed it long ago. On the port side of the telemotor is a fallen davit of lifeboat number 2, aft of the telemotor is the decaying facade of the officer's quarters and starboard of the telemotor is the extended davit of lifeboat number 1 that has been frozen in place since 1912.

Moving down the boat deck on the starboard side, we come across Captain E. J. Smith's cabin. The forward antechamber of his cabin has decayed quite significantly and the support for the walls and ceiling will collapse within the next 5 years. In his bedroom quarters, the external wall has collapsed and exposed his bathroom. The most prominent structure in his bathroom is a large, white porcelain bathtub with associated faucets that look in pristine condition. Further aft of the Captain's quarter, the remainder of the Officer's Quarters look to be in great shape. Literally "strolling" this deck area, the structures are fairly intact and even the side lights that dot the walls are still prevalent. One area that I was keen on observing was the bow expansion joint between the two sections of the Officer's Quarters. In 2003, I observed a rather large gap in this expansion joint and I was curious to see if this gap had increased over the past two years. Over the next month, we will be able to conclusively answer this question based on our photometric studies.

As we ascended several feet above the boat deck we will cross over to the port side of the ship and observe the condition of the port side officer's quarters. On our way, we pass over an overhead opening to the Marconi Room where Harold Bride and John Phillips sent out the SOS and CQD messages to send assistance to the sinking Titanic - right up to the time that water was ankle deep around them. These two brave radiomen were heroes at the time. Harold Bride survived the ordeal to testify about the events on board the Titanic that fateful night; however, Phillips was retrieved from the cold waters by a lifeboat but later succumbed to hypothermia. Inside this opening, you can see many wires that were used to send out these radio messages. It never ceases to amaze me how every place that we visit on the ship has a unique story to tell.

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 5

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

As MIR II starts its exploration on the wreck site of Titanic, we will proceed aft of the bow sprit and take photographs and video of many interesting bow features. The first thing that we see on the bow is the auxiliary anchor and its crane that sticks up quite prominently on the bow. The railings are in very good condition at this place in the bow and going aft, we see the huge anchor chains, bulwarks and capstans of this great ship. The anchor chain links are very big and appear to be about 3 feet in length and in excellent condition. On top of a few of the capstans, there are plaques that were placed by several earlier expeditions, including one placed by Dr. Robert Ballard in 1986. All the wooden decking on the bow has been consumed by the worms and other organisms; however, the caulking used to connect the wooden pieces together are still intact.

The next area that we went to was the mast section of the ship. The mast was found by the Ballard expedition of 1985 to have fallen over at its most proximal end and subsequently the distal end landed on top of the bridge area of the bow. I was particularly interested in the mast, not only because of its historical significance, but because I was very concerned about its physical condition - based on my previous observations from 2003 where the metal appeared to have severely fatigued or "crumbled" above the crow's nest opening.  From a historical perspective, this crow's nest opening is where Titanic lookout, Frederick Fleet, first saw the iceberg and uttered the infamous line, "Iceberg - right ahead" to the bridge. The bell stanchion where the bell signaled an alert to the bridge is still attached to the mast but the bell is missing. In a paper that I am set to deliver to the OCEANS 2005 conference in September, my 2003 observations predicted that the mast would collapse at the area where I noticed this "crumbling" in less than 10 years. In looking at Dr. Ballard's high-definition pictures last year, the mast was still intact and I was certainly hopeful that this mast would remain this way when I visited her. Imagine my surprise to see that the mast had collapsed at the exact same point that I had earlier observed the "crumbling" and it was only two years after my previous visit. I guess that I will have to change my presentation to take into account this observation.  Now the mast looks like an elongated "L" shape and from the side appears like a huge water slide as the mast extends itself down from the bridge area. One other observation about the mast reveal that it is shedding its metal exterior throughout the length of the mast like the peeling of a banana.

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 4

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

It is at this point in our dive where our photometric studies begin.  Nautical Research Group is looking at the morphological changes in the structural integrity of Titanic by use of photo and video comparisons of Titanic's features throughout the period since she was discovered in 1985 until the present. It is by subjectively comparing these morphological changes over time, that scientists and laymen can assess the deterioration of Titanic. The objective of our study is to capture as much photo and video footage of Titanic without touching, entering, disturbing or salvaging of any portions of the ship. We will treat the wreck as a grave site with the utmost respect and dignity that it deserves.

The MIR submersible has three windows for viewing sites on the wreck. The main window that the pilot uses to navigate the MIR is only seven inches in diameter; whereas the starboard and port windows are offset from the center window and are only five and one-half inches in diameter.  We will be shooting our photos and video through these three windows. Additionally, MIR II is equipped with a high-definition camera that is mounted on one of the submersible's robotic arms. These cameras were placed on the MIR by James Cameron for the expressed purpose of supporting his July 24th Discovery Channel live broadcast and our pilot, Genya Cherniev will be testing this camera throughout our dive.

As we hug the ocean floor, the huge steel prow of the Titanic comes into view. All around the bottom of this sleek bow is the remnants of long-decayed and fallen rusticles. As you look at the port side of the bow, we can see the massive anchor that is just above the sandy bottom. More than two-thirds of the bow is buried into the ocean bottom through the intense speed that the water-filled bow landed during the sinking on April 15, 1912. The anchor is starting to "bleed" through the effects of microbial decay and it looks like the anchor is literally starting to melt away. As we proceed forward of the anchor, we come up to deck-level and see the beautiful bow sprit where Leonardo proclaimed "I am the king of the world".  This view is the most photographed portion of Titanic and it is incredible. I had an opportunity to extensively film this portion of the bow with special emphasis on the formation of a rusticle "beard" that has developed below the bow sprit. Two beautiful soft corals are growing on the railing about the bow sprit and make for a very surrealistic scene. Overall, there is little change that can be visually observed and detected in Titanic's physical structure on this bow sprit area from the time the ship was discovered.

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 3

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

Since we were staggered about 30 minutes from MIR I's launch, we entered MIR II at 10:00 am and hit the water at 10:16 am. The outside air temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit and once our pilot, Genya Cherniev, sealed the MIR, the temperature inside the MIR was 92 degrees F.  The MIR support staff is excellent and very efficient. Once we hit the water, the cowboys in the zodiac disconnected us from the Keldysh crane and attached us to the Koresh for moving us in position to dive down to Titanic. During this period, the MIR is subjected to the motion of the surface waves and it could resemble being in an amusement park ride. Once we were clear of Keldysh, the cowboys disconnected our tether to Koresh and we started are descent to Titanic. Just prior to the beginning of our descent, the temperature in the MIR climbed to 96 degrees F. It is a good thing that I dressed in layers and I had already peeled down into the innermost polypropylene thermal layer. As Genya turns on the submersible ballast tanks to take in sea water, the additional weight of this water started our long voyage to the bottom of the ocean.

As we descend, the visible ambient surface light is lost very rapidly.  Ambient light turns to a dark purple at 460 feet and turns pitch black at 600 feet. There is a slight current that is pushing us to the north-north-east and surface water temperature is about 68 degrees.  The rate of descent is approximately 100 feet per minute and we will have about 2 hours and 15 minutes of descent time down to the ocean bottom at 12, 600 feet. Periodically, I have asked Genya to turn on our external lights so that I can observe some of the deep water sea life as we go through the many thousands of feet of water. The most prevalent sea life that we observe on our journey is plankton and other white particulate matter. Additionally, we observed several different species of shrimp, small fish and microbial matter as we transcend through the water column.

By the time we reached 500 meters depth, the temperature within the MIR was around 90 degrees F but the external temperature in the seas has gone from 20 degrees C down to 4.2 degrees C.  At 12:19 pm, we finally reached the ocean floor at 3890 meters, the internal MIR temperature slipped to 69 degrees F and the external water temperature was 2.35 degrees C. Looking at the submersible's sonar as we pinged for Titanic revealed that we were only about 400 meters away from the bow. Looking at this sonar image was awesome as the huge pointed nose of Titanic loomed head. At 12:34 pm we got our first glimpse of this once-proud ocean liner, as it appears from the darkness of the deep ocean. It was like greeting an old friend!

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 2

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

It is such an orchestrated production watching the MIR submersible team launch the MIRs into the ocean. Everyone does their assigned task with precision accuracy. Watching up from the MIR launching pad, you see the entire production unfold around you in a brilliant display of teamwork. Before the dive, plenty of photographs are taken. MIR I has just launched with my good friends from Arizona named Brian Day O'Connor and Eric Crown. Brian is a world-class mountain climber and adventurer while Eric is the founder and former CEO of the Insight Company. The pilot for MIR I today is veteran Titanic pilot Victor Nescheta. There are two support boats that facilitate the launching of the MIRs. The first boat is a rugged, twenty foot craft called Koresh (which means companion) that tows the MIRs away from Keldysh to their assigned location to dive. The other boat is a zodiac that carries divers that release the MIRs from both the Keldysh crane and Koresh. These divers are known as cowboys and they get their names for literally riding the MIRs at times like a bucking bronco.

The MIRs were refit for an extended period of time last year. During this refit, they created a newer, more stable ladder to allow MIR aquanauts a easier way to get on to the top area of the submersible where the hatch is located. Once you climb the ladder, you sit down beside the hatch and take off your shoes. After some last photo moments waving from atop of the MIR, you descend the hatchway into the MIR by using a small ladder. In this case, I was the first to enter the MIR, followed by Rob Goldsmith and our pilot, Genya Cherniev. The size of the capsule of the MIR is about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle and it is very small. Although there is plenty of headroom, the length of the two observers areas are only five feet so you will be in a modified fetal position for the next thirteen hours. Once inside the MIR, I took my position on the starboard side of the submersible and watched the hatch slowly sealed. It is time to return to Titanic!

Titanic Logs - July 12th Time to Return to Titanic Pt 1

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

Time to revisit my old friend Titanic today. It has been two years since my initial dive to visit the wrecksite and I have spent many long hours thinking about what I would see, how could I film her better and what neat science that we could do to analyze her deterioration process and protect her from the ravages of the sea. Being a biological scientist, I had to collaborate with many different scientists of various diverse backgrounds to examine the relationship between plankton and microbes, microbes and the steel, microbes and the thriving community of rusticles. With this dive, I will have my first true data point comparisons that we have directly taken from the wrecksite; albeit, would take many data point comparisons over many years to conclusively deduce quantitatively the effects of the sea and bacteria are having on Titanic.

This morning was quite beautiful and a large pod of pilot whales were seen very close to Keldysh. The night before the dive, I had very little to eat and drink and got to bed at a fairly early 11 pm. Previously, the MIR team's "chief", affectionately called Mother, gave me the official MIR dive coveralls to be used on the dive. Because we will be in the MIR's enclosed nickel-steel capsule, and the atmosphere will remain at a constant one atmosphere, it is very important to wear non-flammable items and apparel. No perfumes, colognes, make-up, lip balm etc can be worn inside this atmosphere. No shoes are allowed in the MIR and it is best to dress in layers as the temperatures within the dive change very drastically from the surface to the deep depths.

This morning I was up around 6:30 am and felt quite relaxed and excited. I got together with my dive partner Rob Goldsmith from the UK and the History Channel producer/videographer named Andrew Brooking to discuss today's dive, what we plan on seeing and what filming expectations would be needed for today's shoot on Titanic. At 8:00 am, I met with Anatoly Sagalevitch, Victor Nescheta, Genya Cherniev and the remainder of the MIR submersible team for the official briefing and the signing of the famous MIR log book. This meeting takes only 10 minutes and I was back into the dining room speaking with other expedition members - however had no breakfast or liquids. Once breakfast was over, I went up into my room to dress for the trip to Titanic. My apparel for this trip includes polypropylene thermal underwear, three pairs of socks, two hats-one knit and one baseball cap. Things to bring in my bag, other than 3 cameras were a log book for scientific observations, a pair of gloves (probably did not need them), a sweat shirt, small towels (to wipe off any condensation from the MIR's portholes), tissue, plastic bags, extra batteries and digital tape etc. With a large list of items checked off, I was ready to report down to the MIR launching station at 9:30 am.

Titanic Logs - July 11th Nice Day for a Dive

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic earlier last month. I hope that you enjoy!

Another beautiful sunny day greets our expedition team as Keldysh is stationed over the wreck site of Titanic. Normally, the MIR submersibles do not work back-to-back days; however, the crew worked throughout the night readying both submersibles for today's dives. With all the wonderful experiences and stories that our Dive Day One aquanauts related to the rest of the team members, there is an excitement in the air. Because of the limited space in the MIR, there are no rest room facilites. Divers the night before go into what I call a "modified hospital diet". There are no heavy foods and light meals the day before, no food after midnight and limited liquid consumption.

After going through the pre-dive meeting, our aquanauts for today are ready for their dives to commence at 9:45 with the launching of MIR I. On today's dive MIR I will be piloted by Anatoly Sagalevitch and the observers will be the Boris Teterev and Claudio Taboada. Boris is a very warm, bubbly gentlemen from Russia and has a very magnetic personality. Claudio comes from Argentina and he is a friendly gentlemen with a large smile and is a perfect tourism commercial for a visit to Argentina. MIR II will be piloted by Victor Nescheta and the observers will be a husband and wife team from Japan named Tomiko and Shunji Itakura. This couple were the nicest pair and were very much admired and respected from everyone on board the ship. After the rest of the team bid farewell to our aquanauts, it was time to watch some videos and presentations by Don Walsh and Ralph White. I was told today that the dive schedule has changed and that I would be diving with Rob Goldsmith from the UK on Dive Day Three. Rob is being followed by the British History Channel and our dive operations manager, Rob McCallum felt that someone with my background and expertise is deep diving, shipwreck history and my documentary experience would be a better fit for their broadcast. Since I already had a dive plan in mind, and it was validated by our submersible pilot, Genya Cherniev, beforehand, I felt that this would be a good thing for the History Channel. Like clockwork, the MIR submersibles came back to the surface. The first submersible, MIR I at 7:00 pm, followed by MIR II about 35 minutes later.

Titanic Logs - July 10th First Dive

This is our series of supplemental logs that were taken from our scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic last month. I hope that you enjoy!

Everyone is excited for the first dive of our expedition down to Titanic. MIR divers are to report to the MIR Dive Control Center at 8 am where Anatoly Sagalevitch runs through a briefing on the dive plan and introduces key members of his submersible team to the divers. The final step at this meeting is the official signing of the MIR logs. The two MIR departures are staggered approximately 30 minutes apart with MIR I going first at 9:45 am followed by MIR II.

Everyone on the expedition cheers the aquanauts as they climb into the MIR submersibles. The divers in MIR I, diving with Anatoly Sagalevitch, are Fran Capo of the United States and Masayo Goto from Japan. Fran is a very bubbly individual from Long Island and is the official "fastest talker in the world". Fran writes adventure books and there is no doubt that diving to Titanic is the Ultimate Adventure. Joining Fran will be Masayo and she will become the first person from Japan to ever dive the Titanic. Because of her achievement, everyone affectionately named her "Number One". MIR II divers will be piloted by Genya Cherniev and they include Jay and Christina Merten, a wonderful father-daughter team. Jay is a physician (MD) and specializes in ophthalmology. Additionally he is an avid pilot and sailor who lives outside of Dallas, Texas. Jay's daughter, Christina, is an artificial intelligence expert and lives in British Columbia.

While the dives are submerged on Titanic, normal ship life goes on with lectures/presentations, tours to the MIR labs, design of styrofoam cups and general rest. I will be presenting Nautical Research Group's presentation Titanic - The Ultimate Shipwreck to the expedition team that includes a virtual dive to Titanic in the MIR submesibles. This will give expedition divers the feeling for what to see and do in the MIRs and make their own dive more enjoyable.