Shipwrecks - Time Capsules of Human Civilization

Bermuda Triangle Lost Mariner – Part V Official US Navy Report and Statistics

It is very,very difficult to find an intact 500 foot shipwreck in the open ocean. Employing the latest acoustical and magnetometric instrumentation, imagine the difficulty involved in trying to find a 80 foot aircraft that has exploded into many pieces.  Therefore our entire search philosophy was predicated on the official United States naval records. The overall statistics of the Martin Mariner PBM-5 aircraft is:

Specification                           metrics                                     English
length                                    24.33 meters                            79 feet 10 inches
height                                       8.38 meters                           27 feet 6 inches
empty weight              15,050 kilograms                          33,175 pounds
max loaded weight   26,300 kilograms                          58,000 pounds
maximum speed               340 KPH                                     210 MPH / 185 KT
cruising speed                   275 KPH                                     170 MPH / 150 KT
service ceiling                 6,035 meters                                  19,800 feet
range                              3,605 kilometers                           2,240 MI / 1,950 NMI

The full trial depositions for the official accident report is very large; however, the final summary report regarding this missing Mariner is quite small and a segment of this report is included below:

35. That PBM-5 BuNo. 59225, Squadron Training No. 49, Engines No. P-54213 and 52187, departed at approximately 1927R on 5 December 1945, on an authorized Air Sea Rescue search from U.S. Naval Air Station, Banana River, Florida.

36. That an "out" report sent by radio was received by the U.S. Naval Air Station, Banana River, Florida, from PBM-5, BuNo. 59225, Squadron Training No. 49, at about 1930R, Squadron Training No. 49, at about 1930R, 5 December 1945, and no further communications were received from said airplane after that time.

37. That the authorized Air Sea Rescue mission assigned to PBM-5, BuNo. 59225, on 5 December 1945, was as follows: Depart U.S. Naval Air Station, Banana River,and proceed to 29 degrees north and the east coast of Florida, expanding square search.

38. That Walter G. Jeffrey, Lieutenant (junior grade), U.S. Navy, File No.329291, was the authorized patrol plane commander who signed for and accepted for flight PBM-5, BuNo. 59225, 5 December 1945.

52. That PBM-5 BuNo, 59225, Squadron No. 49, and the assigned personnel aboard are unaccounted for since about 1930R, 5 December 1945.

53. That the hourly position report due at 2030R from PBM-5, BuNo. 59225, was not received at U.S. Naval Air Station, Banana River, Florida, on 5 December 1945.

54. That at 2115R on 5 December 1945 the SS Gaines Mills reported as follows:
"At 0050 G. M. T. observed burst of flames, apparently explosion, leaping flames 100 feet high burning ten minutes. Position 28 degrees, XX minutes north, 80 degrees XX minutes west. At present, passing through big pool of oil at 0119 G. M. T. Stopped, circled area using search lights, looking for survivors. None found."

55. That USS Solomons CVE-67 dispatched at 06127 reported as follows: "Our air search radar showed plane after takeoff from Banana River last night joining with another plane, then separation and proceeding on course 045 degrees at exact time SS Gaines Mills sighted flames in exact spot the above plane disappeared from the radar screen and never reappeared".

56. That concentrated search operations from 6 December to 10 December 1945, inclusive, by surface and aircraft in the area of the reported explosion failed to reveal any debris of the missing PBM or evidence of its crew.

Bermuda Triangle Lost Mariner – Part IV The Reported Facts

On December 5, 1945, at 2:10 p.m. five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 took off from Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station on a routine training mission and headed into an area of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle. Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for 120 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back over a final 120-mile leg that would return them to the naval base. They were never seen again.

Later on the evening of the 5th, a search party was dispatched, which included the twin-engine Martin Mariner (Martin PBM-5 Mariner, Bureau No. 59225, Squadron Training No. 49), with its crew of 13 men (3 aviators aboard and a crew of 10), that many claim disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle along with Flight 19. At 1627, this Mariner aircraft search and rescue crew was sent out in search of the bombers. The PBM Mariner was specifically designed as a rescue plane with the ability to remain aloft for 24 hours.  At 1930, the aircraft radioed an "out" report to its home base and was not heard from again.

There is evidence to explain the disappearance of the Mariner flying boat- sometimes referred to as the "flying gas can". Some twenty-three minutes after the Mariner left the Banana River NAS, observers aboard the tanker SS Gaines Mills reported seeing a plane on fire. It crashed into the sea with a hellish explosion. The captain radioed the following report:

"Observed a burst of flames, apparently an explosion, leaping flames 100 feet high and burning for ten minutes.  At present, passing through a big pool of oil. Stopped, circled area using searchlights, looking for survivors. None found." 

The USS Solomons, which was in the area at the time, sent a report confirming the tanker's observations. "Our air search radar showed a plane after takeoff from Banana River last night joining with another plane, then separating and proceeding on course 045 degrees at the exact time SS Gaines Mills sighted flames and in exact spot the above plane disappeared from the radar screen and never reappeared."

When the ship investigated, it found a patch of oil and debris where the flying boat must have crashed. No wreckage was sighted and according to witnesses there was little likelihood that any could have been recovered due to a very rough sea. The next day, water samples, taken in the area, developed an oily film. The area was not buoyed due to the heavy seas nor were diving or salvage operations ever conducted. The depth of the water was 78 feet and the site was close to the Gulf Stream. During the Board's examination of the disappearance of the PBM, several witnesses were questioned concerning gas fumes and smoking regulations, which were reportedly well posted and rigidly enforced aboard all PBMs. Although the Board's report is not a verbatim record and no accusations were made, there seems to be enough inference present to cause one to suspect that the Board was aware of the PBM's nickname.

Bermuda Triangle Lost Mariner – Part III The Research of Disparate Information

One of the biggest difficulties in trying to gather research on an event that happened sixty years ago is the gathering of credible information. My initial search for this information was on the Internet; however, the amount of good and reliable information was not very good. There were many different web sites with the story of the missing Mariner and so many differing accounts of this ill-fated flight that contradicted each other. I needed to enlist a new team of Mariner experts that would be able to assist us in getting the most reliable and detailed information about this aircraft and its disappearance. Fortunately, I was able to assemble the best research team in the world for advice and guidance.

For getting the most accurate and thoroughly documented reports into the disappearance of the Mariner, I contacted Jack Green, a public relations specialist with the Naval Historical Center, based out of the United States Navy's Washington Shipyard. Through Jack and several correspondences with experts at the Naval Historical Center, I was invited to visit their archives for a first-hand look at all the Navy's documents pertaining to the Mariner. Many of these documents had not seen the light outside their boxes for fifty-nine years. I want to thank the head of the Naval Aviation History branch, Curtis Utz, for spending time with me and gathering all the official documentation that I needed for my search. Additionally, I want to thank Wendy Coble of the Nautical Archaeology branch for her guidance and assistance, even while we were down in Florida commencing with our search.

In order to get the most information about the flight and operation of the Mariner, I had a wonderful ally in Bruce Barth. Mr. Barth is the historian for the Mariner Marlin Association of actual officers, crew and tenders for other Mariner aircraft.  Several of the people that I had a chance to interview were crew-mates and were at the Banana River Naval Air Station during the time our Mariner was lost. They were able to corroborate almost all the information that I had retrieved from the Naval Historical Center. Before, during and after the Mariner discovery/exploration expedition, Mr. Barth was an extremely valuable asset who provided us much information about the aircraft through pictures, stories and personal experience.

Finally, we are indebted to Stan Piet and all the wonderful people at the Glenn L. Martin Aviation Museum. Through this wonderful resource, we had every single detailed specification of our Mariner from the smallest of Mariner pieces to actual delivery pictures of our Mariner to the Navy in early-1945. On further research, we were able to secure an original pilot's manual for this Mariner; as well as the Mariner's Operations manual. As a consequence, Nautical Research Group had the most extensive collection of information about the missing Mariner aircraft in the world going into the discovery/exploration expedition.

Bermuda Triangle Lost Mariner – Part II The Expedition Team

There were a large number of people that played a very strategic role in the discovery/exploration Mariner project that should receive special attention.  Because the Sci Fi /MsNBC special did not mention these wonderful professionals by name and area of expertise, it is imperative that you know exactly all the talented resources that were used in the conduct of this project. We utilized two large diving/research vessels while on the project- Sea Dog Diver out of New Smyrna Beach Florida and the Ketty Lund/Discoverer from Key West Florida.

The discovery /exploration team was headed by David Bright and I am a nautical/biological scientist with 35 years of deep diving and not a professional nautical archaeologist (that was mentioned on the show). The following professionals were part of the exploration team:

Mark Padover-AquaSurvey; technology expert; auxiliary captain; nautical archaeologist
Andrew Driver-Mad Dog Expeditions; technical diver; auxiliary captain
Warren Miller-Silent Diving Systems; technical diver
Peter Hess-Admiralty lawyer; technical diver
Larry Lyons-Lockheed Martin; environmental marine scientist; diver
Ken Hayes-President of AquaSurvey; aquatic scientist
Rick Coleman-Captain of diving vessel Sea Dog Diver
Bob Bigelow-Sea Dog Diver mate
Eric Smith-Captain of research vessel Ketty Lund/Discoverer; technical diver
Jason Bartlett-Ketty Lund/Discoverer mate
Ining Hsu-Environmental Engineer, CDM
Karen Schwartz-scientist Columbia University
Chris Cox-Gettysburg College intern
Garrett Hayes-Gettysburg College intern
Dr. Kelly Rankin- Aqua Survey, Inc; oceanographic scientist
Tim Beacham-NBC News Producer/Director
Dennis Dillon-Cameraman
Ed Jones-Soundman
John Schriber-NBC Senior Producer
Lester Holt-NBC News Anchorman

In addition to these wonderful professionals, we used the talents of several organizations and their individuals in providing the research necessary to conduct the project. These included:

Wendy Coble-Naval Historical Center; Nautical Archaeologist with aviation specialty
Jack Green-Naval Historical Center; Public Relations Officer
Curtis Utz-Naval Historical Center; Head of Naval Aviation Historical Branch
Stan Piet-Glenn Martin /Maryland Aviation Museum and his wonderful archive staff
and last, but certainly not least, a gentlemen who was invaluable throughout the entire project:
Bruce Barth-Mariner/Marlin Association Historian

As you can see this was a very scientific and highly professional unit of individuals who quickly became a top-notched discovery/exploration team. I am very proud of all these people and we did some wonderful work together!

TypePad Server Ready for Action!

I am very sorry for the issues that we have been having with our web log service provider TypePad.  TypePad is the largest and best web log provider in the world and is growing at a staggering rate. Due to its unprecedented success, their servers have been pushed to their limits. A few months ago, TypePad had to move from its original location because it did not have enough room for the huge amounts of servers that are needed to support the business. The move was accomplished with minimal service disruptions and the latest problem was handled relatively well. Our latest blogs were down for less than two days but have been restored as of yesterday. Our web log only uses the best and latest in technology and I am sure that a great company like TypePad will continue providing wonderful service well into the future!

Bermuda Triangle Lost Mariner – Part I Introduction to the Science

Last week ended the highly-successful The Triangle mini-series on the Sci-Fi Channel. Normally, I am not a big fan of this type of genre but I thoroughly enjoyed the three-part adventures about a diverse group of individuals teamed together in seeking to unravel the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle. As I have mentioned in our previous blog articles, I led a team of twenty scientists, divers and other underwater professionals on a discovery/exploration expedition to find one of the search & rescue aircraft that was sent out to find the five missing Avenger aircraft on December 5th, 1945 that also disappeared. In total, six Navy aircraft and 27 airmen were lost on that fateful day.

In early April of 2005, I was approached by NBC News Productions and asked if I would be interested in trying to find the Martin Mariner PBM-5 aircraft that went missing and disappeared off the coast of Florida. I was very aware of the famed Avenger TBM’s that formed one of the biggest mysteries of the Triangle lore but knew very little about this Mariner aircraft. Last year, I watched a documentary on the Discovery Channel about trying to find the lost Avengers with using submersibles from Harbor Branch (Johnson Sea-Link) and Graham Hawkes revolutionary designed Deep Flight Aviator. One of my friends, Dr. Captain (USN Ret) Alfred McLaren, a retired United States Navy nuclear submarine captain, is very close friend of Graham and is a certified pilot of Deep Flight Aviator. Captain McLaren told me about Graham finding five lost Avengers clustered together several miles away from Ft Lauderdale in the early 1990s. To everyone’s amazement, these 5 Navy Avengers were NOT the missing Avengers from the lost flight of December 5th, 1945. I asked NBC News to give me a week to do some preliminary research and I would then get back to them regarding my decision to take on this project.

Using Nautical Research Group’s vast array of informational resources, we were able to extract out some very pertinent information about the aircraft but needed much more work to do from other sources to put together an expedition proposal. In this section of the ocean where the United States Navy had provided their coordinates for the Mariner, many ships ply up and down the Atlantic. What was very apparent to me was that the aircraft was broken up in many small pieces otherwise others would have found this aircraft many years ago. Knowing how difficult it is to find huge shipwrecks using the latest technology, I accepted the project knowing that we had a do an extensive search for extremely small pieces of debris. My original proposal called for this expedition to be two weeks in duration. Once my initial proposal was submitted to NBC News, they called me up and said that they had good news and bad news. The good news is that the proposal was accepted by the NBC executives in Rockefeller Center; however, the bad news was that the duration of the expedition would be only one week. I decided to accept the project but only after I had completed my diving expeditions to the Empress of Ireland and Titanic.

This series will contain several parts that can be retrieved at any time using the category called Mariner Project on the far right column of the web log. I look forward to hearing your comments on this series!

Nautical Research Group's Ten-Part Titanic Photographic Series

In order to facilitate our tremendously growing reader base, I have included a permanent reference marker to our extremely successful Titanic Photographic Series on our weblog (blog). This permanent reference can be found on the far left side of our blog between our Archives and our corporation's unique Titanic News Articles.  Within this series, you will get an opportunity to see selective highlights of the shipwreck from the bow, debris field and stern sections of the Titanic.

I have been extremely fortunate to have explored the Titanic shipwreck in 2003 and 2005 as part of two scientific research expeditions to the wreck site. Utilizing the famed Russian research vessel, Akademik Keldysh and the two deep-diving submersibles called MIR, the dive to Titanic is very dangerous, as this shipwreck lies in over 12,600 feet of cold, dark North Atlantic waters. If you haven't seen this photographic series before, you are in for a treat!

Empress of Ireland-Need a Good Read but have No Time? Audiobook!

One of the best underwater adventure books of 2004-2005 is the dangerous diving to the famed Lost Liner Empress of Ireland called Dark Descent by Kevin McMurray. This book is a no-hold-barred glimpse of the very deadly diving that is done while exploring the Canadian Pacific liner that collided with a Norwegian collier named Storstad in 1914 and sank in 14 minutes. This tragedy killed more passenger lives than both Titanic and Lusitania in the St. Lawrence River near the Quebec town of Rimouski. I have been very fortunate to have more dives to the Empress of Ireland than any other American (currently 124 dives over 18 years); however, this pales in comparison to fellow Canadian divers Steve Brooks, Phillippe Beaudry and Dany St-Cyr. This year, I brought a group of fellow American ( Tony Granata, Ray Stine and Charlie Howlett) divers to the wreck site and our diving logs, videos and other assorted resource information can be found on our web log ( blog) archives .

Dark Descent by Kevin McMurray has been a tremendous success and has received five stars (highest rating) by its reviewers on Amazon. I have contributed several of my diving adventures to this book and have had many people rave to me about my exploits on this famous ship. This book is considered a MUST HAVE from the diving community and this success has been heard by the famed McGraw-Hill Publishers to create an abridged account of the book on audio (Four CD's) that was released a couple of weeks ago. Follow this link to Amazon and order your set of these audiobook CDs as a wonderful Holiday gift. Please note that this extremely popular audiobook is going very fast and you need to get your order in soon! For those that do not have the time to read, this audiobook is a perfect way to experiencing the drama and dangers of diving such a historic shipwreck.

New Discoveries Regarding the Sinking of Titanic

I am finally glad that the news about the latest discovery about the sinking of Titanic has been released to the public. I originally started this note as a follow-up comment to Pedro Caleja, author of the Sea Bottom web log site about my thoughts regarding the AP news release. However, on further reflection I thought that it would be better to share this information with my viewers.

The story that was published yesterday about the hull plates on Titanic being discovered was not new to me. Since I have been diving Titanic I knew that there were several scientists and divers that were exploring these hull plates that included David Concannon, Robert Williams and Alfred McLaren back in early 2000. I was not going to divulge to the general public any of their research and was very supportive of their efforts. When the Harris Expedition made some comments this summer, I published the following comment to this weblog on August 23rd:

The story of the Titanic is a very emotional and spiritual tale for many people. From a research standpoint, we know a lot of information about the ship and the people that plied her decks. What we are starting to understand by visiting her via submersibles is how she sank. Bob Williams postulated that the cause of the sinking were due to growler icebergs that breached the keel of Titanic and was the major cause for her demise. A recent visit to Titanic by Michael Harris supports Mr. Williams hypothesis and claims that he has found an undiscovered debris field that may indeed be the keel section of Titanic. With further study, we may be able to determine, without any doubt, the reasons why Titanic sank so fast and consequently killed so many people.

and subsequently I published this web log article on September 8th that proved to be highly controversial (I believe that this is a very poignant web log so please check it out!):

http://shipwreck.blogs.com/shipwrecks_historical_tim/2005/09/titanic_reveale.html .

Dr. Bob Ballard has had a very rough time as of late. Dr. Ballard is a geologist and not a shipbuilding structural engineer. I believe that the headline about him "getting it all wrong" is very much overstated. Dr. Ballard had made many initial and significant findings about Titanic that were very instrumental in getting to the point of this latest discovery. Without continued scientific visits to the ship, we would not of been able to know these new and landmark historical facts. Parks Stephenson (mentioned prominently in the AP news release) is a very good guy to have on this Woods Hole panel. He is a leader in the marine forensic science arena and I have had several email discussions with him about Titanic. He was a member of James Cameron's Expert Panel that included Ken Marschall and Don Lynch. One of the expedition leaders of this History Channel Expedition that provided the bulk of the science information about this find was David Concannon, a fellow Explorers Club member and Philadelphia lawyer, who made the earliest discovery of these plates back in 2000.

Sixtieth Anniversary - Bermuda Triangle's Six Missing Aircraft

I am not an authority on the Bermuda Triangle and have never claimed to be. I find the different theories regarding the mysteries of this region of the Atlantic Ocean to be interesting in a very curious way. Being a scientist, I have always based my initial observations on the physical sciences that I have been trained over the years. There is no doubt that there are things that I can not answer through the physical sciences realm that can not be readily explained. The nature of science is to seek out the unknown and then try to understand all about this unknown.

The documentary that we did for the Sci Fi Channel has received huge viewer ratings. The show was so successful that they have been additionally showing the documentary on MsNBC. Our main reason for doing the underwater discovery/exploration project was to bring closure to the families of the Martin Mariner aircraft.  As today marks the 60th anniversary of these lost aircraft, I would like to recognize the 5 missing Naval Avenger aircraft; and most especially, the 13 missing airmen on the Martin Mariner. Please remember these Mariner airmen in your prayers!

                               Walter George Jeffery, Lt. jg - Pilot
                               Harrie Grimes Cone, Lt. jg - Co-pilot
                               Roger Murray Allen, Ensign - Training Co-Pilot
                               Lloyd Arlin Eliason, Ensign - Co-Pilot
                               Charles Donald Arceneaux, Ensign
                               Robert Charles Cameron, radioman 3rd class
                               Cargill, Wiley Davis Sr. , seaman 1st
                               James Frederick Jordan, Aviation radioman 3rd class
                               John Thomas Menendez, Aviation ordnanceman 3rd
                               Philip Bird Neeman, Seaman 1st
                               James Frederick Osterheld, Aviation ordnanceman 3rd
                               Donald Edward Peterson, Aviation machinist’s mate 1st
                               Alfred Joseph Zywicki, Seaman 1st class

Titanic Photographic Series - Part X Titanic's Huge A-Frame Engines

The last scheduled part of our series will take a look at the huge A-frame engines that are very prominent on the stern section of the shipwreck of RMS Titanic. The engines are the largest structures on Titanic. In the longitudinal photograph of the Engine, you can clearly see the over-pressure release valve and steam whistle. The first four photographs show the top part of this huge engine and the last two show the lower portions of these engines where the gears are visible.

To access these new photographs, as well as other Titanic photographs, scientific research paper and accompanying PowerPoint presentation go to our corporate website at http://www.nauticalresearch.com and within the text of this home page select the link entitled Educational Services. This will bring you to our educational page where all this valuable information can be viewed and downloaded for personal use only.

In the course of this ten part Titanic Photometric Series, we have explored the entire length of the ship from bow to stern giving you selected highlights of this beautiful shipwreck. Many thanks for taking this exciting adventure with Nautical Research Group and making this web log the most viewed shipwreck informational blog on the Internet. Look for our new video segments from Titanic after the Holidays!