Shipwrecks - Time Capsules of Human Civilization

Our Corporate Web Site Acknowledged By Prestigious Organization

One of the major goals and missions of the Nautical Research Group is to fostering the education of nautical and maritime history. We accomplish these objectives by offering a full array of diverse educational products that support these educational values. Our corporation has been recognized for its intrinsic educational source by the National First Ladies' Library organization. As the first and only facility of its kind, the National First Ladies' Library serves as a unique national resource for patrons from school children to serious scholars.  I am pleased and honored that my corporation, Nautical Research Group has been designated as a primary source link for the education of students in the area of the great ocean liners. The link for access to their educational site is:  http://www.firstladies.org/curriculum/curriculum.aspx?Curriculum=1484 . Our corporate site, under the link to Educational Services, provides valuable information on various shipwrecks and include a recent scientific research paper on the decay of Titanic and over 40 copyrighted photographs from our underwater expeditions to Titanic.

The following is an excerpt from Nautical Research Group's Corporate Profile:

Nautical Research Group, Inc. is a consulting firm that provides full service discovery, exploration, research and analysis on the sea and shipwreck disasters throughout the world. Our group of professional consultants are the leaders in their field for the scientific analysis of ships, shipwrecks and their historical preservation. Our corporation has had great success in the discovery and exploration of historic shipwrecks. Utilizing the latest in underwater and deep-diving technology, we have been exploring shipwrecks for thirty-five years. Our corporation provides nautical expertise in the following main areas:

DISCOVERY&EXPLORATION                     RESEARCH

PRESERVATION                                                   MARITIME EXHIBITS

MEDIA SERVICES                                                ACADEMIC SERVICES

                                      EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

Please visit Nautical Research Group, Inc. main corporate web site at: http://www.nauticalresearch.com for more information about our corporation and for many rare underwater and land-based photographs of historic vessels.

INTRODUCTION : Turkey's Historic Shipwrecks - Cultivation of Human History

I must apologize to my faithful readers for not having a new post in over a week. I have spent the past ten days visiting the wonderful seas and straits surrounding one of the world's most historic waterways through the country of Turkey. I had planned on reporting my adventures LIVE on this weblog but unfortunately -  due to technical, logistical and security reasons - I was unable to access this web log. Despite this setback, I will be giving you the details on a truly wonderful trip back through human civilization via Turkey's waterway.

The mission of this trip was to explore the rich historical shipwreck history of the vessels that plied the waterways from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea. The goal would be to select potential underwater projects to partner with government, conservatory and academic communities in pursuit of their nautical archaeology endeavors. Although I am a biological scientist, my background has been utilized in many archaeological finds to better explore and investigate the historical nature of shipwrecks. Over the course of this new and exclusive weblog series on Underwater Turkey, we will be reporting on shipwrecks that ranged in time from the legendary Noah's Flood through to the ANZAC battle for control of the Dardanelles. This is a very special series that I know you will enjoy!

2006 - Year of New Underwater Shipwreck Discovery and Exploration

The following article is a modified extract of a comment that I made to fellow underwater explorer, Steve Libert about several of my projects over the next three months. I hope that you enjoy....

I thought that it might be tough to top all the exciting and wonderful expeditions that I had in 2005 that included Titanic, Empress of Ireland, the Bermuda Triangle rescue aircraft - Martin Mariner PBM-5, various historical shipwrecks that ranged from naval to merchant and old treasure galleons to ocean liners (including a Blue Riband Cunard Liner Oregon).

2006 is shaping up to be an even better and more historic diving season that will be highlighted by our series of events surrounding the 50th Anniversary of the Collision and Sinking of the Andrea Doria. I will be releasing some new nautical forensic information and underwater video regarding this beautiful Italian liner's sinking that will change the historical perception of that tragic evening. In two weeks, I am off to Florida diving deep in the underground caves using a mixed-gas, closed circuit rebreather (as part of a cave diving course run by two of the world's best instructors - legendary Tom Mount and former British Special Forces diver Andrew Driver). Hopefully we will find in situ evidence for some prehistoric species deep within these underwater caves (a mastodon or mammoth would be nice). In March, I have two presentations to give. The first presentation is at the American Academy of Underwater Sciences meeting at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratory (FHL) in the San Juan Islands -located north of Seattle between the mainland and Vancouver Island, British Columbia about the latest scientific observations about the biological decay of Titanic. The second presentation of the month will be at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida about Diving to the Italian Liner Andrea Doria. Before the end of the month of March, I am off to the Black Sea and this should be very interesting - perhaps, if I am very lucky, I might discover Noah's Ark (just kidding!). In addition, I have some other "secret" shipwreck explorations and projects that I can't quite divulge yet (don't want the bureaucrats to put a damper on all the adventure) but will provide some significant new information about several historic shipwrecks.

Thank you for your continued support for this web site which is globally the number one blog ( weblog ) for shipwrecks. I find that it is a perfect forum for me to get things off my chest without feeling inhibited about the dives, expeditions and science. As a corporation, Nautical Research Group is thriving and we have been able to pick and choose the best and most interesting underwater projects. Our unique blend of nautical archaeology and deep technical diving - wrapped around our roots in the biological sciences is unparallelled.

Shipwrecks and Lost Aircraft Profiled in Recent Magazines

I enjoy working with the media to educate the public about the nautical history of shipwrecks and the undersea world. Lately, I have been involved with several television documentaries that have been placed on many of the cable networks ( MsNBC, History Channel, National Geographic Channel, Sci-Fi Channel etc.) and have done a slew of newspaper and magazine interviews. This month, I have been profiled in several different magazines pertaining to my work on the shipwrecks and an aircraft. This is not so uncommon because I am involved with so much shipwreck and underwater research that the media and the public finds very fascinating. However, this month has to be the most diverse in terms of the types of magazines that I have been written about in a long time.  It seems that my diving and shipwreck work has taken a new persona as characterized by these three distinct magazine articles:

December 2005 Sci Fi Magazine - Profiles the search for the Bermuda Triangle's famed lost Mariner rescue aircraft that went missing while looking for the 5 US Navy Avenger aircraft in 1945. I led a team of 20 scientists, divers and operational crew on the underwater search for the PBM-5 Mariner aircraft.

January 2006 Worth Magazine - This magazine caters to high net worth individuals and has an article about the the search for lucrative shipwrecks and its ability to provide the investors and salvors fortune and fame. I have a few comments about treasure hunting in this article.

January / February 2006 Aquanaut Magazine - This diving magazine is written in German and caters to the Swiss, German and Austrian sport and recreational diving markets. The article that I am profiled in is entitled Andrea Doria: Der Mount Everest der Wracktaucher which translates out to Andrea Doria: The Mount Everest of Wreck Diving. I have dove the Andrea Doria over a hundred times since the mid-1980's and will be going back this summer with the Official Andrea Doria Diving Expedition ™ to mark the 50th anniversary of its collision and sinking.

Well-so far I have not been approached by Playboy yet ;-) !

Guest Article from Michael Tuttle: John Paul Jones' Ship Serapis

For today's weblog ( blog ) article, we are in for a real treat. I have invited a friend, Michael Tuttle, cultural resource director on the Serapis project to provide an overview into his fantastic work on John Paul Jones' ship named HMS Serapis. The following is his synopsis:

The remains of the American Revolutionary War era ship HMS Serapis have been located off the coast of Madagascar.  The vessel was taken by John Paul Jones who uttered those immortal words, "I have not yet begun to fight!" when asked to surrender by the British captain. Jones in the Bonhomme Richard was finally successful in the epic Revolutionary War Battle off Flamborough Head.  The battle was so intense that the Bonhomme Richard later sank in the North Sea while leaving the British coast.  John Paul Jones and his crew had to remove to the Serapis and sailed on to the Netherlands.  The Serapis ended up in the French navy, as the Bonhomme Richard was a French vessel that Benjamin Franklin helped to secure for the American cause.  The Serapis was sent into the Indian Ocean in 1781, where it caught on fire and sank.  In 1999 a crew of American, French and Malagasy archaeologists and historians located the remains of the vessel.  Today, under the direction of Michael Tuttle, the Serapis Project continues to research the vessel remains in order to recover the history and expose the story Jones and the Serapis.  In association with the University of Antananarivo it is hoped that enough materials will be recovered to establish a permanent museum display on Isle St. Marie to illuminate the maritime heritage of Madagascar and John Paul Jones. Please examine our web site at serapisproject.org.

I have included a link to the Serapis Project web site that can be found on the far right hand column of our blog. This is truly a valuable and historical cultural treasure!

Controversial Sinking of the Thomas Hebert

Last Friday, I decided to take a quick visit to the New Jersey Shore to visit one of my favorite Irish pubs called http://www.kellystavernusa.com/ in an appropriately named town of Neptune City. The Reuben Sandwiches are THE BEST IN THE WORLD! After many New Jersey wreck dives, especially night dives to various in-shore wrecks, Kelly's was the place to get some great food at a decent price. During our lunch, I got into a good conversation with my wife over the diversity of fantastic wreck sites that New Jersey has in my own "backyard". Everything from ocean liners, German submarines, tankers, freighters, Coast Guard vessels and artificial wreck reefs, our state has it all.

Going from the Titanic to our next little vessel is quite the "sea change". Yesterday, I received an email from an old dive buddy of mine named Captain Steve Gatto. Steve is a veteran wreck diver that has explored many of the deep shipwrecks off the Atlantic coast of North America. In addition to his diving and captaincy duties, he is part of the Marine Forensics panel of the Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers that works on finding out why ships sink. One of the ships that he is working on is the ninety-four foot, ocean-going tugboat Thomas Hebert. Steve and his dive partner Tom Packer were the first to dive and examine her watery remains to try to answer questions regarding her swift sinking off the New Jersey shore on March 7th, 1993, taking five crewmen down with her. Fortunately two crewmen were found alive after being in the cold ocean waters. Steve is completing a book that will summarize the comprehensive history of this vessel and will describe its final moments, the rescue, the dives to the wreck site and finally provide definitive marine forensic evidence to her controversial sinking.  Steve was featured on a wonderful segment of the History Channel's Deep Sea Detectives series last year and is finalizing the book on the Thomas Hebert. This book can be previewed at Steve's website at http://www.tugboatdown.com/  and I can guarantee will be a great read.

St Lawrence Tech Dive - Visit to the Roy A. Jodery

One of my favorite dives in North America is the technical dive to the wreck site of the Roy A. Jodery. Launched in 1965, the ship is a large 700 foot freighter, the same size as the Andrea Doria, and was routinely plying the Great Lakes with its cargo of steel. On the evening of November 20th, 1974, the Jodery hit the shallows of the St Lawrence River across from Alexandria Bay. The result of the grounding was a torn keel and she had little time to save herself. As the captain frantically tried to save her by beaching her in shallower waters, the entire crew of 29 was saved. Unfortunately for the Jodery, the ship sank in less than four hours, ironically within 50 meters of a Coast Guard station. The ship's resting place lies on a vertical shelf and the depth ranges from 140 feet to the mast to about 240 feet at its deepest point.

The wreck site of the Jodery lies immediately off a huge ledge that is covered by zebra mussels. These mussels have filtered the water quite well and the water is extremely clear. Despite the clear waters, the Jodery is a dangerous dive with cold, dark waters and ripping currents. For many years, the Jodery was off-limits to divers because of the leaking oil that was clearly apparent in the 1990's. In 2002-2004, efforts to remove this oil were undertaken by divers from the Hunt commercial diving group from nearby Clayton, NY and deep diving specialist Andrew Driver. This group of experts have effectively removed the leaking oil from the Jodery and she has been cleared for diving only by the most experienced technical divers.

In the past year, I have made eight dives to explore the wreck site of the Jodery with five of these dives led by Andrew Driver. Andrew knows this wreck site better than anyone and it was great to have this expert give me a guided tour of this vessel. The Jodery is in fantastic condition and the original paint and many of the ship instruments are very intact and clearly visible. Utilizing a 10/50 tri-mix diluent in our closed circuit rebreather, we visited many of the significant areas of the ship including a dive deep into the engine room where Andrew had been extracting the oil. The removal of this oil must of been a very arduous task. One of our last dives was a visit to the stern area that was accomplished by a line tied from shore to the stern that requires a 300 foot swim into a treacherous current. This dive is only for the best of divers in very good physical condition. Overall the Jodery is not for the faint of heart but for those with top-notch experience, this wreck is a real beauty!

Oregon - Cunard's Greyhound of the Atlantic

Long before the Queen Mary and even before the beautiful swift sisters, Lusitania and Mauritania, was the fast and opulent liner called Oregon. In the 1880's, the Oregon was the fastest transatlantic vessel in the world and holder of the Blue Riband ( or Hales Trophy) while initially running under the Guion Line flag. The Oregon succeeded in capturing the westbound record from Queenstown to Sandy Hook in six days, ten hours and ten minutes ending on April 19th, 1884. She would later grab the eastbound record as well to have the fastest recorded times both ways across the Atlantic Ocean. The leading British shipping company, the Cunard Line, saw the potential in having a fleet of beautiful and fast ships. Five months after the Oregon's record-breaking performance, the Cunard Line acquired her from the Guion Line in August 1884. The pairing of Oregon with their other fast liners, Etruria and Umbria, the Cunard Line had the world's three fastest transatlantic vessels in their fleet. Oregon broke her records well into 1885 until her running mate, the Etruria, took the record away from her.

At the peak of her popularity, the greyhound Oregon collided with and was sunk by a schooner named Charles H. Morse on the morning of March 14th, 1886, off of Fire Island-Long Island, New York.  The Oregon stayed afloat long enough to have all of her passengers saved by nearby boats (with most passengers saved by the Fulda) that ply this heavily traveled waterway just outside of New York harbor. This tragic accident stunned the transatlantic shipping community, as the Oregon was a long favorite of the many European and American passengers. She sank in approximately 140 feet of water about 35 miles from Captree State Park. This wreck site is my favorite inshore wreck site in the entire New York Bight area.

The first time that I dove the Oregon was in the early 1980's with the dive boat Wahoo operating out of Captree and captained by Steve Bielenda.  I was amazed by its immense size and mesmerized by all the history that was still surrounding this vessel. Many personal and ship-related items were scattered all across this ship and an occasional porthole or piece of china were discovered. I continued visiting the Oregon several times a year for the next twenty years and she has aged gracefully. On several occasions over the past two summers, I have visited this once-proud liner using the Eagle's Nest dive boat with an old friend of mine, Captain Howard Klein, using a closed-circuit rebreather. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, I used to be Howard's deep-diving mate on board his wonderfully maintained dive boat and was very comfortable in using his dive boat for exploring this liner with a rebreather. Because of its relatively shallow depth (if you can call 140 feet relatively shallow), I had a long bottom time and a fairly long decompression. The nice thing about the rebreather is that it optimizes your breathing mixture based upon pre-set limits of oxygen partial pressure. Using this additional time on the wreck site gives much more opportunities to explore the wreck site without having to be too concerned about running out of gas. After shackling into the high section of the engine, the remainder of the wreck can be explored by looking forward beyond the huge boilers or aft in various collapsed hull plating that hide a vast array of ship items or huge lobsters.

One of the best ocean liner books and the definitive source of information on the steamer Oregon is a book by Herb "Cap" Kaasmann called Oregon Greyhound of the Atlantic . Mr Kaasmann has written the complete story of this beautiful liner from its inception to the many diving expeditions to visit her historic watery remains. The book was published in 1993 in soft cover and quickly went out of print. I have had the pleasure of chatting with "Cap" a couple of times this year and he has confided to me that he has copies remaining of his book that can be ordered directly through him at his email address of olwalrus@comcast.net . This book is an absolutely MUST HAVE for any person interested in ocean liners, shipwrecks and diving. For me, the fascinating history of this ocean liner and the advent of the generation of huge super-ocean liners like Titanic, Lusitania, Mauritania and Olympic makes this book a real treasure to have in your collection!

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.

Another New Great Wreck Expedition

Having just a week to "decompress" from Titanic, I am now ready to tackle my next big wreck expedition. I am heading up a huge wreck discovery project in Florida that will employ two research vessels and a twenty-man crew on an underwater project that will be looking for the discovery of a lost naval vessel. Nautical Research Group is collaborating with the US Naval Historical Center on the discovery of this vessel utilizing the latest in underwater technology.  We will be using side-scan sonar, magnetometer, metal detector, visual camera arrays etc in pursuit of this vessel. Additionally, we have the capability to use some ROVs on the site and most of our divers will be using the latest in closed-circuit rebreather technology (including the new Evolution) to dive perspective targets. Please stay tuned for the outcome of our latest adventure.

In the meantime, we will be publishing the supplemental logs from our scientific research expedition to Titanic that we just completed starting this Friday. For those people in the Pennsylvania area, we will be premiering portions of our new video footage of Titanic on August 19th at Harrisburg's Whitaker Science Center.  I would like to invite our loyal fan base to come out and see some great video of Titanic. In addition to our presentation, they have an exhibit on loan from the company RMS Titanic that includes many recovered items from Titanic and will be showing a special IMAX screening of James Cameron's Ghosts of the Abyss.

Philadelphia's Rich Nautical History - Part II Moshulu

An early landmark of the new Penn's Landing is the beautiful sailing vessel - the Moshulu. This 4-masted ship is the only example of this type of ship that is still afloat.  Since her launching in 1904, the Moshulu has had a long and exciting career on the high seas working the ports of Europe, South America, Australia, America and Africa. She was confiscated by the Americans in one war and by the Germans in the next. She has traveled around Cape Horn 54 times. She has hauled coal and coke, copper ore and nitrate, lumber and grain. In lesser days, she had served as a floating warehouse. In grander days, she won the last great grain race in 1939. Following this distinguished career, the Moshulu was purchased in 1968 and sent to Naantale, Finland for restoration. From there she eventually was moved to Philadelphia in the mid-1970's and became the cornerstone of Philadelphia's latest family and tourism mecca called Penn's Landing. She sustained a near tragic fire in late 1989 however there was no stopping this elegant lady. Although her sailing days seem to be behind her, the Moshulu is now an extravagant restaurant that caters to an upscale clientele. Her specialties are of a South Pacific flair and her entries have been praised by many of the area's food critic. The accompanying pictures were taken of this wonderful vessel this morning!

Nantucket Lightship - Part IV Aftermath

Unfortunately, there were NO winners in this sad commentary on the story of the Nantucket Lightship except the media that got a really good, juicy story. The divers spent 6 years of their lives and tens of thousands of dollars finding the wreck site, diving to the wreck and recovering items from the ship. They misunderstood their support and alliance with the United States Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association (LSA) and felt that they were doing a huge service to the surviving families of the Lightship crew. Under threat of legal prosecution, these wonderful divers were called thieves, scavengers and grave-robbers by the global media and diving circles alike. The prestigious name of the Boston Sea Rovers was tarnished and will have to re-address the criteria for any new expeditions that they support. Additionally, the Sea Rovers had made many plans to publicly-display the items in various museums, in order to tell the true and complete history of Nantucket Lightship 117, which have been scrapped. These items have been turned over to the Coast Guard and a totally unknown future. Poor Doug Bingham, with all his wonderful thoughts, ideas and energies, was unceremoniously removed from his LSA office and officially banished from the organization. I can only speculate to the politics within the LSA organization that would initially tout the recovery of these items and then totally wash their hands of their representative, Mr. Bingham; and the divers that risked their lives for something that was believed to be a very good thing for their organization, surviving families and the public. It was through the pursuit of the LSA organization that the federal prosecutors were brought in to pursue legal actions against the divers. With such an inconsistent and vacillating attitude towards the discovery, exploration and recovery of items from the Lightship, the management of the LSA organization should be brought into question and be held accountable for this messy affair. A great news article was recently printed that gives complete vindication to the divers involved. This article can be found at : http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/newjersey/032905DIVER.cfm . If you have followed this series of weblogs on the Nantucket Lightship, then it is imperative that you read this article. Shipwreck divers are a rare breed of deep technical divers that visit these ships for exploration. They are not salvage divers! A large amount of the most recent significant historic shipwreck explorations are performed by this group of divers. The divers for the Boston Sea Rovers had their characters and their lives negatively impacted. They are to be commended, rather than vilified for their efforts on behalf of a great and noble cause!

Nantucket Lightship - Part III Politics and Deception

Several experienced technical divers that were diving under the sanction of the prestigious Boston Sea Rovers were branded scavengers, grave-robbers and thieves for discovering, exploring and retrieving items from the wreck site of Nantucket Lightship 117 by the world media. Federal prosecutors were seeking suits, and potentially arrest, for anyone involved with desecrating the wreck. How can such a prestigious diving organization and well-known deep divers be so branded and vilified? How can these divers be sued by the federal government under threat of arrest? Unfortunately, this is where the "media" story ends and the real story begins.
In the fall of 1999, our story starts with the founding of the United States Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association (LSA) and the installment of Doug Bingham as their official historian. Unlike many in the group that were former Coast Guard members, Mr. Bingham was former Navy and his appointment was quite controversial.  Through Mr. Bingham's association as a member of the Board of Trustees at the Marine Museum at Fall River, Massachusetts, he met with a group from the Boston Sea Rovers. After their meeting there were several discussions about ships and the Nantucket Lightship. These meeting were then replaced with a stronger bond and collaboration about sharing a common belief that the world should know the true and complete story of the Lightship and its tragic encounter with RMS Olympic in 1934. The only way that this objective could be met was by finding the Lightship and diving down to the bottom of the ocean, nearly 200 feet, to where the Lightship lies.  Mr. Bingham was very active in promoting the LSA Association and was doing his best to preserve the memory and dignity of the ship and crew members of Lightship 117. From the Boston Sea Rovers perspective, this was a great relationship with the LSA that would enable people to remember the Lightship in perpetuity. Working collaboratively with Mr Bingham, the diving group was able to discover the wreck site, explore its remains, definitively ascertain the collision and sinking, and to bring up items from the ship that were to be used in various museums to promote and preserve the legacy of this historic Lightship. From Mr. Bingham's perspective, he was doing a very valuable and noble thing for the LSA, the public and most notably,  bringing closure to the surviving family members of the crew of Lightship 117 . However, despite the success of this venture, the LSA organization was not very happy with Mr. Bingham's association with the divers and were equally upset about the thought of divers visiting a wreck site of their fallen colleagues. When items were recovered by the divers to place in museums, the LSA took unprecedented actions by removing Mr. Bingham from the LSA and contacting federal prosecutors. The divers and Mr. Bingham were totally blindsided by this action; as they all had thought these activities were sanctioned, promoted and endorsed by the LSA. Initially, the LSA's official website had even touted the recovery as a wonderful thing and placed photographs of the recovered items on their front page. However, sometime soon afterward, the tide had changed and Mr. Bingham was ousted, the Boston Sea Rovers' name was globally-smeared and the divers, under duress and immediate orders from the federal government, surrendered the recovered items to the Coast Guard in Cape May, New Jersey. In the last of our 4-part series, we will explore the aftermath of this latest Lightship catastrophe..........

Nantucket Lightship - Part II The Story of the Lightship Beyond Olympic

The sinking of the Nantucket Lightship 117 by Titanic's older sister, RMS Olympic was relatively obscure over the next 70 years, relegated primarily as a footnote to any study of the White Star Liners. While browsing through the Nantucket Lifesaving Museum (Nautical Research Group has an Andrea Doria exhibit within this wonderful museum) in the late 1980's, I saw a large picture on the wall that I would never forget- a huge ocean liner with a tremendous bow running over a small lightship. Next to this picture was the caption that stated that the White Star Liner - RMS Olympic sank the Nantucket Lightship. I was astounded seeing this picture as this was the first time I had ever heard of this disaster. For the public, many would never know this tragedy had ever existed until a month ago when the media caught wind of a "newsworthy" event.  According to the news, "the federal government is suing a group of deep-sea divers to demand the return of artifacts recovered from the wreck of a US Lighthouse Service ship. The Justice Department said that a group called the Boston Sea Rovers salvaged items last year from the Nantucket Lightship even though they had been warned by the Coast Guard not to disrupt the underwater grave site." The press, the public, former Coast Guard personnel and the dive community were very quick to condemn the actions of these divers. The divers were called everything imaginable from grave-robbers to scavengers (some other words were also used that go beyond the rules of this weblog). I would of been the first to vilify these actions had I not known two of the divers that were part of this operation and the fine reputation of the Boston Sea Rovers. The Sea Rovers are the oldest and most prestigious diving organization in the USA and possibly the world. The two divers that I know, Steve Gatto and Tom Packer, are wonderful, experienced wreck divers of fine character and repute. I knew that there was more to the story than what the press was telling us. Little did I know that this story would take a huge turn in subsequent weeks that we will hear about in the next installment...

Nantucket Lightship - Part I Collision and Sinking by Olympic

RMS Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic and Britannic, led a very long and successful career as a White Star Liner. Despite the untimely demise of her sisters, Olympic plied the Atlantic for almost 25 years and 257 round trips to America. Unfortunately, on the fog-bound night of May 14th, 1934, she was destined for a very tragic collision with the Nantucket Lightship 117 .
The Nantucket Lightship was used to guide ships through the channel beyond Nantucket and was giving Olympic its bearing past the dangerous shoals. This 130-foot Lightship was permanently anchored 50 miles southeast of Nantucket, and was the main focal point for all the trans-Atlantic shipping lanes. Because of this critical location, Lightship 117 was considered the most exposed lightship on the East Coast. Additionally, the lightship was farthest from the coast and subject to the North Atlantic's heaviest seas and most unpredictable weather. Four months before the Olympic struck the 117, this lightship had been sideswiped by another liner, the SS Washington, the largest American ocean liner ever built to that point. On that fateful May night, Olympic's bells were tolling throughout the heavy fog when she literally "ran over" the Nantucket Lightship. Four of the Lightship's eleven crew were killed instantly, and three more died of exposure or injuries after their rescue by Olympic's crew. The accident came just a few weeks after the announcement that the White Star Line would merge with arch-rival Cunard. Within a year and a half, Olympic was sold and eventually scrapped in late-1935. Unfortunately, the story doesn't end here for Nantucket Lightship 117 as we will see in the next part of this story.......

New Jersey Shipwrecks - Observations from the Boardwalk!

It was a beautiful spring day yesterday in New Jersey and I decided to take a "road-trip" to the Jersey Shore. Reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen's many odes to the shore, I spent the afternoon a few miles south of Asbury Park on the shorelines of where the Atlantic Ocean interface with Shark River. A quick lunch at venerable shore restaurant/pub named Kelly's (where the monstrous Reuben sandwich reigns supreme),  a walk up the boardwalk from Belmar to the inlet provided an opportunity to see many people also enjoying the wonderful weather along the shore. There were surfers catching some big breakers in the surf, while 25 yards beyond the rolling surf, hundreds of sea gulls were bobbing in a relatively calm ocean. About twenty miles out, two freighters were crossing each other - making sure that there was plenty of passage space between each of these behemoths. Several people were walking the beach and looking for shells , while a few others were playing volleyball. Weaving through the power-walkers and runners, I had a chance to stroll out to the end of the Shark River jetty where fisherman were trying their best to catch a nice early-Spring fish dinner. Looking from the jetty, I saw the famed Asbury Park Convention Center, where about 70 years ago the liner Morro Castle burned off the coast and nearly impaled the center. There are so many wonderful, historic shipwrecks within 15 miles from the jetty. There is the stern of the Stolt Dagali, a freighter that was sheared in two by the Israeli ocean liner Shalom. A smaller freighter named the Pinta is nearby, sunk upside down with its cargo of wood logs still on board ( tons of lobsters like to hang out in the nooks of the logs). Other older wrecks from the mid-nineteenth century include the Brunette, a ship carrying everyday supplies and the Cadet. Both of these beautiful shipwrecks are in very shallow waters and when the visibility is good offer divers a wonderful opportunity to visit old wooden shipwrecks. One might even be able to find a small piece of their cargo. The New Jersey shore is a magical place and its shipwrecks are some of the best in the world to dive.

Noah's Ark - Well sort of....

For this Holy Weekend, I thought that I would submit a weblog with an appropriate biblical theme. Last month, I had an opportunity to give a presentation at Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory and met a fascinating scientist named Dr. William Ryan. Dr. Ryan is a geologist and co-author of a thought-provoking book named Noah's Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries with fellow scientist Walter Pitman. Ryan and Pitman provide evidence in their book that about 5600 BC, rising water in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea burst through the Bosporus valley and poured into the Black Sea basin, raising the water level there about 350 feet to its present level. In 2001, explorer Robert Ballard found wood and other items at around 350 feet in the Black Sea that seem to corroborate Ryan and Pitman's theory. Accordingly, this theory has been seen as giving proof to the legitimacy of the Noah's Ark story. I have always referred to Titanic as the Ultimate Shipwreck; however I am at a loss as to what I could call Noah's Ark. Maybe I should call Noah's Ark the Ultimate Shipwreck and the Titanic as the Penultimate Shipwreck? Please let me know what you think about the great flood story and Noah's Ark?