Shipwrecks - Time Capsules of Human Civilization

Titanic Photographic Series - Part V Titanic Officer's Quarters, Marconi Room and Promenade

Normally we have this photographic series available on-line Thursday evening; however, this week we had a very interesting adventure. As you probably know, our corporation, Nautical Research Group is involved with underwater projects throughout the world. For the past two weeks, we were in Florida monitoring underwater sites looking for potential damage due to the fierce tropical storms that have battered the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters. Little did we know that a small tropical depression named Wilma would become a full-fledged hurricane and it was decided to stay in Florida during the time that Wilma reached the southwest shores of Florida. Although we were about 80 miles north of the hurricane strike, the winds and rains were very significant. Because of this devastation in southern Florida it took several days for us to get back to our New Jersey base. Therefore, as a way to make this up to you, I am including an extra high-quality digital photograph for your review.

These wonderful five photographs show the decay of the upper structures of Titanic's bow. The upper right picture shows Captain EJ Smith's quarters complete with his porcelain tub. The photograph in the upper right is taken from the starboard side officer's quarters and clearly visible is the electric winch for the lifeboats. The middle photograph is taken above the officer's quarters where the expansion joint is seen and the Marconi room is observed. Note the electrical wires from within this room. The lower left hand photograph shows the port side officer's quarters around the expansion joint that has widened to expose another porcelain tub. Our final photograph of Part Five is the port side first class promenade.

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.  I will be placing new photographs from various sections of  RMS Titanic every week so you might like to syndicate our site to be notified of the latest news.  Next week, we will be publishing the latest photographs that show the starboard hull damage due to natural decay and a trip to the boiler room.

Titanic Photographic Series - Part IV Titanic Mast Collapses over the Past Year

One of the most stunning observations of this year’s diving expedition to RMS Titanic is the discovery of the mast collapsing since the Ballard expedition. Nautical Research Group was the first to break the news about the significant collapse in the mast just about the crow’s nest where Frederick Fleet made the infamous statement, “Iceberg, right ahead”. This series of photographs are the first that document this observation that occurred sometime between June 2004 and July 2005. Using our photometric analysis from 2003, we ascertained that this section of the mast was in serious danger of collapse and it took less than two years for this event to occur. The metal sections of the mast are starting to peel and the integrity of the steel is crumbling. At no part of our analysis have we observed that this collapse was caused by anything other than natural decay. Further examination of the mast show that there are other portions of the steel casing within the mast that have similar natural decay. Because of the collapse just above the bell stanchion of the crow’s nest area, the remainder of the mast distal to this break has shifted and the mast top has fallen from the boat deck area, near the bridge, down towards A-deck as shown in our final photograph. From a peripheral view, the mast looks like a huge water slide with the upper portions of the mast coming off the forecastle of A-deck down to the decking of where the cargo winches, windlass and cargo hatches are located.

These high-quality digital photographs were taken this summer while diving with Russian pilot Genya Cherniev in the MIR II submersible. 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.  I will be placing new photographs from various sections of  RMS Titanic every week so you might like to syndicate our site to be notified of the latest news.  Next week, we will be publishing the latest photographs that show the officers quarters, promenade and Marconi room areas.

NEW Titanic Documentary to Air on UK History Channel

The debut of the latest diving expedition documentary to RMS Titanic will premiere on the British History Channel in the UK tonight. This film will follow the adventures of Rob Goldsmith, the winner of the History Channel's contest, on his experiences in visiting this wreck site. Nautical Research Group's president, David Bright, was proud to be a member of this expedition and give Rob a first-hand view of this stunning shipwreck. The film is being produced/directed/filmed by documentary expert Andrew Brooking and I was honored to be a part of his documentary.

The Titanic dive management plan using the MIR submersible was meticulously created and planned by me following a thorough debrief of our 2003 scientific research expedition to the shipwreck. I met with both Genya Cherniev and Anatoly Sagalevitch, in advance, for endorsement of my plan and then briefed my partner Rob Goldsmith and producer/director extraordinaire Andrew Brooking on the plan. Our entire dive to the ship would be a huge filming session utilizing six cameras. Genya would be filming the ship via the HD videocam that was attached to the robotic arm of MIR II. Rob Goldsmith, who was being featured by the British History Channel, so they had him come along with me as his "tutor" to show him the wreck, was using two cameras. I brought with me 3 cameras, each with a different purpose and plan. Additionally, I took the History Channel's camera and filmed pictures of Rob and Genya within the MIR. Andrew's documentary will be premiering in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, October 18th at 10:00pm; Wednesday October 19th at 1:00pm; and Saturday October 22nd at 9:00pm. Hopefully, there will be a showing of this documentary outside of the United Kingdom so we will let you know the latest developments.

Titanic Photographs - Part III Helm and Bridge

Nautical Research Group is pleased to announce the distribution of the third part of our eight part series of our high-quality digital photographs from our 2005 Scientific Research Expedition to RMS Titanic. The third part of our photographic series will take you on a brief tour of Titanic's bridge area and the only structure left on the bridge - the ship's telemotor. Besides the bowsprit of Titanic, this telemotor is the most recognizable view of this legendary liner. These photographs will show the collapsed area of the bridge surrounding the telemotor and an up-close view on the condition of the beautiful bronze helm stand that allegedly was damaged by salvagers. As you can see, the telemotor is in a relatively pristine state.

These high-quality digital photographs were taken this summer while diving with Genya Cherniev in the MIR II submersible. 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.  I will be placing stunning new photographs from various sections of  RMS Titanic every week so you might like to syndicate our site to be notified of the latest news.  Next week, we will be publishing the latest photographs that show the recent discovery of the bow mast collapse distal to the crow's nest.

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.

Titanic Photographs - Part II Bow and Anchor

The second part of our photographic series from the 2005 scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic has been placed on our corporate website.  These high-quality digital photographs were taken this summer while diving with Genya Cherniev in the MIR II submersible. The second part of this series will show pictures of the bow sprit, the port side anchor, auxiliary anchor and the huge links of the anchor chain.

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 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.  I will be placing stunning new photographs from various sections of  RMS Titanic every week so you might like to syndicate our site to be notified of the latest news. It is very easy to syndicate our site by going to the link on the far left column of our blog.

Living Legend - US Navy Submersible Leader Don Walsh

I have been around diving for thirty-five years now and there are many pioneers in diving that I have met. The latest living legend that I met while lecturing out on the Russian research vessel Akademik Keldysh over the Titanic wreck site is Navy Captain Don Walsh USN-Ret. Captain Walsh is the leading United States naval expert on submersibles and was the head of their undersea submersible program for many years. Although this would be considered quite an accomplishment, Don is most famous for another wonderful achievement.

As a young lieutenant, Don Walsh was a member of the elite US submersible team that started the exploration of the deep ocean floor. When the revolutionary submersible Trieste became available to the US Navy, this elite squad of naval professionals were quick to seize the opportunity. On January 23, 1960, Don and French submersible pioneer Jacques Picard journeyed to the bottom of Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean's  Marianas Trench. At 37,800 feet, the Challenger Deep is the deepest spot known in all the oceans. No one has been back since and this feat will never be broken.  For this remarkable accomplishment, Don graced the cover of every news magazine throughout the world and was awarded a presidential medal by President Eisenhower.

Exploration of the deep oceans is still on-going; however, there are only 5 submersibles in the world that can dive deeper than the 12, 600 feet where Titanic resides. With the announced news that Wood's Hole's famous submersible Alvin will be retired, that leaves only the two Russian MIRs, the French Nautile and the Japanese Shinkai as the only submersibles that can do deep ocean exploration-although none of these vessels can make it down as deep as the Trieste did that historic moment in 1960. For that reason, Captain Don Walsh is immortalized as the deepest diver of all-time! As for the Trieste, she can be seen on display at the Washington (DC) Navy Yard.

New Commercially Available Titanic DVD Announcement

Nautical Research Group is proud to announce the development of a new, commercially available DVD that will feature high-quality digital video and Dolby sound from our two 2003 and 2005 scientific research expeditions to the wreck site of RMS Titanic. This video is slated for release in April of 2006 and will feature a virtual adventure of diving down to the Titanic without ever getting wet.

Interweaving the complete story of the construction, sailing and sinking of the famed Titanic, we will be leaving port from the Canadian shores of Newfoundland and depart on the Russian oceanographic research vessel Akademik Keldysh, the most advanced deep-diving support vessel in the world. Using the sophisticated submersibles Mir and captained by the famous ocean scientist and explorer Anatoly Sagalevitch, we will descend to the bottom of the Atlantic, where we will explore the wreck site of the Titanic. Once on the ship, we will explore the intact bow section of the ship and observe many features of the ship that played roles during the collision and sinking. Particular observation will be given to the microbial decay that has produced rusticles all along the ship. Moving back toward the debris field, we will see many of the passengers' personal effects, as well as other distinctive articles from the ship. As we conclude our visit to the wreck site, we will see the Titanic's huge engines and the mangled stern section of the ship. This presentation combines the exuberant feeling of observing a historic shipwreck and the reverent feeling of visiting the final resting place of more than 1,500 people.  Please subscribe to this blog for further information on the delivery schedule, pricing and purchasing of this exciting adventure DVD.