Each of our distinguished speakers gave superb presentations.
We were taken on a journey starting in Charleston, South
Carolina during the American Civil War when, for the first
time ever, a submarine was used in combat, and ending in Filey
Bay investigating a wreck to find proof that it is the
Bonhomme Richard which was sunk in 1779.
On the way we heard about:
- The finding and raising of the submarine (the Hunley) off the
coast of Charleston.
- Finding and exploring the U166, the only German U boat sunk in
the Gulf of Mexico.
- Shipwreck alley in Thunder Bay Lake Superior where frequent,
treacherous storms and lack of good navigational equipment
often spelled doom for many ships in this area.
- Exploring the Black Sea on a 41day mission led by Dr Robert
Ballard.
- The 2004 expedition to continue the exploration of the
Titanic, again with Dr. Robert Ballard. The mission was to
conduct a sophisticated "Look, don't touch" survey
of the state of Titanic to provide an updated assessment of
the wreck site.
- And more...
The ongoing work in Filey Bay is again proving difficult
due to bad weather. The vis is down to almost zero in the
wreck area. Jeremy and David are heading off home this weekend
and with only a few days left we can only hope the weather
backs off and the vis improves for them.
Links:
If you want to find out more take a look around these sites.
US National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA
Ocean explorer. Explore the ocean realm without getting your
feet wet.
Ocean
Explorer - The Titanic Expedition 2004
Exploring
the Black Sea 2003
US
National Park Service, Submerged Resources Center
About
finding and raising the Hunley, the world's first combat
submarine
The
story of the U166, the only German U boat lost in the Gulf of
Mexico
Our Bonhomme Richard
page (some info and more links)
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Lt Jeremy Weirich
Maritime Archaeological Program Officer,
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Jeremy Weirich is a NOAA Corps
officer working for NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration (OE) as
the maritime archaeological program officer. He has a BS in
marine science from the Maine Maritime Academy and an MS in
maritime archaeology from the University of Southampton, UK,
where he specialized in marine chemistry and remote sensing.
Before joining OE, he served as a hydrographer and a field
operations officer aboard the NOAA Ship Whiting, a
hydrographic survey vessel that uses multibeam and side scan
sonar technology to update NOAA's nautical charts. In his
current position, LTJG Weirich leads and coordinates all
marine archaeology and heritage activities for OE, and assists
with all mapping and GIS projects. He also works closely with
other NOAA programs to help establish shipwreck policies with
other federal and state agencies, and assists in joint
projects addressing submerged cultural resources.
Dr David Conlin.
Archaeologist, Anthropologist.
National Park Service,
Submersed Resource Centre
David Conlin received a master's degree from Oxford
University in Aegean and underwater archaeology and a PhD in
anthropology from Brown University. After years of diving and
research on the shipwrecks of the Aegean, he took a job as
chief field archaeologist for the United States Navy. While
with the Navy, he helped plan and execute the recovery of the
world's first successful combat submarine, the Confederate
submersible H.L. Hunley - lost off Charleston, South Carolina,
in 1864.
Following the Hunley project, David moved to Santa Fe to join
the National Park Service's Submerged Resources Centre, and he
continues to dive on shipwrecks around the country and around
the world. Recent projects include the search for John Paul
Jones' ship Bon Homme Richard, diving on the wreck of a B-29
Superfortress that crashed into Lake Mead during top-secret
high altitude research for the U.S. Air Force, diving on the
wreck of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbour and assisting the
government of Mozambique in the creation of national parks to
preserve historic shipwrecks and sensitive ecological areas
off the African coast.
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