Marblehead diver explores the Andrea Doria

Michael Lafayette is drawn to the ocean, its living and its dead.

Take the Andrea Doria. The Italian luxury liner sank off Nantucket following a collision with another passenger ship in 1956. The vessel went down slowly, her death agony captured on camera. Most aboard got off before she rolled on her side and dipped below the surface.

The death toll could have been in the hundreds except for swift action by surrounding vessels. Even so, it's believed 46 perished.

On the bottom, attacked by ocean organisms and swept by cross currents, the Andrea Doria hasn't done well. Still on her side, the superstructure has dropped to the sandy bottom, leaving a thing resembling a faceless corpse.

Not that anyone has seen it. It's too dark to see much of anything at 240 feet. "You really want to have your wits about you," Lafayette says. "There's very little light."

The Andrea Doria is a favorite wreck for divers like Lafayette, 44, who made his first visit earlier this summer. The first sign of the wreck that came into view was the rail where passengers would have gathered to board the lifeboats. Then the massive hull.

"It took my breath away," he says...[Link]

400-Year-Old Shipwreck Discovered in Stockholm Archipelago

Swedish divers were surprised to discover a well-kept shipwreck from the 17th century outside the Värmdö municipality, in the archipelago of Stockholm.

“We were actually searching for a cargo ship that had sank in the 1940s, but then we found this instead,” Markus Hårde, one of the wreck divers told Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish paper.

The shipwreck is probably a Dutch trading ship from early 17th century. Marcus Hårde discovered the wreck together with Anders Backström and Jonas Rydin in May.
The divers saw a lion figurine on the rudder and nicknamed the it “The Lion Wreck.”

The ship with three masts seems to be well kept, and has been under 141 feet (43 meters) of water for 400 years.

The divers contacted Johan Rännby, a researcher in marine ecology, at Södertörns University in Stockholm...[Link]

Treasure Hunters Search Jupiter Shipwreck Again

For the next month, divers will be searching for coins and artifacts from the Spanish galleon "San Miguel Archangel," which sank off the coast of Jupiter in about 1660.

Jupiter resident, Dominic Addario, who is part owner of Jupiter Wreck Inc., will be one of the divers...[Link]

Grand plan for a sunken schooner in Lake Erie

For as long as 175 years, a shipwrecked schooner that had once sailed the Great Lakes, bringing grain and other goods to and from a just-burgeoning Buffalo, has laid virtually unscathed at the bottom of Lake Erie just west of Dunkirk.

A group of shipwreck hunters who have been diving on the downed ship over the last several years have a novel and exciting plan for the 85-foot vessel: They want to raise it from its watery grave and put it on display in a giant water tank in a museum in the Buffalo harbor.

“We have the birth of the city of Buffalo right there, sitting in the middle of Lake Erie in pristine condition,” said Pat Clyne, a videographer who specializes in filming shipwrecks and is a member of North East Research, the group that wants to lift the schooner out of the lake.

Even more tantalizing, Clyne said that recent research has led some to believe that the ship may actually be the Caledonia, a British-made vessel captured by U. S. forces during the War of 1812 and used against the British in the Battle of Lake Erie. The Caledonia was then sold as a merchant ship...[Link]

5 ancient Roman shipwrecks found off Italy coast

Archaeologists have found five well-preserved Roman shipwrecks deep under the sea off a small Mediterranean island, with their cargo of vases, pots and other objects largely intact, official said Friday.

The ships are submerged between 100 and 150 meters (about 330 to 490 feet) off Ventotene, a tiny island that is part of an archipelago off Italy's west coast between Rome and Naples.

The ships, which date from between the 1st century B.C. and the 4th century, carried amphorae — vases used for holding wine, olive oil and other products — as well as kitchen tools and metal and glass objects that have yet to be identified, Italy's Culture Ministry said. The spot was highly trafficked, and hit by frequent storms and dangerous sea currents.

The discovery is part of a new drive by archaeological officials to scan deeper levels of the sea and prevent looting of submerged treasures.

Discoveries of shipwrecks are not unusual in the Mediterranean, but these ships are far better preserved than most, which are often found scattered in fragments, said Annalisa Zarattini, the head of the ministry's office for underwater archaeology. Because the ships sank at a deeper lever than most known wrecks, they were not exposed to destructive underwater currents, she said.

The ships also sank without capsizing, allowing researchers to observe their cargo largely as it had been loaded, Zarattini said...[Link]

Cleaning of MV Xlendi underwater signs

he Scuba Diving Unit of the Malta Red Cross - Gozo Branch continued the MV Xlendi underwater signs project, which had been ommissioned by the Ministry for Gozo in an effort to make the dive site a safer place.

Besides installing a new set of signs, this project endeavors to keep the existent underwater signs free from debris

The new signs further supplement the other signposts and are located both on the inside and the outside of the wreck.

The signs are intended to warn divers of potential hazards they might face if the wreck is penetrated...[Link]

Baltic Sea divers find wreck of Soviet submarine

After a decade-long search, a team of Baltic Sea divers has discovered the wreckage of a Soviet submarine that sank with dozens of sailors aboard during World War II, one of the divers said Tuesday.

They found the S-2 submarine near the Aland Islands between Sweden and Finland in February but only announced it Tuesday because they wanted to confirm the identity of the vessel, team member Marten Zetterstrom said.

He said all 50 crew members died when the vessel exploded in 1940, probably after hitting a mine. He declined to give the exact location.

"I think it's been 10 years since people started searching. I've been part of it for four-five years," Zetterstrom said.

Markus Lindholm, an Aland-based expert who studied pictures of the wreck, said the claim appeared to be true...[Link]

Black scuba divers win national award

A group of black scuba divers will receive a national award and a planned tour of the White House in Washington, D.C. next week for outstanding volunteer work in documenting historical shipwrecks.

Diving With a Purpose will be honored on July 17 at the 2009 Take Pride in America awards, scheduled to take place at the U.S. Department of the Interior’s main building in Washington, D.C.

DWP founder Kenneth Stewart, lead instructor Erik Denson and Dr. Jose Jones, chairman of the National Association of Black Scuba divers (NABS), will receive the award and personal congratulations from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at the annual ceremony.

DWP is the first African-American group to win the award. The group, whose members have worked with the National Park Service for the past five years, will be recognized under the public and partnership category for their work in researching and recording the history of shipwrecks found in Biscayne National Park...[Link]

Below the surface

Descending to the Lumberman, when visibility is good, is like dropping into the movie version of a shipwreck.

The stern — the back end of the three-masted schooner — is closest to the mooring buoy line’s anchor point. The rest of the ship points west, back toward shore.

The ship still has sides and a deck and one partial mast, said Bob Jaeck of Caledonia.

“It almost looks like a schooner going by,” the longtime Lake Michigan diver and shipwreck historian said.

The Lumberman is 126 feet long and 26 feet wide. It rests intact, upright on the lake bottom, sunk into the lake bed about where the water line would be if it were on the surface. The Lumberman, found in 1983, is a popular dive site four miles east of Oak Creek.

There are similar wrecks hidden throughout the area. The Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association lists 43 ships that wrecked off Racine County’s shore; dozens more sank off Milwaukee and Kenosha counties. Some wrecks — like the Lumberman, Kate Kelly and Wisconsin — are listed on state or national registers of historic places...[Link]

Diver discovers Spanish shipwreck off Singer Island

A few weeks ago a diver snorkeling not far from shore on the northern end of Singer Island, Florida, stumbled upon a huge anchor and other artifacts.

Local divers like Brian Portmann and Peter Leo quickly assembled their expertise determining the anchor, which has a wooden stock and is in excellent shape, likely came from a Spanish sailing ship from the late 1800s.

"This anchor still has wood on it, which is rare and means it's been covered up in the sand a long time," says Portmann.

"It's definitely a piece of a maritime artifact that's really going to enlighten the area," Leo added.

There's no treasure at the site, just a scattered section of century old pieces unearthed by sand shifting in the current.

"You've got something people have been swimming over for 100 years and didn't know it was there," says Portmann...[Link]

'Significant find': Divers discover Glenelg shipwreck

A shipwreck has been found off Victoria's east coast 109 years after 31 people drowned when it mysteriously sank.

The Glenelg set off from Lakes Entrance, east of Melbourne, on March 25, 1900 on a regular short run to Bairnsdale.

The iron steamer's captain Thomas English is believed to have double-checked the ships two lifeboats moments before sailing, telling bystanders it was always best to be prepared.

The lifeboats were used by the ship's only three survivors when it ran into bad weather and monstrous waves not long after leaving shore.

Survivors told a marine board inquiry they heard a crash before water began to fill the ship.

More than a century later, their evidence helped a group of wreck divers discover the Glenelg lying upright on the sea bed...[Link]

Shipwreck explorer to talk about steamers, schooners, warships and sonar

Shipwreck explorer Jim Kennard has discovered more than 200 shipwrecks - many in the waters along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, one of America's Byways and a National Recreation Trail.

Kennard will be speaking at 10 a.m. June 13 at the "Red Barn" at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site. He will relate his Great Lakes Seaway Trail experiences of steamers, schooners and warships and using sidescan sonar to find some of Lake Ontario's historic wrecks...[Syracuse.com]

First-Ever Viking Shipwreck Discovered in Sweden?

A team of divers from the Swedish coast guard have discovered what could be the first-ever Viking shipwreck found in the country. The wreck is 20 metres long and is lying at the bottom of the lake.
Sweden’s English language newspaper, The Local, said some Viking ships had been discovered on land in the country, but none under water — until now. The possible Viking shipwreck is in Lake Vänern, the country’s largest lake and the third largest in Europe, covering 5,648 square kilometres.

Roland Peterson of the Vänern Museum told the newspaper: "Never before has a Viking shipwreck been found in Swedish waters"

A rib from the ship was found sticking out of the bottom of the lake, while the rest of the vessel was filled with sediment a metre thick. Six other wrecked ships were discovered within a 100-metre radius of the initial find, with three lying almost on top of each other. “It's too early to say whether these date from the same era," the museum spokesman said...[DigitalJournal]

Shipwreck artefacts go on display

Artifacts from a 17th Century shipwreck found off the Dorset coast have gone on display.

Students and experts from Bournemouth University have worked for two years on the wreck site, in an area off Poole Harbour known as the Swash Channel.

The ship, which lies about 23ft (7m) under the sea, is thought to date from the 1620s. Its country of origin is unknown.

The university is holding a Maritime Archaeological Day on Saturday.

Paola Palma and Dave Parham, the university's maritime archaeology experts, are speaking about their experiences of working on the wreck site.

Artefacts raised from the seabed and on display include two leather shoes, musket balls, kitchen utensils and an apothecary jar...[BBC]

Divers' museum lets public plunge into sea's past

Deep in the recesses of a cluster of one-time Army buildings in Wall Township, a 900-pound piece of history sits crusted and rusted in a trough of water, waiting to take its place among other relics once lost in maritime disasters.

Like many artifacts recovered from shipwrecks by deep sea divers, the 210-year-old cannon was a closely guarded secret. Plucked in 1996 from a wreck off the coast of New Jersey, it sat for most of the time since then in a vat of water in the backyard of a Manasquan home.

But a group of New Jersey divers, eager to share their finds with the public, have opened a portal to history by showcasing objects like the 5-foot-long iron cannon and other items that date back to a time when ships were the primary mode of transportation.

"A lot of these items were stored in people's garages, houses and basements," said Dan Lieb, president of the New Jersey Historical Divers Association. "We had collected so much information over the years we felt it was incumbent on us to open it to the public."

The divers don't just retrieve items. They research each piece so they can tell its story: who owned it, why it was aboard the ship, where it was going, what role it played in the evolution of society...[NJ.com]

100-year-old wreck found off Fremantle

A SHIPWRECK discovered off Rottnest Island is believed to be a steam dredge which built Fremantle harbour more than 100 years ago.
Former Member for Fremantle the Hon. Jim McGinty, WA Museum principal author Graeme Henderson and Geoff Kimpton found the 48-metre long iron wreck lying on reef in 12 metres of water, 1km west of Straggler’s Rocks during a recreational dive.

Although the vessel was in many pieces and camouflaged by marine growth, Mr Henderson said but the location, depth, size and condition of the wreck point towards it being the Fremantle.

The dredge was built in 1894 and played an important role in building the port harbour during the 1890s when shipping access to the Swan River river was blocked by a rocky bar across the entrance.

Graeme Henderson said other vessels were scuttled off Rottnest Island but records showed the Fremantle was the only one scuttled on reef west of Straggler’s Rocks...[PerthNow.com]

Divers hope to prove Lake Ontario shipwreck is flagship of War of 1812

A Queen’s University Psychiatry professor who studies how disease affects quality of life will be doing research of a very different sort this summer, in the murky depths of Lake Ontario.

Along with other volunteer divers, Dianne Groll hopes to resolve once and for all whether the remains of a 200-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Kingston is a flagship from the War of 1812. One of the project’s organizers, Dr. Groll will join nautical historians from throughout Ontario in surveying remains of what may be the Wolfe, the infamous warship of Captain Yeo.

The preparation work will begin the first weekend in May, when marine archaeologists from Parks Canada's Underwater Archaeology Service will run a course for Preserve our Wrecks Kingston to certify divers that could then go on to help in the survey.

“It’s delicate work,” says Dr.Groll, a member of Preserve our Wrecks Kingston “but it will be very exciting to finally identify this ship -- especially if it turns out to be the flagship of the War of 1812, as we hope.”

Divers who complete the course in May will receive their Nautical Archaeology Society Level One certification. In early June, they’ll help other certified divers take measurements, drawings and photographs of the shipwreck...[ExchangeMagazine.com]

Ship headed to new Florida home, will be a reef

After several delays, the Vandenberg ship has finally left for Key West, one of the last steps in a 13-year process to create the newest artificial reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Officials say the 1,100-mile voyage should take about eight days. The vessel departed on Sunday.

Project organizers expect to sink the ship six miles south of the island sometime between May 20 and June 1.

Almost three quarters of the project's $8.6 million price tag was used to rid the vessel of contaminants and prepare it for its new life as a marine habitat and attraction for divers...[MiamiHerald.com]

Ship reef's fifth birthday

A diving attraction off the Devon and Cornwall coast is celebrating its fifth birthday. The decommissioned Royal Navy frigate HMS Scylla was sunk to make an artificial reef...[BBC]

Great Lakes Underwater 2009!

[OswegoMaritime.org]

Sunken Greek treasures at risk from scuba looters

A corroded mechanism recovered by sponge divers from a sunken wreck near the Greek island of Antikythera in 1902 changed the study of the ancient world forever.

The Antikythera Mechanism, a system of bronze gears from the 2nd century BC, was used to calculate the date of the Olympic Games based on the summer solstice. Its mechanical complexity was unequalled for 1,000 years, until the cathedral clocks of the Middle Ages.

Archaeologists believe hundreds more wrecks beneath the eastern Mediterranean may contain treasures, but a new law opening Greece's coastline to scuba diving has experts worried that priceless artifacts could disappear into the hands of treasure hunters.

"The future of archaeology in this part of the world is in the sea," said marine archaeologist Harry Tzalas. "This law is very dangerous, it opens the way to the looting of antiquities from the seabed which we don't even know exist."

Greece's 1932 antiquities law says all artifacts on land and in the sea belong to the state, but it does not regulate scuba diving, developed in the 1940s by Frenchman Jacques Cousteau.

A new law implemented in 2007 and designed to promote tourism opens most of Greece's 15,000-km (9,400-mile) coastline to scuba divers, except for about 100 known archaeological sites.

Greece's archaeologists' union and two ecological societies have appealed for the law to be rescinded. Meanwhile, some tour companies are luring tourists with the promise of ancient artifacts. "Scuba diving in Greece is permitted everywhere ... Ideal for today's treasure hunter," says one website (www.scuba-greece.com).

Katerina Dellaporta, director of antiquities at the Culture Ministry, says metal detectors and bathyspheres allow treasure hunters to find artifacts with ease in the Adriatic and Aegean.

"It's good to have tourism but we must protect antiquities," she said. "Not every diver is an illegal trafficker ... but we need to ensure these treasures remain for future generations."...[Reuters]

Urla to host underwater Archeopark

The world’s second underwater "Archeopark" will be created in İzmir’s Karaburun district by the 360 Degree Historical Research Foundation, Ankara University and İzmir Underwater Foundation.

A ship prepared in Urla within the Mordoğan Yapay Resif Projesi will be sunk in Mordoğan at the end of the month. This will create a platform for the study of underwater archaeology, and contribute to the development of diving tourism.

"The sinking in Mordoğan will be the second example in the world after that in Kaş," archaeologist Osman Erkurt said. "We think the underwater archeopark to be constructed here will be very important for scientific research. This project is being conducted with the contribution of Ankara University and the Urla and Mordoğan municipalities."

"As widely known, amateur divers are not allowed to conduct research on ancient sunken ships. This will facilitate these divers to widen their field of specialization," said Professor Hayat Erkanal, chairman of Limantepe Excavations...[HurriyetDailyNews.com]

Sink it: Reef group wants barge submerged

Having a boat sink is usually a bad thing, but the Emerald Coast Reef Association is working hard to see that a massive 345-foot barge is sunk in the state waters off Okaloosa County.

The Nashville, Tenn., based Ingram Barge Co. has agreed to donate its recently retired 345-foot barge called the Harvey to the Emerald Coast Reef Association. Early plans call for the barge to be inspected, cleaned and permitted before being sunk to serve as an artificial reef for anglers and divers.

"This is a big project and we're going to need help," said Candy Hansard, the association's director of reef deployment. "This is a big project, but boy, when we pull this off it's going to be absolutely fabulous to have a brand new reef in Okaloosa County. They bring a lot of economic prosperity to our community and it's good for our fisheries."

The project must get a number of approvals, including from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Okaloosa County commissioners.

"Well, hopefully we can make it work," said Cindy Halsey, Okaloosa County's environmental services manager. "It should be a very viable project to improve our fisheries."...[NWFDailyNews]

Coral is found thriving on the sunken USS Arizona

The USS Arizona is in "far better shape than can be imagined based on scientific evidence," says Brett Seymour, of the National Park Service.

Navy divers are helping the Park Service map the hull of the sunken battleship using 3-D, high-definition imaging.

The Park Service is finding soft and hard coral on the battleship -- where no hard coral was growing in the 1980s.

Also under way is a film of the underwater world of the Arizona that will be shown in the new visitors center.

Officials say the new technology helps them better understand the structural integrity of the 93-year-old vessel and whether it is any danger to the environment.

The camera system also will be used to videotape a Japanese midget submarine sunk off Pearl Harbor in the 1941 attack...[StarBulletin]

Second warship wreck to be sunk off Florida

A second decommissioned US Navy warship to be sunk as an artificial reef for diving tourists off Florida. The 160m-long former Second World War missile tracking ship, USS Hoyt S Vandenberg will become the second largest artificial reef in the world when it is sunk six miles off Key West in 'early 2009'.

The USS Vandeburg will join the USS Spiegel Grove and USS Oriskany as leading underwater attractions in Florida waters. The largest of the three, USS Oriskany, was purposely sunk in May 2006, as part of a one million US Dollar project by the Pensacola Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB)...[DiveMagazine]

The Underwater Archaeologist

Naval history buffs would find much to interest them in Guam, but unless they are divers, they rarely make the trip. Getting there requires a 6,000-mile flight from San Francisco, and most of the attractions are resting on the bottom of Apra Harbor.

But if, like Wayne Abrahamson, you once served on a Navy supply ship berthed at Apra, then you too might have had an underwater epiphany like the one he had there in the early 1980s, when he entered the harbor a mere diver and emerged a future maritime archeologist.

Abrahamson grew up in tiny Elroy, Wis., which is about as far from the ocean as an American can get. "I joined the Navy straight out of high school in 1978, pretty much to get out of Wisconsin and see the world," he says.

That included the parts of the world that are underwater. While serving in the Pacific, Abrahamson qualified as master diver and visited many wreck sites. But it was in Apra Harbor that he came across the wreck that really fired his imagination. Actually it was two wrecks, the Cormoran II and the Tokai Maru, which share the same watery grave...[Forbes.com]

New shipwreck inventory gives sinking feeling

The Government tonight unveiled an inventory of thousands of shipwrecked vessels off the east coast.

It is estimated there are around 15,000 wrecks in Irish waters, and the study documents more than 3000 off counties Louth, Meath, Dublin and Wicklow.

The Shipwreck Inventory of Ireland is published by the National Monuments Service of the Department of the Environment.

The inventory is aimed at archaeologists, maritime historians, divers, anglers, developers, planners and anyone with an interest in maritime affairs.

Minister for the Environment John Gormley said the study also points to the human dimension of the various maritime tragedies in seafaring history.

“Most of us will have heard of well documented sinkings such as the RMS Leinster which was torpedoed near the Kish Light in 1918 with the loss of 501 lives,” Mr Gormley said.

“But many other wrecks scattered around our coast carry with them in turn sad tales of personal loss and tragedy which we must not lose sight of as we study these pages.”...[IrishTimes]

Maryville diver helps bring closure to shipwreck families in Michigan

On November 18, 1958, the Carl D. Bradley, a Great Lakes freighter, was heading home after her last run of the season.

"It was snowing. It was incredibly cold," explains diver Alan Williams of Maryville.

The Carl D. Bradley was caught in the middle of a fierce storm. Mother nature was too strong. The ship broke in two and sank.

Incredibly, two people survived. Of the 33 that perished, the majority were from the tiny town of Rogers City, Michigan.

"We're talking a town less than 10,000 people. Then, all of a sudden, 33 people are gone--everyone knew everyone. It was a major disaster for this town."

Today, the Carl D. Bradley is a watery grave on the bottom of Lake Michigan. After all this time, the pain is still very real.

"This is called a re-breather and this is what we used during the dives, because of the extreme depth," says Williams, demonstrating equipment at Rhea's Dive Shop in Maryville.

In 2005, with the 50th anniversary approaching, Williams, an expert diver and instructor, was called in to help bring closure. The mission: dive to the depths of Lake Michigan and retrieve Bradley's bell, the soul of the ship...[WBIR.com]

Wreck of renowned British warship found in Channel

Florida deep-sea explorers who found $500 million in sunken treasure two years ago say they have discovered another prized shipwreck: A legendary British man-of-war that sank in the English Channel 264 years ago.

Odyssey Marine Exploration hasn't found any gold this time, but it's looking for an even bigger jackpot. The company's research indicates the HMS Victory was carrying 4 tons of gold coins that could be worth considerably more than the treasure that Odyssey raised from a sunken Spanish galleon in 2007, co-founder Greg Stemm said ahead of a news conference set for Monday in London.

So far, Odyssey has recovered two brass cannons from the wreck of the Victory and continues to examine and map the debris field, which lies about 330 feet beneath the surface, Stemm said. The company said it is negotiating with the British government over collaborating on the project.

"This is a big one, just because of the history," Stemm said. "Very rarely do you solve an age-old mystery like this."...[WashingtonPost]

Cadillac producer releases Michigan Dive Travel video

Knapp’s 30 minute "Shipwrecks of the Upper Great Lakes of Michigan" Dive Travel video features an underwater tour of the Great Lakes’ shipwrecks and "topside tour," showcasing the area’s landscapes and attractions.

Soar in a bi-plane over northern Michigan’s landscape and see the Mackinaw Bridge, Sault Ste. Marie and the world-famous Soo Locks. Tour some of the area’s historic light houses, Tahquamenon Falls, Mackinac Island then visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. Take a dive in Munising at the Alger Underwater Diving Preserve and enjoy a sunset cruise along the famous Pictured Rocks National Shoreline. And take a scuba diving tour with these shipwrecks:

• Two in Lake Michigan: the Eber Ward, sunk in 1909; and the Sandusky, sunk in 1856 during the Civil War.

• Two in Lake Huron: the Cedarville, which sank in 1965, is the third largest shipwreck in the Great Lakes and Knapp’s "spookiest" dive because 10 people died on board when the ship went down and since the shipwreck, 10 more people have died diving the wreck for various reasons; and the William Barnnam.

• Four in Lake Superior, just off Munising: the Steven M. Selvick, a 71-foot city class tugboat; the Herman H. Hettler, a 200 foot three-masted steam barge; the Smith Moore, a 226-foot woodenhulled steamer; and the Bermuda, a 145-foot schooner.

WHERE TO BUY: Visit www.divetraveldvds.com or Diver’s Central, 6620 E M-115, Cadillac

View: Watch the video for free at the Cadillac Wexford Public Library...[CadillacNews.com]

Explore lost villages and ships beneath the ice

Diehard scuba divers will appreciate this first-ever organized trip. Arctic Kingdom Marine expeditions is offering an ice diving excursion in the St. Lawrence Seaway, near the 1000 islands, where throughout history the waters of the seaway have capsized schooners, barges, paddle-wheelers and freight carriers. even entire lost villages lay below the surface.

These freshwater wrecks have never been dived in wintertime, when visibility is at its best, says graham dickson, master instructor and founder of Arctic Kingdom expeditions.

"We've been planning this ice dive adventure in the St. Lawrence for many years and are very excited to see it become a reality," he said. Divers will arrive at the sites via airboat, which can cut through water or hover above the ice, allowing them to submerge through the ice for a historic exploration of the wrecks...[CalgaryHerald]

Divers cut away at net that has been killing marine life

In the wee hours one morning in 2006, the trawler Infidel sank off the southern end of Santa Catalina Island, taking several tons of squid and a 9,000-pound fishing net down with it.

The Infidel came to rest on its keel, about 150 feet under the sea. But in the turbid currents, the fine-mesh hemp and polypropylene net -- 40 feet high, several hundred feet long and made to last thousands of years -- wrapped itself around the wreck and became a deadly snare for marine life.

It has been entangling and killing sea lions, dolphins, sharks and fish ever since, littering the sandy bottom with skulls and bones picked clean by crabs.

On Sunday morning, a team of volunteer scuba divers armed with filet knives and shears began cutting away the danger. Guided only by flashlights, they sliced off swaths of the netting, which they then attached to inflatable air bags that rose to the surface. From there, the netting was hauled aboard the 75-foot trawler Captain Jack...[LATimes]

Team dives on 1890 shipwreck

A team of experts on Sunday began a second round of work to salvage articles from the Ertugrul Firkateyni, a Turkish military ship that sank in a severe storm off the coast of Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, in 1890.

After studying the seafloor in 2007, the team, consisting of 12 people including a Turkish archaeologist, a Spanish oceanic architecture expert and local divers, has been salvaging the wreckage since last year under a three-year plan.

In its first attempt 12 months ago, the team retrieved 1,171 items, including buttons probably from military uniforms and a telescope lens. The members hope to find 2,000 more items this round, which will run through Feb 3...[TheJapanTimes]

Peek In On Local Treasure Divers

A search for sunken treasure on the ocean floor plays out like a cold case mystery on "Treasure Quest," a new Discovery Channel series that follows the undersea salvage work of Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration.

The 11-part series, debuting at 10 p.m. Thursday, takes viewers along on the hunt for the Merchant Royal, a trading ship loaded with gold, silver and jewels that went down in the English Channel in 1641.

A mix of adventure, science and history, "Treasure Quest" details the work of the world's only publicly traded company dedicated to deep-ocean shipwreck exploration.

"It's a chance to show people what we do and what's involved in locating, identifying and then recovering artifacts," says Odyssey co-founder and CEO Greg Stemm.

"We're doing more than just recovering lost treasure," he adds. "Our goal is to map the entire ocean bottom."..[TampaBayOnline]

US film-maker to capture ‘Veleda’ on celluloid

Noted American film-maker Honey Soy will make a film on the French ship ‘Veleda’ that sunk 133 years ago near Hukitola island off Kendrapara. Scuba diver Sabir Bux explored the ship on Wednesday.

‘‘The American film-maker contacted me after I explored the shipwreck. She is interested to make a one-hour film on Veleda. The film will have scenes of shipwreck. Actors will also play the role of captain of the ship, crew members and persons who drowned in 1875,’’ said Bux today.

Another documentary film-maker and environmentalist Gunjan Sharma, producer of environmental programme ‘Earth Matters’ is also interested to make a docu-film on the shipwreck, said Bux.

‘‘I collected some books, journals and other papers about Veleda which is older than Titanic. A Hollywood film on RMS Titanic also titled Titanic made in 1997 was a big hit. Taking a cue from Titanic, the film, Soy will make the film on Veleda, said Bux.

Soy will visit the shipwreck site soon after obtaining proper permission from the authorities concerned...[ExpressBuzz]

Divers face trial over shipwreck

Peter Devlin, from Falmouth, Malcolm Cubin, from Truro, and Steve Russ, from Helston, are accused of taking gold and diamonds from the wreck in June 2002.

They say they were diving for tin ingots from a nearby wreck, for which they had a contract. The men, who all deny a charge of theft, are due to appear for trial at the Court of Santiago on 24 March. The men are each charged with one count of theft. They also each face a further charge of destruction of the patrimonial heritage of Spain, which they also deny.

The trio said they were working as divers on a salvage contract awarded by the Spanish government when they were arrested. If they are found guilty, the men each face up to six years in jail...[BBC]

Mermaid wreck found in reef waters

A wreck found on the Great Barrier Reef off Cairns in far north Queensland is almost certainly that of the historic vessel HM Colonial Schooner Mermaid, wrecked on June 13, 1829.

Archaeologists from the Australian National Maritime Museum were scanning Flora Reef, 13km east of the Frankland Islands off Cairns, when they found an anchor and other metal fittings.

They believe the discovery marks the final resting place of HMSC Mermaid, a government vessel that ran aground and broke up on a voyage from Sydney to northern Australia...[TheWest]

Sunken Lake George wreck has historic value for divers

True, it’s the wrong time of year to talk about scuba-diving Lake George. But a sunken boat in one of New York’s clearest lakes has recently National Register of Historic Places.

The Forward, one of the Adirondack’s first gasoline-powered boats, lies in 40 feet of water near an island on the southern end of Lake George, according to reports in various newspapers.

The 45-foot-long boat was built in 1906 and featured two 30-horsepower engines. It was intentionally sunk in 1930 and discovered by amateur scuba divers in the 1970s, according to reports. The register is controlled by the U.S. Department of the Interior...[TimesUnion.com]

Jean-Michel Cousteau's "Shipwreck"

HMAS Brisbane's underwater allure

The Sunshine Coast dive industry has almost doubled in size in a matter of years, as news of the HMAS Brisbane scuttling off Mooloolaba has spread worldwide. In contrast to the disaster of last summer when bad weather plagued all Coast tourism operators, this year has seen the dive industry working 12-hour days, seven days a week for three weeks just to cope with demand.

Scuba World proprietor Ian McKinnon said the dive industry was actually grateful for the two-day reprieve due to poor weather. The dive business was up 27% on the same time last year - a year marred by bad weather but still about 8% up on the previous year. “We usually have busy weekends and quieter week days but we’ve been putting in 12 hours days from 6am to 6pm,” he said.

“We need the break but you’ve got to make hay while the sun shines,” he said. “There’s no doubt, news of the sinking of The Brisbane and the sort of dive experience offered has spread across the world,” he said...[TheDaily]

DEMA Congratulates the City of Key West and the State of Florida on Acquisition of USS Vandenberg

The final fate of the USS Hoyt S. Vandenberg was determined this week when the 524-foot former navy vessel was bought by The First State Bank of the Florida Keys for $1.35 million at a federal auction in Virginia. The sale has cleared the way for the final preparatory work to be completed to bring the former World War II-era missile tracking ship to the Florida Keys where it will be sunk 6 miles off the coast of Key West in early 2009. This will make the USS Vandenberg the second largest artificial reef in the world.

“DEMA is delighted to learn of the purchase of the Vandenberg and congratulates the city of Key West and the First State Bank of the Florida Keys for their perseverance in making the 12-year artificial reef project a reality,” stated Tom Ingram, Executive Director of the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association. “We could not be more excited about the positive benefits the sinking of the USS Vandenberg will provide to the local Florida economy including the local dive retailers, charter operators and others in the scuba diving industry, as well as nearby restaurants, hotels and others. The Florida Ships 2 Reefs legislation enacted in 2008 with the assistance of DEMA and PADI was designed specifically to accomplish this kind of development for local economies. According to a recent study by NOAA, the Vandenberg Artificial Reef is estimated to bring in an additional $6.2 million in annual revenues and a half-million dollars in annual sales taxes,” Ingram concluded.

The USS Vandenberg will join the USS Oriskany and the USS Spiegel Grove to cement Florida’s position as a leader in the number of vessels functioning as artificial reefs in the United States. Thousands of visitors choose Florida to scuba dive on the artificial reef trail, providing an economic boost to the communities of the more than 300 Florida-based retail dive centers and local diving operators. “According to one study, the expenditures of divers visiting artificial reefs in Florida were more than $220 per person per day,” added Ingram...[NewsWireToday.com]

Divers trawl for relics where attack launched by U-Boat

AS DAWN broke more than 90 years ago over the North Sea a U-boat captain gleefully ordered the destruction of the Scarborough fishing fleet.

Long after his daring attack in 1916 which sent a dozen trawlers to the bottom of the North Sea, Karl Von Georg recalled: "What a massacre of ships that was!

"We steered back and forth firing at full speed with the bow gun. One after another the ships hit at the water line, listed and plunged, until all had vanished from the surface of the sea, save the one on which the survivors were crowded."

It could have been a lot worse – and Von Georg, of U57, has gone down in history as a humanitarian who saved more than 120 lives, making sure they were all transferred to a boat to carry them home.

Now divers from Scarborough Sub Aqua Club have discovered the resting places of at least six of the trawlers, recovering three bells, and this year they will be trying to find yet more.

The trawlers lie more than 20 miles off the East Coast in water more than 230ft deep and they soon realised that diving to them safely would mean getting a new boat and using a different type of breathing gas to avoid narcosis.

Narcosis, or rapture of the deep, describes the alternation in consciousness – akin to being drunk – that divers can feel at depth...[YorkshirePost.com]

Salvage activity to be filmed in Gulf of Mexico

A group of modern-day explorers is preparing to search the Gulf of Mexico for underwater wreck sites of historical value - they also hope to have a documentary about their 2008 adventures ready by the end of the year.
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Last year, Tim Wicburg, Brian Ulman, Tom O'Brien and Jon "Hammerhead" Hazelbaker TBT&J (which stands for Tim, Brian, Tom and Jon) launched an expedition to find a pile of gold bullion. They ended up solving a 66-year-old mystery and created Underwater Historical Explorations to continue their work.

TBT&J's journey actually began Nov. 16, 1942, when a B-26 Marauder flying a training mission out of Fort Myers Army Airbase (now known as Page Field) crashed 30 miles south of the Sanibel Lighthouse. Search teams recovered the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot; the other four crew members were never found. Forty-eight years later, fishing guide Wicburg discovered the aircraft's wreckage in 70 feet of water and was convinced it was a legendary treasure plane.

According to the stories, on Jan. 1, 1959, as Fidel Castro was taking over Cuba, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista loaded billions of dollars in gold onto four B-26s, which took off for Tampa. Only three got there, and Wicburg figured his wreck was the fourth Batista plane...[News-Press.com]

Scientists to begin search for historic Qld shipwreck

A scientific expedition from the Australian Maritime Museum (AMM) will leave Cairns tomorrow attempting to solve one of Queensland's greatest maritime mysteries.

In 1829, a ship called 'The Mermaid' sank after striking an uncharted reef while carrying supplies from Sydney to the Northern Territory. The wreck is historically significant as the ship was used by maritime explorer Phillip Parker King to map Australia's coast.

Project leader Kieran Hosty believes the treacherous reef that claimed the ship is located off the far north coast. "We believe that reef lies off the Frankland Islands, south of Cairns," he said. Over the next two weeks, 28 scientists will survey the area with underwater metal detectors.

"They're highly sensitive, they can find small amounts of iron," Mr Hosty said. Mr Hosty believes the wreck will be found within two weeks...[ABC]

Historic shipwreck in Lake George added to National Register

It took two decades to get the underwater wreck of one of the first gas-powered excursion boats on Lake George listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Joseph Zarzynski of Wilton said the wreck of the Forward, the 45-foot-long boat built in 1906 and propelled by two 30-horsepower engines, was discovered back in the 1970s by amateur scuba divers.

Bateaux Below Inc., a group of six underwater archaeologists and enthusiasts, started looking for the wreck and located it again in the 1980s near Diamond Island about four miles north of Lake George village.

Since 1993, the Forward has been a site in a state-administered underwater diving park developed by Bateaux Below Inc. which allows scuba divers to study the wreck in 40 feet of water...[DailyGazette.com]

Scuba diver plans to dive into Bay of Bengal

The internationally acclaimed scuba diver of Orissa, Sabir Bux, who had recorded a five-minute music album filmed by him under water in Mahanadi in Orissa to wish luck to the Indian cricket team for World Cup-2007, besides filming underwater video album celebrating India’s Independence Day in Saudi Arabia aired in the India Festival-2005, is going to explore the hidden facts of the 133-years-old sunken French ship, which was sunk in the Bay of Bengal near Hukitola, by diving into the sea.

To explore and study the mysterious details of the sunken ship, Sabir Bux is scheduled to visit Kendrapara on December 30. He holds a rescue diver card issued by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) of the UK, besides the professional license, certificate for open water, advance open water, underwater photography and videography, search and recovery and Medic First Aid.

The then collector of Cuttack, John Beames, who served as collector and district magistrate in Balesore from 1869 to 1873 and in Cuttack from 1875 to 1878, in his autobiography, ‘Memories of a Bengal Civilian’ has described about the sunken ship, which is of about 250-feet-long whereas its width is about 50 feet.

As per the description made by John Beames in his autobiography, the French cargo ship, ‘Veleda’ sunk in a cyclone, which occurred in the Bay of Bengal in the year 1875 near Hukitola about 35 km from Kendrapara coast. The ship, which was sunk, was carrying foodgrains, sugar, liquor, wine and other goods from Paris to India. Some crew members of the ship were also drowned due to the storm and their bodies were buried in a cemetery behind the lighthouse...[Merinews.com]

Divers discover the wreck of the long-lost bark Trajan, sunk outside Newport Harbor in 1867

To the untrained eye, the scene that greeted John Stanford and Mark Munro 30 feet beneath Newport Harbor Saturday, Dec. 6, wouldn’t have looked like much: A massive pile of concretion and timbers covered in algae, seaweed, barnacles and anemones that rose up eight feet off the bottom and faded off into the murky distance. But for the two hardcore wreck divers and maritime historians, the modest scene was paydirt: They’d found the long-lost Trajan, a 125-foot bark loaded with lime that sank August 17, 1867.

The Trajan, one of thousands of ships that have gone down in Rhode Island waters since the days of the colonists, had been all but forgotten in the 141 years since she was lost. The men’s discovery that chilly December morning was the culmination of years of research, hard work and more than a bit of luck.

“As soon as we hit the bottom I knew we’d found it,” said Mr. Munro, an amateur shipwreck hunter who works as a technician at a nuclear power plant in Connecticut. “Ultimately, it’s a mystery until you find it and when you close the page on that mystery, it’s just a good feeling.”

“It was a thrill, to see it all the way through from nothing to actually seeing her on the bottom,” added Mr. Stanford, a Jamestown resident who’d heard stories of the Trajan for years and had always hoped to find her...[EastBayRI.com]

WWII shipwreck found off NT coastline

One of the first ships destroyed in Australian waters during World War II has been found off the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory.

Four people died when the steamship USS Florence D, packed with explosives, was sunk by Japanese bombers on their way to begin the first attack on Darwin in February 1942.

Just hours before, the ship had rescued the crew of a flying boat, shot down by Japanese Zero fighters.

The surviving crew members then made their way in life rafts to nearby Bathurst Island where they were marooned for four days.

Sixty-six years later and after months of research, divers say they have found the freighter in murky waters, 85 nautical miles north-west of Darwin...[ABC]

Divers find 1903 shipwreck near Block Island

A group of divers says it has found the wreckage of a schooner that collided with a steamship and sank in 1903 near Block Island, R.I.

Mark Munro of Griswold, Conn., said his Sound Underwater Survey group and the Baccala Wreck Divers began looking for the remains of the Jennie R. Dubois in 2002, searching a few times a year in an area that eventually stretched to 17 square miles.

The group positively identified the shipwreck in September 2007, but kept it a secret until Monday so more research could be done and others interested in the ship couldn't claim the find, Munro said.

It was discovered about six miles southeast of Block Island in federal waters, he said.

"We were pretty elated," Munro said Tuesday. "It was one of those projects that you were starting to wonder if you were really going to solve the mystery of what happened."

The 2,227-ton, five-masted schooner, which was launched only 19 months before the collision, was named after the wife of a Rhode Island Supreme Court justice who owned stock in the company that built the ship, Holmes Shipbuilding Co. of Mystic. ..[NewsTimes.com]

St. George's shipwreck a protected site

Archaeologists have revealed a vessel of international historic significance is sitting in St. George's Harbour, the only one of its kind in the world.

The marine archaeology team, from East Carolina University in the US, say the suspected remains of HMS Medway could now prove "an important tourist draw card" and must be protected at all costs.

Plans for a new marina have been modified to keep the wreck in situ and the vessel is now a restricted wreck site out-of-bounds to scuba divers.

Derrick Burgess, Minister of Works and Engineering, told the House of Assembly the findings of the archaeological team had resulted in "one of those rare win-win stories".

"Upon discovering the wreck's identity and significance, the Government, archaeologists and the developers immediately began to work together to produce a plan that would protect the site," said Mr. Burgess...[The Royal Gazette]

Mysterious Shipwreck Discovered in Lake Ontario

Two explorers conducting underwater surveys of Lake Ontario have uncovered an aquatic mystery — a rare 19th-century schooner sitting upright 500 feet under the waves.

Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville located the 55-foot long dagger-board ship unexpectedly this fall using deep scan sonar equipment off the lake's southern shore, west of Rochester.

The ship is the only dagger-board known to have been found in the Great Lakes. Kennard said vessels of this type were used for a short time in the early 1800s. The dagger-board was a wood panel that could be extended through the keel to improve the ship's stability. The dagger-boards could be raised when the schooner entered a shallow harbor, allowing the boat to load and unload cargo in locations that would not otherwise be accessible to larger ships.

The shipwreck was found upright and in remarkable condition considering it had plunged more than 500 feet to its resting place on the bottom, the men said.

The schooner's origin is a mystery so far...[Foxnews.com]

National Geographic, 9am: Shipwreck Graveyard

The Black Sea hides a multitude of ancient ships, all preserved beneath its enigmatic surface. Famed marine biologist Bob Ballard dives in.

NOAA-Supported Mission Discovers Historic Shipwreck Off Turks and Caicos Islands

Maritime archaeologists today announced they have recently identified the wreck of the historic slave ship Trouvadore off the coast of East Caicos in the Turks and Caicos Islands. NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research significantly funded several years of archaeological research leading to the discovery by Don Keith and Toni Carrell, from Ships of Discovery, an underwater archaeology research institute.

The Spanish vessel Trouvadore was participating in the slave trade, outlawed in the British Indies, including the Turks and Caicos Islands. In 1841, after the vessel was grounded on a reef, Caicos authorities arrested the crew, and most of the 192 African survivors settled on Grand Turk Island.

Keith and Carrell believe the African survivors of the Trouvadore are the ancestors of a large portion of current residents in the Turks and Caicos Islands. For example, traditions on the Islands have a recognizable African origin. The Turks and Caicos National Museum is recording these traditions through oral histories and is educating the community about their ancestral history...[NOAA]

Shipwreck! Nat Geo Expedition Week continues

The Quedah Merchant was a late 16th century Moorish ship that was hijacked in the Red Sea by the pirate/privateer William Kidd. Kidd renamed her and took her to the Caribbean where she was scuttled off the coast of Catalina Island in what is now the Dominican Republic. More than that, the Quedah Merchant was why the successful privateer Kidd had his career ruined and his life taken away in a pretty hideous manner.

But, really--you should see for yourself. Premiering tonight, November 18, 2008, at 8 pm ET/PT. Check local listings

Captain Kidd's treasure: Wood discovered, "living museum" in the works

The U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded Indiana University $200,000 to turn the Captain Kidd shipwreck site and three other underwater preserves in the Dominican Republic into no-take, no-anchor "Living Museums," where cultural discoveries will protect precious corals and other threatened biology in the surrounding reef systems under the supervision and support of the Dominican Republic's Oficina Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural Subacuático (ONPCS).

The news comes just months after the unexpected discovery of teak wood on the Captain Kidd site, a discovery that IU archeologists say confirms that this is the Cara Merchant, the ship Captain William Kidd commandeered and then abandoned in 1699 as he raced to New York in an ill-fated attempt to clear his name of piracy charges.

"When we removed a cannon this summer for future identification, we exposed the keel of the ship," said Charles Beeker, director of the Office of Underwater Science in IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. "I'm just shocked that the keel is still there but the reason it's probably there is because it was teak, which is resistant to decomposition."...[Indiana University]

As Oriskany sinks further, divers risk going deeper

Diving the Oriskany was the clincher for New York resident Bradley Gaiser.

It was part of the reason the 47-year-old master scuba diver and his new bride wanted their wedding in Pensacola last weekend.

He'd made the dive before. He'd traveled through the top of the impressive sunken wreck. He'd seen the array of marine life.

But this time he was back to touch the infamous flight deck.

"A lot of my students want to know how deep I can go," Gaiser said. "There's no reason to go down there other than to say that I did it."

At 135 feet, the sunken aircraft carrier's flight deck was already five feet outside the recreational diving limit, but instructors said it was still relatively safe for tempted divers to make the touch.

"People just had to touch it," said Eilene Beard, Scuba Shack co-owner. "And we'd say, 'OK, bounce down there and touch it and get back up here so you don't use all your nitrogen.' "

But after Hurricane Gustav pushed through the Gulf of Mexico, the sunken ship shifted about 10 feet deeper...[PNJ.com]

Divers find 1893 Erie wreck 'in remarkable condition'

A ship sunk by a fierce autumn storm 115 years ago has been discovered in Lake Erie, 25 miles north of Cleveland.

The 133-foot schooner Riverside was among a dozen sunken vessels and more than 50 deaths left in the wake of the storm, which blew across the Great Lakes in 1893.

"It's in remarkable condition," said Tom Kowalczk, a diver with Cleveland Underwater Explorers Inc.

The nonprofit group, in collaboration with the Great Lakes Historical Society, found the shipwreck last year. Members delayed announcing their find until they could photograph the site.

An estimated 1,700 shipwrecks lie at the bottom of Lake Erie; fewer than 300 have been found. ..[Cleveland.com]

Shipwrecks discovered in area waters

Northwest Michigan waters hold three, maybe four, shipwrecks recently discovered by a Grand Traverse County man and other shipwreck hunters.

"It's a passion for exploring. I love going places and finding things nobody's been to before and sharing that through photos and video," said Thaddius Bedford, of Mayfield, president of the Manitou Passage Underwater Preserve.

Two shipwrecks in the Manitou preserve were discovered in recent years, along with at least one shipwreck in Grand Traverse Bay. A second site in the bay could be another shipwreck, but it's in water that's too deep to dive in, so more research is needed beyond existing sonar images, Bedford said.

Bedford chose to reveal his finds now, years after their initial discoveries, because he's faced pressure to claim them before other shipwreck hunters grab the credit, he said...[Record-Eagle.com]

Exploring virtual shipwrecks

Ever wanted to explore Europe's shipwrecks without donning your wetsuit? The Virtual Exploration of Underwater Sites (Venus) project is already working on it.

Organisations specialising in archaeology, underwater exploration, virtual reality and digital data preservation, including the University of Hull, are working on the project to map out the shipwrecks around Europe's coastline.

Just a handful of wrecks around France, Italy and Portugal have been mapped so far but the project is already producing images such as the one above that shows the vessel from which users will be able to start their virtual shipwreck tour...[Silicon.com]

The legendary shipwreck that claimed life of 18th-century's 'Marilyn Monroe' and £200,000 worth of jewels

A legendary British shipwreck shrouded in mystery and tales of treasure and tragedy for over 200 years has been discovered by a couple of divers.

Treasure hunters, tempests and an infamous beauty all surround the story of the Nancy, who was dashed to smithereens one stormy night in February 1784.

When the ship crashed into the jagged Western rocks of the Isles of Scilly it took with it British opera diva Ann Cargill.

The silken-voiced maiden's life and death were a sensation in London at the close of the 18th Century her beauty and scandalous behaviour were renowned - she was the Marilyn Monroe of her day.

When the Nancy was wrecked at Scilly, a fortune said to be 'beyond the dreams of avarice' was also sent to the bottom of the sea...[MailOnline.com]

Divers find 100-year-old shipwreck in Lake Baikal

Divers in Irkutsk have discovered an ancient ship that sank over 100 years ago on the bottom of Siberia's Lake Baikal, a team member said on Thursday.

The ship, thought to have been built in the late 18th or early 19th century, was found in the southern part of the lake at the depth of around 30 meters.

The vessel's hull, constructed without iron nails, is 16 m (52 feet) long, 5 m (16 feet) wide and 4 m (13 feet) deep. There is a hole in the right side of the hull and divers believe the ship sank during a storm.

They also discovered suspected human remains.

The expedition to the depths of the world's deepest and oldest lake was organized to search for historic artifacts linked with the Krugobaikal Railway, which saw numerous train crashes in the 19th century.

"We knew that this was the site of many train crashes and launched [the expedition] for this reason. As a result of the search, we ran across the sunken ship," Andrei Bobkov, a member of the diving team said, adding that the discovery was a complete surprise...[Russian News and Information Agency]

Shipwreck from 1837 discovered off Kure Atoll

The remains of a sunken British whaling ship lost for 171 years have been found off Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
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A team of maritime archaeologists discovered the shipwreck Wednesday during an exploratory dive, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration news release.

Using a hand-drawn map, a hand-held GPS, historical charts and notes, the archaeologists located the spot where the Gledstanes was thought to have sunk in 1837.

"After preliminary surface surveys, one dive and there it was," wrote Dee O'Regan of the National Maritime Historical Society in the team's daily mission blog.

Divers came upon a pile of iron ballast and some chain, which led them to a part of the reef where more pieces of the ship were found.

The artifacts — which include four massive anchors, cannons and cannonballs — are believed to belong to the Gledstanes, a British whaler lost to extremely rough seas...[Honolulu Advertiser.com]