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From 10 News

With many museums struggling through tough economic times, one of San Diego's premier museums could soon buck that trend with the help of a historic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean.

The sinking of the Titanic is one of the most familiar historical moments of the early 20th century. The ship that was proclaimed unsinkable sank in icy waters on April 15, 1912, taking more than 1,500 lives.

One-hundred years after the infamous disaster, the "Titanic: The Artifacts Exhibition" is coming to San Diego Natural History Museum next February.

"We jumped at the chance," said San Diego Natural History Museum CEO Dr. Michael Hager. Hager acknowledged that the museum has had to navigate some choppy financial waters.

Though their budget is balanced, he said the museum is expecting the Titanic exhibition to do great things."It's the 100-year anniversary of the sinking, so that we know that a lot of people will be tuned in to it. James Cameron's new 'Titanic' 3-D movie is coming out," Hager said.

The Titanic exhibition features more than 200 artifacts brought up from the bottom of the sea -- everything from clothing to china. There's even a simulated iceberg that allows visitors to get a feeling for how cold it was that night.

But at the heart of the exhibit are the ship's passengers, and Hager told 10News, "It's really the personal stories that are told I think that are the most important."

Full story...

La Gaceta

El director de Operaciones de Odyssey Marine Exploration explica la actuación de su empresa, denunciada por España ante la Justicia.

Sustrajeron 15 toneladas de oro del buque español. La polémica empresa cazatesoros Odyssey ha tenido numerosas fricciones con el Gobierno español a causa de su apresamiento de pecios de barcos como el Salvador, la Concepción y la Mercedes.

Sobre este último, con un cargamento de 17 toneladas de oro y plata, los juzgados están decidiendo a favor de España. Hoy, los espectadores pueden ver la entrevista completa a Mark Gordon en Visión Global (Business TV), a las 18.30 horas.

-Un juez estadounidense ratifica que el cargamento pertenece a España… -

Las monedas están aún en poder de Odissey y el caso judicial está lejos de haberse terminado. Hay en marcha un proceso para volver al mismo tribunal y tras eso al Supremo…

Y nuestra intención es seguir este camino hasta el final. Muchos casos de barcos hundidos han llegado hasta el Tribunal Supremo antes de que decidieran a favor del rescatador.

-¿Cuál es su principal argumento ?

-Hay muchas leyes conflictivas, y eso es lo que tiene que determinar el tribunal para todas las partes implicadas. El barco naufragado fue encontrado a más de 30 millas de Portugal, así que no tiene nada que ver con las aguas estadounidenses…

Hay mucha política involucrada en este caso. Hubo unas revelaciones que se destaparon el año pasado, en la primera oleada de WikiLeaks, sobre que el Gobierno estadounidense estaba dispuesto a apoyar activamente a España, a cambio de una pintura que está en Madrid… Así que, ¿quién sabe lo que está ocurriendo aquí ?

-¿Cree, pues, que su caso no es sólo contra el Gobierno español, sino también contra el suyo propio ?

-Hemos trabajado con el Gobierno español en el pasado, y queremos seguir cooperando con España. Ahora hemos estado colaborando con el Gobierno británico en un acuerdo en el que nosotros asumiremos todo el riesgo como empresa y el Estado se lleva su parte: 80% para nosotros por asumir el riesgo, 20% para el Gobierno, para los contribuyentes, que no se gastan ni un penique…

Es el mismo tipo de acuerdo que nos encantaría ver. En contraste, el Gobierno español se ha estado gastando mucho dinero en abogados.

From RT
 

A Soviet KV-1 tank which sank in the Neva River near Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during World War II has been successfully recovered from the bottom of the river in the Kirov district of northwestern Russia’s Leningrad Region.

"Despite the stormy weather and the depth exceeding 15 meters at this place, the operation for the retrieval of the future museum exhibit was successful," the press service chief for the Western Military District, Colonel Andrey Bobrun, was quoted by the Interfax-AVN agency on Thursday as saying.

The tank was recovered from the Neva by soldiers of the 90th Special Search Battalion of the Western Military District, in cooperation with staff of the Museum of the Battle for Leningrad. The operation was completed on Wednesday at 05:00 GMT.

Experts who examined the tank have concluded that, despite all these decades underwater, it is still in good condition and can now be restored to its original state. The remaining ammunition was taken by specialists of the Emergency Ministry for deactivation.

"There were no remains of the crew found inside the tank, and that suggests that they had escaped from the sinking battle machine,Bobrun continued.

We can already conclude that the tank was likely to have sunk while crossing the river on a pontoon on the way to the combat area. After determining serial numbers of the units and the assemblies of KV-1, the museum staff will be able to track the fate of the crew and even find their relatives."

Officials say that the tank, once restored, will be able to take part in historic parades and other activities.

From Bunbury Mail
 

Excavation of two possible shipwreck sites on Koombana Drive will start next week.

As reported in the Bunbury Mail in August, the excavations will be carried out by the City of Bunbury and marine archaeologists from the WA Museum.

The purpose of the excavations is to identify several anomalies found during magnetometer and ground penetrating radar surveys commissioned by the City of Bunbury in 2009.

These anomalies could be the remains of shipwrecks known to have been lost in the area which was the shoreline in 1896 and has since changed significantly due to port and harbour development.

City of Bunbury chief executive officer Andrew Brien said prior to any decision on future use of the land it was necessary to investigate whether the anomalies were of maritime significant and therefore covered by the WA Maritime Archaeology Act.

We need to investigate whether the anomalies are of maritime significance and if so, to understand the extent of any buffers that could be required,” Mr Brien said. If any maritime material is found it will be recorded and the sites backfilled and returned to their pre-excavation condition. This is the best way to preserve shipwrecks.”

The City of Bunbury has been working closely with the WA Museum for months in preparation for the excavation.

From St Augustine

A St. Augustine archaeologist was on a routine dive this summer when he found a rare cannon from a shipwreck site that archaeologists had discovered two years ago.

Now, the cannon is ready to be unveiled. First Light Maritime Society Archaeologists at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum will unveil the cannon Friday in the Courtyard at an invitation-only event.

Sam Turner, director of archaeology at the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program, found the cannon, which had a strange inscription covered in concretion from the shipwreck site.

The lighthouse will also reveal Friday the inscription discovered on the cannon.

Any information found on the cannon will bring the archaeologists closer to identifying the shipwreck, a site that has already produced five cauldrons, a gentleman’s pocket pistol and a ship’s bell.

Full story...

By Larry Bernard - Sun Sentinel

Marine archaeologists and treasure hunters met Thursday with some bitter words for each other, as the two sides tried to find a middle ground in the salvaging of shipwrecks for personal profit or scientific study.

Many top names in marine archaeology are at the Pier 66 Hotel in Fort Lauderdale for four days of a symposium that brings together sport divers, scientists and treasure hunters to discuss developments in the field and to air differences.

Chief among them is the find last month of the Nuestra Senhora de Atocha, which sank in a September 1622 hurricane off Key West. Treasure hunter Mel Fisher, searching 16 years for the Spanish galleon, claimed a mother lode of $400 million.

But several in the scientific community lambasted Fisher and his chief archaeologist, Duncan Mathewson, for what they described as raping a valuable historical site without proper study.

``They say they are trying to do archaeology,`` said Peter Throckmorton, a marine archaeology pioneer. ``They`re not doing archaeology. Have you read Mathewson`s book? It`s a travesty. I wouldn`t give it a pass as a term paper.``

Throckmorton, who unleashed a virulent attack against Fisher and his crew, called Mathewson the ``Atilla the Hun`` of salvagers. But Mathewson would not be baited.

``I`m not going to get into a shouting match. I`d rather do archaeology than talk about it. If that`s all they brought me here for, I`m going home.``

But he stayed long enough to describe to an audience of mostly sports divers how the search for the Atocha became successful. He said that he has invited a team of outside archaeological consultants to help study the ship before reaping the harvest of gold and silver in its cargo.

``It is full of the most wonderful archaeological riches you`ll ever find on the seabed,`` Mathewson said, inviting divers to Key West to help map and salvage the wreck. Fisher, who was in Los Angeles, was scheduled to appear Thursday but could not make it. Instead, he is scheduled to talk at 7:30 p.m. today.

It is that law that gave Fisher exclusive rights to his treasures, in wrecks off Key West and Vero Beach. Scientists want a new law, one that gives states control over wrecks, preserving those with historical significance. Congress is considering such a change, although experts at the symposium could not agree on how to define whether a shipwreck is significant.

Full story...

By Tim Krohn - Mankato Free Press

Husband and wife team Ann Merriman and Chris Olson are shipwreck hunters, using high-tech gear and historic records to scour Lake Superior, Lake Minnetonka and other big bodies of water for wrecks.

Next summer they will begin surveying what may seem a less likely maritime route — the Minnesota River.

“On the Minnesota, there were many reports of sunk or snagged (steamboats), five or six at least,” Merriman said. “How much is left of them, no one knows.”

The steamboats that plied the Minnesota River from 1823 to near the turn of the century were substantial crafts — many 125 feet long, 25 feet wide, two stories high and carrying up to 160 tons of cargo and people.

Merriman and her husband founded the nonprofit Maritime Heritage Minnesota (maritimeheritagemn.org) in 2005 to document and preserve the state’s maritime history.

They recently received a grant from the state’s Legacy Fund to conduct sonar imaging of the Minnesota River from St. Paul to Henderson.

A second round of funding would allow them to map from Henderson to past Mankato — which was generally as far as most steamboats could venture.

Full story...

From Deep Sea Production


A successful expedition has resulted in the discovery of an ancient warship. It is believed to be Svärdet (The Sword), a ship that went under in 1676.

A successful expedition, led by Deep Sea Productions founder Carl Douglas, has resulted in the discovery of an ancient warship off the island of Öland in Southern Sweden.

It is believed to be Svärdet, a ship that went under in 1676. It is one of two giant ships that were lost in the largest naval battle in the history of the Baltic Sea, when “great power” Sweden was defeated by a Danish-Dutch fleet.

The other ship, Kronan, was discovered in 1981. The research of that ship has yielded more than 30 000 archaeological artefacts, many of which are displayed at the Kalmar County Museum.

The two episode series “Tall Ships at War” will provide a new understanding and insight into the fascinating story of how the first sailing warships were made and used in naval battles.

A team of world leading scientists takes us on a journey to an era when these ships were the most advanced technological devises ever made.

Technical deep diving in the chilly Baltic Sea adds an element of adventure. Advanced under water survey equipment and CGI will help the viewer understand the magnificence, prowess and shortcomings in warfare. Period reenactments and witness accounts add a crucial human element to the stories.

2011 will go down in the history of maritime archaeology as incredible. In the space of a few weeks, two of the most coveted wrecks from the era of great, wooden war ships were discovered. In fact the first two wooden ships ever discovered that were lost in battle; now resting on the bottom of the sea with important portions still intact; huge guns still protruding from the gun-ports; remnants of epic naval battles that shaped European history.

Mars. (a k a Makalös – Eng. Matchless). Built in 1561 for the first Swedish hereditary king, Erik XIV, she was the largest ship in the Baltic Sea: approximately 70 meters long weighing about 1000 tons. With more than 150 guns and cannon, she had more firepower than any warship before her. After an explosion on board, she went down in her first battle against a Danish fleet aided by ships from the German city of Lübeck. Discovered by Ocean Discovery.

Svärdet. (Eng. The Sword) A legendary tall ship, built in 1642, also one of the largest warships of its day. A prime example of richly decorated “gaudy” ships, built largely to impress the enemy. Svärdet was lost in the largest naval battle in the Baltic, off the island of Öland.

She was set afire by a Dutch ship after having held her own for almost five hours. The commander, admiral Claes Uggla, chose to go under with his ship, rather than surrender to the enemy. Discovered by Deep Sea Productions.