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nautical news and shipwreck discoveries
By Ilima Loomis - The Maui News
A World War II-era wreck off South Maui first documented in January has been identified as an SBC-2 Helldiver, ditched in Maalaea Bay on a training flight by a Navy pilot in 1944.
Maritime archaeologist Hans Van Tilburg of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dived to the site Saturday and confirmed that it was the plane identified by two groups of private divers separately investigating the wreck.
He said the U.S. Navy was in the process of making a plaque to mark the site, which is protected under state and federal law, and that officials may also consider installing a mooring nearby.
Van Tilburg said the aircraft was a rare find, not only because the wreck was almost completely preserved, but also because there are very few Helldivers left in existence.
"I'm definitely impressed," he said. "It's remarkably intact. I've seen a number of aircraft like this, and this one is very intact. That makes it very special."
When the wreck was first documented in January, it was initially believed to be an SBD Dauntless dive bomber. But B&B Scuba Maui owner Brad Varney, who first reported the site to government authorities after learning about it from a local fisherman, said he realized after visiting the wreck a second time that it was actually a Helldiver.
Today the plane rests on the sandy bottom of Maalaea Bay in about 50 feet of water, encrusted with coral and surrounded by schools of fish.
According to Navy crash records researched by private divers investigating the site, the plane was making a dive-bombing practice attack Aug. 31, 1944, when high-speed maneuvers damaged the tail fin and jammed the rudder controls.
With only limited ability to control the aircraft, pilot William E. Dill, a Navy lieutenant, made a water landing, surviving the crash without injuries.
Varney, a self-described "history nut," said it was exciting to pore over 60-year-old crash reports and other documents as he and colleagues pieced the story together.
By David Johnson - Oa Online
Now, most World War II veterans are battling bad knees and fading hearing, but almost 70 years ago they faced German tanks and Italian bullets and Japanese mines.
Many U.S. servicemen were not able to grow old enough to experience arthritis, and some weren’t even able to be properly laid to rest.
Although Jarrold Clovis Taylor’s family had a memorial in September 1944 and a plaque with his name is in the Ector County Cemetery, his body was never there, and for almost 66 years, no one knew where he or any of the other 77 sailors from the USS Flier had gone to rest.
Clovis Taylor was born March 1, 1921, in Electra to J.G. and Beaulah Taylor; he was their first child. Nine more siblings survived to join him during the next 17 years, and his 87-year-old sister Eunice Wittie, now of Stephenville, remembers him well.
"I envied him because he was so good looking, and I was a girl and thought I should be the pretty one," Eunice said. "He was well-liked by everybody."
Newspaper clippings preserved by the family chronicle of some of the awards Clovis received while in high school in Electra, such as most representative boy and president of the freshman class of 1938. He also worked at the movie theater, for the same people who owned the newspaper, and was a member of the Texas National Guard.
"He was a very active person," Eunice said.
In March 1940, Clovis joined the Navy and went to San Diego. During the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he was on the battleship USS Pennsylvania, which was hit but still able to sail.
During 1942, he saw several battles, including Midway.
Futuristic underwater resort to be built off Palawan
By Daxim Lucas - Philippine Daily Inquirer
Imagine an underwater hotel room with a panoramic view of tropical fish swimming over large coral reefs, manta rays gliding in the water and turtles chasing after tiny squids. Science fiction ? Not if businessman Paul Moñozca can help it.
Moñozca, a Singapore-based financier who heads a group of international investors, plans to start a futuristic underwater resort off the island of Palawan as part of an aggressive venture into the ecotourism business.
The project, dubbed “Last Frontier Resort,” is expected to bring in a total of $1 billion in investments spread over a 10-year period—an average of $100 million a year which, its proponents hope, will help create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the Palawan.
Moñozca—known for his advocacies of helping improve the overseas remittance business, acquiring stakes in the US professional basketball league and junior circuit stock car racing teams—is the main driver of the project. His Monaco-based philanthropic fund, dubbed “Spirit,” plays a lead role in the development of marine habitats and ocean protection initiatives.
The Last Frontier Resort will be built with submarine technology. When completed, the proposed underwater habitat will be the biggest in the world.
The project has been in the planning stage since last year, and its proponents have identified a group of islands in the Calamianes cluster as the site for development.
The site is owned by businessman and resort developer Steve Tajanlangit. It is made up of a group of seven islands in close proximity to each other, and another group of seven islands outside the main cluster.
By Lesley-Anne Henry - Belfast Telegraph
Titanic fever will grip Belfast this week with the launch of the annual Titanic Made in Belfast Festival.
Hundreds of Titanic and White Star Line artefacts and memorabilia including a postcards written by a passengers on board the doomed vessel, a man’s watch valued at £90,000, and the keys to a family treasure chest that went down with the stricken ship are due to go on display in Belfast today.
This year the eight-day festival is centred around a variety of events at Belfast City Hall, while special Titanic themed tours, on both land and water, will give visitors an opportunity to learn more about the famous liner's ill-fated maiden voyage to New York in 1912.
“The Titanic story is probably one of the most fascinating, amazing, poignant, thought-provoking and absorbing tales from the last century, if not the last millennium,” said Lord Mayor of Belfast, Naomi Long.
“For too long, Belfast’s part in the Titanic story, and the role of the people of Belfast in bringing Titanic to life, has been neglected.
“Over the past few years, the city that gave birth to the ship, and many others, finally and rightfully acknowledged her part in the tale, and Belfast City Council once again is proud to celebrate the achievement, commemorate the tragedy and educate the world about our city’s role in the Titanic story.”
US military ship to be sunk, building new reef
From Cayman Net News
The U.S.S. Kittiwake, a decommissioned, 251-foot military ship will soon be towed to Grand Cayman for its last assignment: Cayman’s newest dive attraction.
The culmination of a seven-year project between the Ministry and the Department of Tourism, the Kittiwake left the James River Reserve Fleet in St. Eustis, Virginia, on February 18 to be cleaned prior to its arrival in Cayman.
The military vessel will be sunk sometime in July or August this summer on the north end of Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach to provide underwater enthusiasts of all skill levels with a new year-round diving destination.
“Without the initial conceptual and financial support of the Ministry of Tourism, led by the Premier, the Honourable McKeeva Bush, then Minister of Tourism, the Kittiwake would never have happened,” said Nancy Easterbrook, Kittiwake project manager.
“The Ministry of Tourism realized the importance of this initiative when it was first proposed in 2002 and assisted us in kick-starting its development,” said Ms Easterbrook.
“CITA came on board and matched those funds and both parties have committed to keeping the project moving forward the past seven years.”
Prior to sinking, the Kittiwake will be thoroughly prepared for divers and the waters here. All hazardous materials and chemicals will be removed to ensure that they will not leach into Cayman waters.
Multiple vertical and horizontal cutouts will open up the ship to allow natural light to flood the body and enable divers to explore the entire ship safely.
Once sunk, the ship will be marked with corresponding slates for boat operators and divers/snorkelers to be able to easily identify where they are on the ship.
Steve Broadbelt, president of CITA, said that the Kittiwake will boost tourism, bringing new visitors and repeat guests to the islands, since diving shipwrecks is one of the most popular reasons for going diving or snorkeling.
Sinking of the Union steamship Maple Leaf
By Dan Scanlan - Jacksonville
The 146th anniversary of the sinking of the Union steamship Maple Leaf by a Confederate mine off Mandarin Point will be commemorated at a 10 a.m. Saturday event at the Museum of Science and History, 1025 Museum Circle in Jacksonville.
Keith Holland, lead excavator of the Maple Leaf wreck in the early 1990s, will discuss the April 1, 1864 disaster that claimed the lives of two crew members and sent the belonging of hundreds of Union soldiers to the bottom.
Modeler Dennis Cannady, who created a scale Maple Leaf model on display in the museum’s Currents of Time exhibit, will discuss the model-making process. At 11:30 a.m., historical performer Shorty Robbins portrays a Maple leaf survivor.
There will be Confederate cannon demonstrations, Civil War re-enactors; displays from the Florida Public Archaeology Network and the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society and two three-dimensional holograms of artifacts recovered from the wreck, created by Englewood High School students.
Avon Lake couple dives into Lake Erie shipwreck stories
By Bob Palmer - Sun News
Lake Erie has the highest concentration of shipwrecks per square mile, according to Avon Lake residents Mike and Georgann Wachter, veteran divers who wrote three books on Lake Erie wrecks.
Since the Wachters took up diving in the early 1970s, Mike said their love for history keeps them hooked on the hobby.
Their passion for identifying newly discovered wrecks and uncovering records of vessels’ treks opened doors to speaking engagements throughout the Great Lakes, including a recent presentation to the Women’s Club of Avon Lake.
“We get a thrill to figure out its name and history.” Mike said. “It has to do with the lives that went with it (the wrecks) as well as the stories.”
With scientific precision, the Wachters surveyed Lake Erie and approximately 90 percent of the lake’s 300 known wrecks with scanners, global positioning devices, video surveys, still images, measurements and sketches.
Their persistence yielded a good summer season last year, as the Wachters discovered or swam through eight previously unexplored shipwrecks.
Pilot and history of the Helldiver crash uncovered
By Harry Donenfeld - Hawaii Nature Examiner
In January of 2010, a team of divers lead by local Maui dive shop B&B Scuba dove on the wreck of an aircraft that had previously only been known by some of Maui's local fisherman. It turned out that the aircraft they dove on was a Curtis SB2C-1C Helldiver. The last of the WWII dive bombers.
The plane sat on the bottom of the ocean, on a flat sandy bottom, for 66 years.
She lay there collecting only corals and becoming a hostess to a myriad of life. From the giant Yellow Margin Eel that lives in the cockpit to the Ulua that roam under her wings, she has become a haven for life under the sea.
Truly, a thing of beauty.
Now it is time to bring her to light and share her history and short life with the world. A second team of divers led by Chris Quarre' of North Shore Explorers did a forensic analysis of the aircraft uncovering the tail numbers and thereby identifying her conclusively. Between the two teams a history for this lost wreck has started to unfold. One I am proud to announce here.
The pilot of the plane was Lt. William E. Dill and the plane went down of the 31st of August, 1944. Thanks to the cooperation of Sean Dyer from the fist dive team, we have the actual accident report that was submitted to the Navy back in 1944 !
The plane made a water landing after suffering catastrophic failure of the tail rudder.
The plane could no longer be controlled and Lt. William E. Dill decided that the only course of action was to land the plane in the water with no tail rudder for assistance. Truly an amazing feat of flying !