HOT NEWS !
Stay informed on the old and most recent significant or spectacular
nautical news and shipwreck discoveries
By Matt Deans - The Advocate
The underwater photographer who captured the resting place of an Australian World War I submarine, sunk during the Battle of Gallipoli, will return to where the Diggers landed.
Coffs Harbour’s Mark Spencer will join a team of divers and archaeologists at Anzac Cove in May aiming to uncover pieces of Australian war history lost beneath the waves for 95 years.
“We are hoping to locate, map and archive anything from soldiers’ helmets, bayonets, rifles, even the cigarette lighters carried by the fallen Anzacs,” Mr Spencer said.
“To our advantage, the ocean is forever uncovering relics off Anzac Cove and Turkish divers have reported seeing magazines full of bullets near the landing sites.”
Respected journalist Mike Munro and a Channel Seven film crew plan to accompany the team to Gallipoli, filming a documentary on their discoveries, which could air nationally.
The expedition will be Mark’s first visit to Gallipoli since the history-making dive in 1998, where he sighted the sunken Australian submarine HMAS AE2 at the bottom of the Dardanelles Straits.
“On my first descent over the wreck, I allowed myself a few minutes to appreciate the significance of the moment,” he said.
“Surprisingly, I felt closer to the Anzacs 72 metres under the sea than I did standing in the trenches at Gallipoli.”
Sunken treasure adventure proves irresistible
By Tim Grobaty - Grubbco
Once, back in the early 1980s, a reporter friend of ours covered a meeting of stockholders who had invested in a treasure hunter, a world-famous guy who scoured the seafloors of the Caribbean and the Atlantic seeking sunken treasure.
Our friend came back breathless, bug-eyed and sort of pea-green with greed telling us we had to invest in this guy's next expedition.
He told us tales of great wealth: Not only did the treasure hunter dole out to each investor a check with more zeros than a soccer tournament, but he also parceled out gimcracks from his last haul: doubloons, pieces o' eight, gold crosses encrusted with rubies and sapphires, the odd amphora.
Our friend said the modern plunderer of the deep was hot on the trail of the biggest discovery ever, and he (our friend) was good for $4,000 in stock for the treasure-hunter's next expedition; another friend of ours, all caught up in the ravenous quest for easy riches, plunked down a couple of thousand, too.
Now, what are you gonna do ? In our case, we knew a sucker's game when we saw one. We also knew a ruby-encrusted cross when we saw one.
Further, we envisioned staying far afield of this folly only to see, in a few months, our friends coming back from their stockholders meeting all swaddled in velvet and ermine like the archbloke of Canterbury or one of the lesser Medieval popes, spangled in jewels and drunk on mead, the juice from roasted capon legs glistening on their chins already a-wattle with wealth.
So, we put down a thousand. We called it insurance against the gloating of our stock-holding friends. Soon, we talked yet another friend — this was back in the days when we had a lot of friends and, apparently, tons of money — into putting up a grand or two by convincing him of the wisdom of buying, if nothing else, protection from the original two friends growing wealthy without us.
By Meagan O'Toole-Pitts - The Battalion Online
Texas A&M's Nautical Archaeology Program is bringing history to life -- literally.
Students of the New World laboratory, which focuses on the study of ship evolution within the past 500 years, are in the midst of recreating "The Heroine," a Mississippi River steamboat built in 1832 that sank in the Red River between Texas and Oklahoma in 1838.
"At the time they weren't keeping records; there's a lot we don't know about early boats -- how they designed and built them - this opens early steam boating in the early west, how they operated on the river and how it was to live and work on them.
We want to know what our ancestors lived through," said Kevin Crisman, associate professor of nautical archaeology. "This is the oldest Mississippi steamboat studied by archaeologists."
The wreckage of the boat was discovered in 2002, and students spent the past six years excavating the site by diving 20 feet down into the murky waters of the Red River and digging up the steamboat, piece by piece.
"The paddle wheels and other parts of machinery were still on the boat," Crisman said. "We found barrels of picked pork and corncobs. You don't really know what you're going to find until you start digging it up."
Three ships wrecked off St. Francis coast
By Anna Passante - Bay View Compass
Three 19th-century Great Lakes sailing ships, the Boston, the Sebastopol, and the Alleghany, had two things in common.
All three were shipwrecked off the shore of St. Francis, Wis., and all three were shipwrecked as a result of an inadequate Milwaukee harbor.
Milwaukee’s original harbor (located about a half-mile south of the present-day harbor) had a shallow harbor entrance, which kept larger ships from entering the inner harbor. These larger ships were forced to anchor outside the harbor entrance at extended piers to unload their goods.
Without the protection of the inner harbor during fierce lake storms, many of the ships risked great damage or destruction.
Also, due to inadequate navigational lighting, ship captains found it difficult to find the harbor at night, especially during a storm, resulting in ships running aground.
Between 1846 and 1855, the three previously mentioned sailing ships were doomed because of these inadequacies.
Fate of the Boston
The side-wheel steamship Boston was built in 1845 and measured 210 feet in length. On Nov. 24, 1846, the Boston arrived in Milwaukee from Buffalo, N.Y., but was unable to enter the inner harbor due to the shallowness of the harbor mouth. The ship instead docked at the extended pier to discharge its cargo.
At around 8pm that evening a horrific storm came out of the northeast. Seeking safety, Captain William T. Pease again attempted to take the ship through the harbor mouth into the inner harbor, but the Boston was caught by the powerful gale and lost its smoke stacks, rendering the engines useless.
Anchors were lowered, in hopes of riding out the storm, but the strong winds dragged the Boston southward and around 11pm the ship struck bottom about 150 feet off the shore of the present-day St. Francis Seminary in St. Francis. Help arrived and all the crew and passengers were rescued.
The surf broke over the ship, which filled with water. The remaining smoke stack hung limply over the side. An organ destined for an Episcopal church was rescued, as well as cabin doors and panel work, and the vessel’s engine.
IU underwater researchers unveil 17th-century Captain Kidd cannon
By Jake New - Indiana Daily Student
The only pirate cannon ever recovered from the Caribbean has made its way to IU.
The centuries-old, chloride and coral-covered cannon that once belonged to the infamous Captain William Kidd was unveiled Thursday in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
One of 26 cannons beneath the clear waters just 70 feet off of Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic, it was first examined by Archeologist and IU’s Office of Underwater Science Director Charlie Beeker and his team in 2007.
The 17th-century cannon is believed to have come from the Cara Merchant, a ship commandeered by Kidd, which he then abandoned in 1699 shortly before he was tried and hanged for piracy. The ship had been missing ever since.
“When we first looked at it, we knew that the Captain Kidd wreck was being hunted for by treasure hunters in this area,” Beeker said.
“As an archeologist, it just looked like the right time period. We read through all of his testimonials from his trial, and it just seemed like it was matching.
So we wrote a report to the government saying, ‘We’re going to do more research, but this could be Captain Kidd’s shipwreck.’”
With funding provided by a partnership between IU and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the cannon has been carefully transported to HPER’s underwater research lab for a five-year study.
The 300-year-old weapon will undergo a series of tests and experiments in its stay, but Beeker said the primary concern is conservation.
La mystérieuse histoire du trésor du Pollux
Beaucoup a été dit ou écrit sur l'histoire du trésor du Pollux et de sa tentative de récupération en 2000, mais bien peu sur l'histoire complète et la réalité des faits.
Et surtout, l'ignorance de la majorité s'est rapidement transformée en nouvelles légendes qui laissent tout un chacun rêveur, pour ne pas dire amusé.
Cette fois, la vérité a enfin été mise à jour grâce à l'excellent documentaire sur le magazine télévisé Thalassa (FR3) du vendredi 29 janvier, "Les Chasseurs de Trésors", L’affaire du Polluce, un reportage de Régis Michel et Ettore Malanca de Pacifico Island Productions.
Toutes les responsabilités ne sont pas là où les biens pensant le suggéraient !
D'ailleurs, les histoires de naufrages commencent toujours par plus de questions que de réponses, celle incroyable du Pollux, en 1841, n'échappe en rien à cette règle fondamentale.
L'histoire de ce drame de la mer et des diverses tentatives de sauvetage sont les pièces maîtresses d’une chronique rocambolesque couvrant plus d’un siècle et demi, et mélange tragédie, mensonges, cupidité, passion et même politique. Digne des plus grands épisodes romanesques.
Cette véritable histoire a défrayé les chroniques maritimes et judiciaires jusqu'à nos jours, et pourtant, épisode jusqu'alors parfaitement inconnu du grand public.
Une dépêche émanant du Consulat de France à Civitavecchia indique en 1841:
« Le Pollux (sarde), capitaine Lazzolo, de Civitavecchia à Livourne avec 45 passagers, parti le 17 juin à 5 heures du soir s’est perdu en collision, près de l'île d'Elbe, à 11 heures du soir avec le Montegibello (napolitain), de 200 chevaux, venant de Livourne dans son premier voyage.
Le Pollux a coulé à fond rapidement. Un seul passager, le capitaine napolitain Castagnola s’est noyé. Les passagers ont tout perdu et ont été conduits à Livourne. Le Pollux a coûté 450.000 Francs et désormais les passagers préfèrent voyager sur les bâtiments de guerre plus sûrs.
Parmi les passagers, se trouvait un capitaine de commerce napolitain dont le navire avait lui-aussi naufragé le mois dernier. Il se rendait à Marseille pour prendre un autre commandement.
Ce malheureux marin, le seul qui a péri, était remonté à bord pour prendre des papiers dans sa chambre et a coulé avec le navire ainsi que deux cents colis et onze groups d’or et d’argent ». L'histoire du trésor englouti est né, avec toutes ces légendes...
En 1936, les opérateurs de la célèbre SORIMA (Società Ricuperi Marittimi) avait bien essayé de repérer l'épave, mais le mauvais temps les avait vite obligé à renoncer. Puis le Pollux fut oublié..
Ce n'est qu'en 1992 que la COMEX, par l'intermédiaire de son Président, Henri Germain Delauze, décide d'aller repérer l'épave grâce à l'épais dossier que j'avais patiemment réuni dans mes recherches en bibliothèques et autres dépôts d'archives dans toute l'Europe. Le site de l'épave est alors repéré avec le navire Minibex en moins d'une heure et quasiment identifié.
Pourtant, ce n'est pas le Pollux qui sera déclaré aux autorités maritimes, mais un autre bateau naufragé dans les parages... Cinq ans passèrent et notre contrat de collaboration devint caduque.
An 2000 : Je négocie un contrat avec un groupe d'Anglais qui créé une société à cette occasion et décide de récupérer le trésor du Pollux, à l'occasion de d'un autre contrat qu'ils avaient pu obtenir auprès des autorités anglaises pour la récupération d'une cargaison d'étain perdu par le Glenlogan lors de la Première Guerre Mondiale, coulé lui-aussi, dans les eaux italiennes !
Manipulations ? C'est sûr ! Mais comment les autorités de Toscane de l'époque ont pu laisser travailler un bateau de 50 mètres pendant plus d'un mois et à seulement quelques milles de leurs côtes, sans demander plus de précisions ??
Un véritable trésor en pièces d'or et d'argent, bijoux, pierres précieuses et autres objets de grande valeur est remonté à la surface... Avec une benne-preneuse.
Je suis alors pris aussi dans un tourbillon que rien ne peut arrêter; les anglais sont les maîtres d'œuvre et je ne peux que les suivre dans leur projet qui est aussi le mien à l'origine.
Le trésor remonté arrive ensuite à Londres pour être vendu aux enchères, mais un coup de téléphone anonyme averti les Carabinieri italiens, qui appellent Interpol à leur tour et Scotland Yard. Tout est saisi et sera rapidement envoyé au musée de Florence, en Italie.
Mais l'histoire est encore bien plus compliquée que cela, avec son épilogue en 2008, car un procès a lieu à Porto-Ferraio, île d'Elbe, à l'issu duquel les faits sont finalement prescrits par le juge en fonction.
Entre temps, un journaliste italien véreux "s'appropriera" l'histoire et la découverte du Pollux. Plusieurs expéditions officielles italiennes seront mises en place et encore plus d'objets précieux seront récupérés...
Aujourd'hui, cette saga est d'autant plus d'actualité, qu'un livre est désormais en préparation, ainsi qu'un film de fiction...
Peut être le prochain James Bond !?
La suite au prochain épisode...!!!
Exploration of shipwreck of Polyaigos
From Ana Mpa
The Culture Ministry intends to designate a shipwreck off the tiny uninhabited Cycladic isle of Polyaigos, in the central Aegean, as a "underwater archaeological site" after completion of an initial examination of finds that surfaced during recent marine digs, according to a ministry announcement.
Divers on the maritime excavations in November 2009 recovered vases dating back to the 4th and 5th centuries BC from depths of 25-49 meters off the coast of Polyaigos
Aquatic archaeologists brought up such artifacts as amphorae used for carrying, and small table ceramic vases, all intact, as well as fragments of the shipwrecked vessel's anchor.
A team from the the underwater antiquities Ephoreia comprised of archaeologist-divers Elias Spondylis, George Koutsouflakis and Efstathios Stathis, depth technicians Petros Tsampourakis and Ludwig Mersenier, and underwater photographer/cinematographer Vassilis Mentoyiannis, in November made an initial exploration of the wreck site, which had been spotted in 2004.
The ancient vessel was loaded with amphorae, which are scattered around the wreck in two main concentrations.
An analysis of the amphorae recovered dated the wreck to between the end of the 5th century BC and the first half of the 4th century BC.
At least three types of amphorae were identified, of which one originated from ancient Peparithos (the island of Skopelos), while the others were closely identified with Classical Era amphorae workshops of the northern Aegean.
Four of the intact amphorae recovered were pointed-bottom carrying vessels, while the other two intact amphorae were smaller ceramic table vases.
Captain Kidd's pirate cannon from the Caribbean comes to Indiana University
From the Indiana University
The first pirate's cannon recovered in the Caribbean is resting in a Hoosier underwater science lab at Indiana University Bloomington under the watchful eye of archaeologist Charles Beeker and other researchers and students.
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, the world's largest children's museum, announces its partnership with IU to provide funding for the transport of the 17th century relic.
Beeker, director of the Office of Underwater Science in IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, has been authorized by Dominican Republic authorities to bring the cannon to his lab for five years of study and conservation.
"This is a great opportunity for Indiana University faculty and students to obtain hands-on experience during the conservation of this unique artifact that has created such international interest," said Beeker, who traveled to the Dominican Republic recently to oversee the shipping.