Shipwrecks & Sunken Treasure
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How doomed British 'lost expedition' ship was found in Arctic
Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grand-daughter describes desolate scene as Canadian team discover Royal Navy vessel that vanished in 1840s
[Video: Underwater footage of the lost ship.]
By Philip Sherwell, Toronto
4:03PM BST 13 Sep 2014
Ryan Harris pumped his arms aloft and shouted in delight as he saw the sonar images coming in from the robotic submersible vessel. Around him, his fellow archeologists, scientists and explorers hugged and exchanged celebratory high-fives.
The Canadian search team had just made one of the greatest marine discoveries in history, locating the wreck of one of two British vessels that vanished into the icy expanse of the Arctic with 129 men on board in search of the fabled Northwest Passage in the late 1840s.
The images of the remarkably well-preserved ship were ghostly in their clarity as it sat seafloor just 11 metres below the surface of the near-freezing waters of the Queen Maud Gulf.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... rctic.html
Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grand-daughter describes desolate scene as Canadian team discover Royal Navy vessel that vanished in 1840s
[Video: Underwater footage of the lost ship.]
By Philip Sherwell, Toronto
4:03PM BST 13 Sep 2014
Ryan Harris pumped his arms aloft and shouted in delight as he saw the sonar images coming in from the robotic submersible vessel. Around him, his fellow archeologists, scientists and explorers hugged and exchanged celebratory high-fives.
The Canadian search team had just made one of the greatest marine discoveries in history, locating the wreck of one of two British vessels that vanished into the icy expanse of the Arctic with 129 men on board in search of the fabled Northwest Passage in the late 1840s.
The images of the remarkably well-preserved ship were ghostly in their clarity as it sat seafloor just 11 metres below the surface of the near-freezing waters of the Queen Maud Gulf.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... rctic.html
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ramonmercado
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Experts search for mass grave of Royal Anne shipwreck off Lizard Cornwall
By WBGraeme | Posted: November 09, 2014
EXPERTS are hoping they can find the mass grave from a disastrous shipwreck off the Lizard 300 years ago.
Archaeologists know the rough area where more than 200 people were buried – but are now hoping to pinpoint the exact site.
In November 1721, The Royal Anne was sailing to the Caribbean carrying the new governor of Barbados.
During a storm, she ran aground on the treacherous rocks off Lizard Point.
In the chaos and confusion, 207 people were drowned and just 3 survived.
The National Trust’s Rachel Holder said it was well known that the bodies were buried in an unmarked grave near Pistil, a small valley to the west of Lizard Point.
She said: “Local lore has it that the Lizard folk who went to bury the bodies could not complete this mammoth grizzly task within the day. When they returned next dawn, a pack of dogs had got their first and were tucking into a gruesome breakfast. :shock:
“Even to this day it is said that dogs cower when passing through the meadow, perhaps in shame at the actions of their ancestors.
“The story of Pistil fired the imaginations of later generations, with the likes of Daphne du Maurier taking an interest in the tale.”
She said the exact location of the grave, however, was unknown.
“We have teamed up with archaeologists from Bournemouth University and the Maritime Archaeological Sea Trust to investigate further,” she added.
“The team first visited in November 2012 to undertake geophysical surveys.
“The ground was first cleared so archaeologists could take the smooth and regular paces on which their equipment relies, and a grid was pegged out. They were able to use magnetic and electromagnetic techniques but due to the saturated ground, other kit which relies on detecting differences in moisture could not be used.”
She said they identified three possible sites and are going back to check again.
“Again the vegetation has been cleared and this time the team have had success using earth resistivity area 3D imaging, ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic techniques.”
She said once the results are analysed, they will then decide whether to get permission to mount an archaeological dig.
http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Experts-sea ... story.html
By WBGraeme | Posted: November 09, 2014
EXPERTS are hoping they can find the mass grave from a disastrous shipwreck off the Lizard 300 years ago.
Archaeologists know the rough area where more than 200 people were buried – but are now hoping to pinpoint the exact site.
In November 1721, The Royal Anne was sailing to the Caribbean carrying the new governor of Barbados.
During a storm, she ran aground on the treacherous rocks off Lizard Point.
In the chaos and confusion, 207 people were drowned and just 3 survived.
The National Trust’s Rachel Holder said it was well known that the bodies were buried in an unmarked grave near Pistil, a small valley to the west of Lizard Point.
She said: “Local lore has it that the Lizard folk who went to bury the bodies could not complete this mammoth grizzly task within the day. When they returned next dawn, a pack of dogs had got their first and were tucking into a gruesome breakfast. :shock:
“Even to this day it is said that dogs cower when passing through the meadow, perhaps in shame at the actions of their ancestors.
“The story of Pistil fired the imaginations of later generations, with the likes of Daphne du Maurier taking an interest in the tale.”
She said the exact location of the grave, however, was unknown.
“We have teamed up with archaeologists from Bournemouth University and the Maritime Archaeological Sea Trust to investigate further,” she added.
“The team first visited in November 2012 to undertake geophysical surveys.
“The ground was first cleared so archaeologists could take the smooth and regular paces on which their equipment relies, and a grid was pegged out. They were able to use magnetic and electromagnetic techniques but due to the saturated ground, other kit which relies on detecting differences in moisture could not be used.”
She said they identified three possible sites and are going back to check again.
“Again the vegetation has been cleared and this time the team have had success using earth resistivity area 3D imaging, ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic techniques.”
She said once the results are analysed, they will then decide whether to get permission to mount an archaeological dig.
http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Experts-sea ... story.html
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Deep sea salvage: Finding long lost treasures of the deep
By Zoe Kleinman, Technology reporter, BBC News
Far beneath the ocean waves, nestling silently on cold dark sea beds around the world, lie the remains of about three million shipwrecks.
And that's a conservative estimate by Unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
They have fascinated generations of artists, writers, anthropologists and scientists.
Many mark the final resting place of their crew and passengers. Some are hundreds of years old, a time capsule from distant ways of life.
All are guardians of the treasures that sank along with them - be they in the form of uniquely preserved cultural heritage or cold hard cash.
Excavators of the Tudor ship the Mary Rose, which sank off the English coast in 1545, found 500 pairs of shoes among the 19,000 artefacts retrieved from the site, many of which are now on display.
The SS Gairsoppa on the other hand, a steam ship sunk by a German U-boat off the Irish coast in 1941, went down with over 110 tonnes of silver on board.
In 2010 a US-based company called Odyssey Marine Exploration won a tender put out by the government to retrieve that silver from its resting place, 4,500m below sea level - one mile deeper than the Titanic.
That sort of depth can only be reached by machine (the deepest recorded human scuba dive is currently 332m, according to Guinness World Records) and getting there is, to put it mildly, a technical challenge.
"Ten years ago you couldn't possibly have done it," Andrew Craig, senior project manager onboard Odyssey Marine vessel Explorer, told the BBC.
"It would have cost so much. Just getting a work class ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) to 5,000m - they're just not built because there's so little requirement for them."
Explorer's onboard ROV, a 6.5-tonne vehicle named Zeus, proved up to the job. It took 3.5 hours for Zeus to make each journey between the ship and the site of the wreck.
With any sort of deep sea exploration, positioning is crucial. The proverbial needle in the haystack is much harder to find when it's floating in gallons of sea water, surrounded by marine life, and you can't use your fingers to feel for it.
"You want to know to within 10-15cm where things are - and you need to be able to go back to them repeatedly," says Mr Craig.
In addition to Explorer's onboard sonar scanners and magnetometers (a kind of deep sea metal detector also used by the military to seek out submarines), Zeus has been equipped with an Inertial Navigation System.
This captures a range of data from numerous sensors, not only to navigate a path, but also to remember where it has been. It cost over £100,000 ($157,000; €126,000) and is just one of many sensors used by the team in guiding the ROV.
The technology advances still on Andrew Craig's wish list are surprisingly familiar.
The first is better wireless communication - ROVs still need to send data and receive instructions by fibre-optic cable, meaning they remain tethered to the ship.
The second is truly universal - better battery life.
"On our largest dive the ROV spent five and a half days on the bottom," he says.
"But we had to come up when the battery went on the beacon."
It's fair to say that deep sea shipwreck exploration is eye-wateringly expensive.
The cost of running a research ship such as the Explorer is about $35,000 (£22,000; €28,000) per day, including staff.
Those boats can get through five to 10 tonnes of fuel per day at $1,000 per tonne.
"You can be onboard for six months to a year to do a proper exploration," says Mr Craig. "You're into the millions very quickly."
Not surprisingly, funding is hard to obtain.
Odyssey Marine operates by keeping - and selling - a share of valuable hauls, while handing over items of cultural note. The firm kept 80% of the SS Gairsoppa's silver as part of its tender agreement.
"Odyssey Marine Exploration is very open about its business model," says Dr Sean Kingsley, founder of Wreck Watch and a company consultant.
"The concept ensures that unique cultural artefacts are permanently retained for museum display, while types of trade goods known by the thousands in museums across the world are considered for sale to cover expedition costs.
"Income is cycled back to pay for the expensive science: make no bones about it, deep sea wreck studies is by far the most expensive arena in archaeology," he adds.
Not everybody agrees with this commercialisation.
When Unesco drew up its Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention in 2001 it specifically blocked what it called "commercial exploitation", and encouraged "in situ preservation" as its "preferred option" - permitting the removal of artefacts and the lifting of wrecks only for cultural rather than financial reasons.
Critics of the convention point out that iconic excavation projects like the raising of the Mary Rose would have been inconceivable under its rules, and just 44 of Unesco's 195 member states have ratified it to date
Of course, not all of the world's wrecks are overwhelmingly inaccessible.
It is not uncommon for amateur scuba divers and even beach walkers to also find themselves in possession of shipwreck bounty.
In the UK, a government official called the Receiver of Wreck is responsible for identifying and trying to trace the ownership of any artefacts from the seabed in UK waters - or brought into the country from elsewhere.
In 2013 the department received more than 300 reports detailing more than 36,000 found items - and the majority came from recreational divers, deputy receiver Beccy Austin told the BBC.
The most commonly reported artefacts include portholes, fixtures and fittings, navigational equipment, and ship bells, she says.
The department has one year to attempt to establish ownership.
"The law says the onus is on the owner to prove ownership, but lots of owners don't realise they are the owners," says Ms Austin.
"Reaction is varied - some are really interested, others see their wreck as a liability."
Often those owners will be government defence ministries or insurance companies.
Many simply allow the finder to keep their find, although they have no legal right to do so, she adds.
Astonishingly, about 60% of finds are traced to their rightful owner, but if the investigation fails, the artefact becomes the property of the Crown.
Either way, the finder is entitled to a salvage award, which is negotiated by the finder and owner - a fair combination of a percentage of the market value plus the effort gone to by the salver. It can be up to 90%.
The Crown, however, does not pay the award - the Receiver will generally try to find a suitable museum for the artefact.
Sometimes ancient material can find a surprising new lease of life once it is back on land.
In 2010 Italy's National Institute of Nuclear Physics used 120 ingots of lead, retrieved from a Roman shipwreck, to conduct a major investigation into neutrinos. 8)
The ancient lead was useful because it had lost all its radioactivity - but Donatella Salvi, an archaeologist at the National Archaeological Museum in Cagliari where it had been kept, admitted to the science journal Nature that handing the ingots over was "painful".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30231421
Lots of photos on page.
By Zoe Kleinman, Technology reporter, BBC News
Far beneath the ocean waves, nestling silently on cold dark sea beds around the world, lie the remains of about three million shipwrecks.
And that's a conservative estimate by Unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
They have fascinated generations of artists, writers, anthropologists and scientists.
Many mark the final resting place of their crew and passengers. Some are hundreds of years old, a time capsule from distant ways of life.
All are guardians of the treasures that sank along with them - be they in the form of uniquely preserved cultural heritage or cold hard cash.
Excavators of the Tudor ship the Mary Rose, which sank off the English coast in 1545, found 500 pairs of shoes among the 19,000 artefacts retrieved from the site, many of which are now on display.
The SS Gairsoppa on the other hand, a steam ship sunk by a German U-boat off the Irish coast in 1941, went down with over 110 tonnes of silver on board.
In 2010 a US-based company called Odyssey Marine Exploration won a tender put out by the government to retrieve that silver from its resting place, 4,500m below sea level - one mile deeper than the Titanic.
That sort of depth can only be reached by machine (the deepest recorded human scuba dive is currently 332m, according to Guinness World Records) and getting there is, to put it mildly, a technical challenge.
"Ten years ago you couldn't possibly have done it," Andrew Craig, senior project manager onboard Odyssey Marine vessel Explorer, told the BBC.
"It would have cost so much. Just getting a work class ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) to 5,000m - they're just not built because there's so little requirement for them."
Explorer's onboard ROV, a 6.5-tonne vehicle named Zeus, proved up to the job. It took 3.5 hours for Zeus to make each journey between the ship and the site of the wreck.
With any sort of deep sea exploration, positioning is crucial. The proverbial needle in the haystack is much harder to find when it's floating in gallons of sea water, surrounded by marine life, and you can't use your fingers to feel for it.
"You want to know to within 10-15cm where things are - and you need to be able to go back to them repeatedly," says Mr Craig.
In addition to Explorer's onboard sonar scanners and magnetometers (a kind of deep sea metal detector also used by the military to seek out submarines), Zeus has been equipped with an Inertial Navigation System.
This captures a range of data from numerous sensors, not only to navigate a path, but also to remember where it has been. It cost over £100,000 ($157,000; €126,000) and is just one of many sensors used by the team in guiding the ROV.
The technology advances still on Andrew Craig's wish list are surprisingly familiar.
The first is better wireless communication - ROVs still need to send data and receive instructions by fibre-optic cable, meaning they remain tethered to the ship.
The second is truly universal - better battery life.
"On our largest dive the ROV spent five and a half days on the bottom," he says.
"But we had to come up when the battery went on the beacon."
It's fair to say that deep sea shipwreck exploration is eye-wateringly expensive.
The cost of running a research ship such as the Explorer is about $35,000 (£22,000; €28,000) per day, including staff.
Those boats can get through five to 10 tonnes of fuel per day at $1,000 per tonne.
"You can be onboard for six months to a year to do a proper exploration," says Mr Craig. "You're into the millions very quickly."
Not surprisingly, funding is hard to obtain.
Odyssey Marine operates by keeping - and selling - a share of valuable hauls, while handing over items of cultural note. The firm kept 80% of the SS Gairsoppa's silver as part of its tender agreement.
"Odyssey Marine Exploration is very open about its business model," says Dr Sean Kingsley, founder of Wreck Watch and a company consultant.
"The concept ensures that unique cultural artefacts are permanently retained for museum display, while types of trade goods known by the thousands in museums across the world are considered for sale to cover expedition costs.
"Income is cycled back to pay for the expensive science: make no bones about it, deep sea wreck studies is by far the most expensive arena in archaeology," he adds.
Not everybody agrees with this commercialisation.
When Unesco drew up its Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention in 2001 it specifically blocked what it called "commercial exploitation", and encouraged "in situ preservation" as its "preferred option" - permitting the removal of artefacts and the lifting of wrecks only for cultural rather than financial reasons.
Critics of the convention point out that iconic excavation projects like the raising of the Mary Rose would have been inconceivable under its rules, and just 44 of Unesco's 195 member states have ratified it to date
Of course, not all of the world's wrecks are overwhelmingly inaccessible.
It is not uncommon for amateur scuba divers and even beach walkers to also find themselves in possession of shipwreck bounty.
In the UK, a government official called the Receiver of Wreck is responsible for identifying and trying to trace the ownership of any artefacts from the seabed in UK waters - or brought into the country from elsewhere.
In 2013 the department received more than 300 reports detailing more than 36,000 found items - and the majority came from recreational divers, deputy receiver Beccy Austin told the BBC.
The most commonly reported artefacts include portholes, fixtures and fittings, navigational equipment, and ship bells, she says.
The department has one year to attempt to establish ownership.
"The law says the onus is on the owner to prove ownership, but lots of owners don't realise they are the owners," says Ms Austin.
"Reaction is varied - some are really interested, others see their wreck as a liability."
Often those owners will be government defence ministries or insurance companies.
Many simply allow the finder to keep their find, although they have no legal right to do so, she adds.
Astonishingly, about 60% of finds are traced to their rightful owner, but if the investigation fails, the artefact becomes the property of the Crown.
Either way, the finder is entitled to a salvage award, which is negotiated by the finder and owner - a fair combination of a percentage of the market value plus the effort gone to by the salver. It can be up to 90%.
The Crown, however, does not pay the award - the Receiver will generally try to find a suitable museum for the artefact.
Sometimes ancient material can find a surprising new lease of life once it is back on land.
In 2010 Italy's National Institute of Nuclear Physics used 120 ingots of lead, retrieved from a Roman shipwreck, to conduct a major investigation into neutrinos. 8)
The ancient lead was useful because it had lost all its radioactivity - but Donatella Salvi, an archaeologist at the National Archaeological Museum in Cagliari where it had been kept, admitted to the science journal Nature that handing the ingots over was "painful".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30231421
Lots of photos on page.
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I'm a bit baffled by this story. SS Great Britain was rescued from the Falklands in 1970, taken back to Bristol (where she had been built) and put on public display. She has since been completely renovated.
http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/story
According to Wiki:
"When launched in 1843, Great Britain was by far the largest vessel afloat. However, her protracted construction and high cost had left her owners in a difficult financial position, and they were forced out of business in 1846 after the ship was stranded by a navigational error.
Sold for salvage and repaired, Great Britain carried thousands of immigrants to Australia until converted to sail in 1881. Three years later, she was retired to the Falkland Islands where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship and coal hulk until scuttled in 1937."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Britain
So the title of the article is in error - Mark Horton is not investigating a wreck site, but a grounding site (probably just a groove in the sea bed!)
I went aboard the ship in Bristol in the early 70s, when the restoration was just getting underway. I have a few photos, but they're not on my computer at present - I may dig them out later.
Meanwhile, I'm sure some Bristolians can verify that the ship is still there!
http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/story
According to Wiki:
"When launched in 1843, Great Britain was by far the largest vessel afloat. However, her protracted construction and high cost had left her owners in a difficult financial position, and they were forced out of business in 1846 after the ship was stranded by a navigational error.
Sold for salvage and repaired, Great Britain carried thousands of immigrants to Australia until converted to sail in 1881. Three years later, she was retired to the Falkland Islands where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship and coal hulk until scuttled in 1937."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Britain
So the title of the article is in error - Mark Horton is not investigating a wreck site, but a grounding site (probably just a groove in the sea bed!)
I went aboard the ship in Bristol in the early 70s, when the restoration was just getting underway. I have a few photos, but they're not on my computer at present - I may dig them out later.
Meanwhile, I'm sure some Bristolians can verify that the ship is still there!
JamesWhitehead
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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen: 'I've found wreck of long-lost WWII Japanese battleship'
Wreck of Japanese warship located by joint-founder of Microsoft more than half a mile beneath the surface
By Julian Ryall, Tokyo
3:29PM GMT 04 Mar 2015
The wreck of the largest battleship ever constructed has been located off the Philippines by Paul Allen, the joint-founder of Microsoft, more than 70 years after it was sunk during the Second World War.
Avid underwater explorer Mr Allen posted images on his Twitter feed of the Musashi, the colossal Japanese warship sunk by US forces at the 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Ghostly images of the coral-encrusted bow taken at a depth of more than half a mile on Monday showed the chrysanthemum crest of the Japanese imperial family.
Other shots showed one of the vessel’s two 15-ton anchors and a valve coated with marine growth.
...
In October[1943], the Musashi was dispatched with a fleet of 67 vessels to throw back the American landings on the Philippine island of Leyte. Spotted by reconnaissance aircraft from the US fleet on October 24, the Musashi was hit early in the encounter by a torpedo that reduced her speed and manoeuverabilty.
Waves of attacks by US aircraft caused damage the length of the warship - US records state that the Musashi was hit by 19 torpedoes and 17 bombs - until she capsized and sank.
Of the 2,399-man crew, just 1,376 were recovered. Captain Toshihira Inoguchi chose to go down with his vessel.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ck-of-long-lost-WWII-Japanese-battleship.html
Wreck of Japanese warship located by joint-founder of Microsoft more than half a mile beneath the surface
By Julian Ryall, Tokyo
3:29PM GMT 04 Mar 2015
The wreck of the largest battleship ever constructed has been located off the Philippines by Paul Allen, the joint-founder of Microsoft, more than 70 years after it was sunk during the Second World War.
Avid underwater explorer Mr Allen posted images on his Twitter feed of the Musashi, the colossal Japanese warship sunk by US forces at the 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Ghostly images of the coral-encrusted bow taken at a depth of more than half a mile on Monday showed the chrysanthemum crest of the Japanese imperial family.
Other shots showed one of the vessel’s two 15-ton anchors and a valve coated with marine growth.
...
In October[1943], the Musashi was dispatched with a fleet of 67 vessels to throw back the American landings on the Philippine island of Leyte. Spotted by reconnaissance aircraft from the US fleet on October 24, the Musashi was hit early in the encounter by a torpedo that reduced her speed and manoeuverabilty.
Waves of attacks by US aircraft caused damage the length of the warship - US records state that the Musashi was hit by 19 torpedoes and 17 bombs - until she capsized and sank.
Of the 2,399-man crew, just 1,376 were recovered. Captain Toshihira Inoguchi chose to go down with his vessel.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ck-of-long-lost-WWII-Japanese-battleship.html
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Fugitive US treasure hunter Thompson pleads guilty
8 April 2015
A US treasure hunter - who spent years evading authorities - will go to prison rather than testify about gold he discovered in a historic shipwreck.
Tommy Thompson was arrested on a criminal contempt warrant for evading a civil case brought by his investors.
They accuse him of cheating them out of promised proceeds from one of the biggest shipwreck hauls in US history.
In 1988 Thompson recovered millions of dollars' worth of gold from a ship that sank off the US coast in 1857.
Thompson went missing in 2012 amid demands he appear in court. He and an associate, Alison Antekeier, were arrested in January in Boca Raton, Florida.
They had been at the hotel for two years, paying cash for their room under a false name and using taxis and public transport to avoid detection.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Thompson's plea deal with prosecutors requires him to turn over $425,380 (£286,000) to the court, money that was seized when he was arrested.
Under the deal, Thompson will be sent to prison for no more than two years, but in exchange the government will not charge him with other offences arising from the case.
etc...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/32227348
8 April 2015
A US treasure hunter - who spent years evading authorities - will go to prison rather than testify about gold he discovered in a historic shipwreck.
Tommy Thompson was arrested on a criminal contempt warrant for evading a civil case brought by his investors.
They accuse him of cheating them out of promised proceeds from one of the biggest shipwreck hauls in US history.
In 1988 Thompson recovered millions of dollars' worth of gold from a ship that sank off the US coast in 1857.
Thompson went missing in 2012 amid demands he appear in court. He and an associate, Alison Antekeier, were arrested in January in Boca Raton, Florida.
They had been at the hotel for two years, paying cash for their room under a false name and using taxis and public transport to avoid detection.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Thompson's plea deal with prosecutors requires him to turn over $425,380 (£286,000) to the court, money that was seized when he was arrested.
Under the deal, Thompson will be sent to prison for no more than two years, but in exchange the government will not charge him with other offences arising from the case.
etc...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/32227348
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ARTIFACTS LOST IN SHIPWRECK 191 YEARS AGO RETURNED TO HAWAII
LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) -- A museum in Hawaii is preparing to open a treasure-trove of artifacts from the shipwreck of a royal yacht sunk off the coast of Kauai 191 years ago.
Richard Rogers, a Hawaii shipwreck chaser, worked with scientists from the Smithsonian Institution to dredge up the findings from the ship owned by King Kamehameha II, aka Liholiho, the second king of Hawaii.
"We found gold, silver, Hawaiian poi pounders, gemstones, a boat whistle, knives, forks, mica, things from all over the world, high- and low-end European stuff. Every bit of it is royal treasure," Rogers said.
...
Full Article at:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HAWAIIAN_ARTIFACTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) -- A museum in Hawaii is preparing to open a treasure-trove of artifacts from the shipwreck of a royal yacht sunk off the coast of Kauai 191 years ago.
Richard Rogers, a Hawaii shipwreck chaser, worked with scientists from the Smithsonian Institution to dredge up the findings from the ship owned by King Kamehameha II, aka Liholiho, the second king of Hawaii.
"We found gold, silver, Hawaiian poi pounders, gemstones, a boat whistle, knives, forks, mica, things from all over the world, high- and low-end European stuff. Every bit of it is royal treasure," Rogers said.
...
Full Article at:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HAWAIIAN_ARTIFACTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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A moving story:
Record dive rescues $50m wartime silver from ocean floor
15 April 2015
In the deepest salvage operation in history, a British-led team has recovered a $50m (£34m; €47m) trove of coins that has lain on the seabed since the steamship carrying them from Bombay to England was sunk in 1942.
The SS City of Cairo was torpedoed 772km (480 miles) south of St Helena by a German U-boat and sank to 5,150m.
Its precious cargo - 100 tonnes of silver coins - belonged to HM Treasury.
The silver rupees had been called in by London to help fund the war effort.
But they never made it. The steamship's tall plume of smoke was spotted by a U-boat on 6 November 1942 and it was torpedoed.
Ten minutes later, amid efforts to abandon ship, the City of Cairo was hit with a second torpedo which sealed its fate.
The ship and its cargo was presumed lost until 2011, when a team led by British salvage expert John Kingsford located an unnatural object among the ridges and canyons of their South Atlantic search area.
Under a contract with the UK government, underwater salvagers Deep Ocean Search (DOS) worked for several weeks searching a "jumbled up sea floor" twice the size of London, Mr Kingsford told the BBC.
"We weren't convinced at first," he said. "But you have to give your team their head if they say they've found something, so we looked."
The object was indeed the City of Cairo, and the team recovered a "large percentage" of its £34 million treasure chest. "There was a lot a relief all round," Mr Kingsford said.
The coins have now been melted down in the UK and sold, with the undisclosed sum divided between the treasury - which technically owns the coins - and the salvagers, who take a percentage of the sale.
The salvage was completed in September 2013, but DOS has only now been given permission by the Ministry of Transport to announce it.
As well as the coins, the team brought up the propeller belonging to the second, fatal torpedo.
Shortly after that second torpedo struck 73 years ago, and the last remnants of the City of Cairo disappeared beneath the waves, the U-boat surfaced and approached the survivors' lifeboats.
Its captain, Karl-Freidrich Merten, famously directed them to the nearest land and said: "Goodnight. Sorry for sinking you."
Only six of 311 people aboard died in the sinking, but it would be three weeks before anyone found any of the six lifeboats that had set out for land. In that time, 104 of the 305 survivors died.
The British SS Clan Alpine picked up 154 survivors alive on the way to St Helena and a further 47 were rescued by a British merchant ship, the Bendoran, and taken to Cape Town.
A final lifeboat was discovered 51 days after the sinking, off the coast of South America, with only two of its many passengers alive. In a cruel twist of fate, one of the two men, Third Officer James Allister Whyte, died shortly after when the ship taking him home was torpedoed by a U-boat.
After leaving the wreck for the final time, the divers left a plaque in honour of those who died which read: "We came here with respect."
"It was a special salvage," Mr Kingsford said.
"It does mean a lot...It was a very emotive case, where over a hundred people were lost having been in open boats.
"It meant a lot to our team to find this ship and remember it."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32316599
Record dive rescues $50m wartime silver from ocean floor
15 April 2015
In the deepest salvage operation in history, a British-led team has recovered a $50m (£34m; €47m) trove of coins that has lain on the seabed since the steamship carrying them from Bombay to England was sunk in 1942.
The SS City of Cairo was torpedoed 772km (480 miles) south of St Helena by a German U-boat and sank to 5,150m.
Its precious cargo - 100 tonnes of silver coins - belonged to HM Treasury.
The silver rupees had been called in by London to help fund the war effort.
But they never made it. The steamship's tall plume of smoke was spotted by a U-boat on 6 November 1942 and it was torpedoed.
Ten minutes later, amid efforts to abandon ship, the City of Cairo was hit with a second torpedo which sealed its fate.
The ship and its cargo was presumed lost until 2011, when a team led by British salvage expert John Kingsford located an unnatural object among the ridges and canyons of their South Atlantic search area.
Under a contract with the UK government, underwater salvagers Deep Ocean Search (DOS) worked for several weeks searching a "jumbled up sea floor" twice the size of London, Mr Kingsford told the BBC.
"We weren't convinced at first," he said. "But you have to give your team their head if they say they've found something, so we looked."
The object was indeed the City of Cairo, and the team recovered a "large percentage" of its £34 million treasure chest. "There was a lot a relief all round," Mr Kingsford said.
The coins have now been melted down in the UK and sold, with the undisclosed sum divided between the treasury - which technically owns the coins - and the salvagers, who take a percentage of the sale.
The salvage was completed in September 2013, but DOS has only now been given permission by the Ministry of Transport to announce it.
As well as the coins, the team brought up the propeller belonging to the second, fatal torpedo.
Shortly after that second torpedo struck 73 years ago, and the last remnants of the City of Cairo disappeared beneath the waves, the U-boat surfaced and approached the survivors' lifeboats.
Its captain, Karl-Freidrich Merten, famously directed them to the nearest land and said: "Goodnight. Sorry for sinking you."
Only six of 311 people aboard died in the sinking, but it would be three weeks before anyone found any of the six lifeboats that had set out for land. In that time, 104 of the 305 survivors died.
The British SS Clan Alpine picked up 154 survivors alive on the way to St Helena and a further 47 were rescued by a British merchant ship, the Bendoran, and taken to Cape Town.
A final lifeboat was discovered 51 days after the sinking, off the coast of South America, with only two of its many passengers alive. In a cruel twist of fate, one of the two men, Third Officer James Allister Whyte, died shortly after when the ship taking him home was torpedoed by a U-boat.
After leaving the wreck for the final time, the divers left a plaque in honour of those who died which read: "We came here with respect."
"It was a special salvage," Mr Kingsford said.
"It does mean a lot...It was a very emotive case, where over a hundred people were lost having been in open boats.
"It meant a lot to our team to find this ship and remember it."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32316599
FrKadash
Justified & Ancient
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''Pirate Capt Kidd's 'treasure' found in Madagascar''
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32621444
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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It's huge!!!
Worth about 23 grand.
Worth about 23 grand.
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That'll be a huge amount of melted-down jewelry and other silverware. I wonder how pure it is? Could be some pewter and other stuff got in there too.Yup, heard about this on t'wireless. A 50kg silver bar! 50kg!
Today, the original items would have probably been worth more, as antiques. Especially if the Captain Kidd provenance could be proved.
But maybe not - because the descendents of his victims might try to reclaim them!
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Fortea Morgana :) PeteByrdie certificated Princess
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It's all rather exciting!
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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You might be right about the melted-down loot bit - they probably made that rough ingot themselves, to concentrate the treasure for easy carrying & hiding.
It has '95' marked on it, which I suspect may be the pirate's estimate of its purity.
92.5% is the purity of Sterling, which was the standard even back in the 17th century.
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Fortea Morgana :) PeteByrdie certificated Princess
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Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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Ah...good point... didn't think of that...or.. or..... there's 94 others to find!
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There is more down there!
"Captain's Kidd's treasure is the stuff of legends. People have been looking for it for 300 years. To literally have it hit me on the head - I thought what the heck just happened to me. I really didn't expect this," Mr Clifford said.
"There's more down there. I know the whole bottom of the cavity where I found the silver bar is filled with metal. It's too murky down there to see what metal, but my metal detector tells me there is metal on all sides."
The BBC's Martin Vogl tweets that there is much excitement in Madagascar about the discovery and Mr Clifford's team has no doubt that the discovery is genuine.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32621444
"Captain's Kidd's treasure is the stuff of legends. People have been looking for it for 300 years. To literally have it hit me on the head - I thought what the heck just happened to me. I really didn't expect this," Mr Clifford said.
"There's more down there. I know the whole bottom of the cavity where I found the silver bar is filled with metal. It's too murky down there to see what metal, but my metal detector tells me there is metal on all sides."
The BBC's Martin Vogl tweets that there is much excitement in Madagascar about the discovery and Mr Clifford's team has no doubt that the discovery is genuine.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32621444
ramonmercado
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Pieces of eight indeed!
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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This is quite a sensational find! Actual real pirate treasure!
Exciting!
Exciting!
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Storms yield Spanish Armada 'treasure' on Sligo shore
17 June 2015
Severe winter storms over the last two years are believed to have led to the recent discovery of relics from the Spanish Armada off the Irish coast.
Cannons from the merchant vessel, La Juliana, have been found in the sands off Streedagh, County Sligo.
Timbers from the exposed wreck began washing ashore in April.
The guns date back to 1588, but are said to be in excellent condition. Two have been taken off the seabed.
One bears a dedication to St Matrona, a saint particularly venerated by the people of Catalonia and Barcelona.
It is dated 1570, the year in which La Juliana was built, putting the identity of the ship beyond doubt, the Irish government has said.
Heather Humphreys, minister for arts, heritage and the gaeltacht, has visited the wreck site.
"We have uncovered a wealth of fascinating and highly significant material, which is more than 425 years old," she said.
"This material is obviously very historically and archaeologically significant."
Two other vessels from the Armada sank nearby in violent storms in September 1588.
More than 1,000 soldiers and mariners drowned when the La Lavia and Santa Maria de Vision went down.
La Juliana traded between Spain and Italy until King Philip II commandeered it for the Armada fleet of 130 ships to invade England and take Queen Elizabeth I's throne.
The boat weighed 860 tons, carried 32 guns, 325 soldiers and had a crew of 70.
A security operation is in place to safeguard the valuable shipwreck site from treasure hunters.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33173267
17 June 2015
Severe winter storms over the last two years are believed to have led to the recent discovery of relics from the Spanish Armada off the Irish coast.
Cannons from the merchant vessel, La Juliana, have been found in the sands off Streedagh, County Sligo.
Timbers from the exposed wreck began washing ashore in April.
The guns date back to 1588, but are said to be in excellent condition. Two have been taken off the seabed.
One bears a dedication to St Matrona, a saint particularly venerated by the people of Catalonia and Barcelona.
It is dated 1570, the year in which La Juliana was built, putting the identity of the ship beyond doubt, the Irish government has said.
Heather Humphreys, minister for arts, heritage and the gaeltacht, has visited the wreck site.
"We have uncovered a wealth of fascinating and highly significant material, which is more than 425 years old," she said.
"This material is obviously very historically and archaeologically significant."
Two other vessels from the Armada sank nearby in violent storms in September 1588.
More than 1,000 soldiers and mariners drowned when the La Lavia and Santa Maria de Vision went down.
La Juliana traded between Spain and Italy until King Philip II commandeered it for the Armada fleet of 130 ships to invade England and take Queen Elizabeth I's throne.
The boat weighed 860 tons, carried 32 guns, 325 soldiers and had a crew of 70.
A security operation is in place to safeguard the valuable shipwreck site from treasure hunters.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33173267
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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Claims that a team of explorers discovered a famous 17th Century pirate shipwreck off the coast of Madagascar have been dismissed by UN experts.
A 50kg (7st 9lb) bar of "silver treasure" recovered from the sea was in fact 95% lead, the UN statement said.
It was presented to Madagascar's president at a special ceremony in May.
The wreckage that the ingot was found in was not that of the ship captained by notorious Scottish pirate William Kidd, the UN investigators added.
A technical team from Unesco, the UN's cultural arm, was sent to investigate the find, which made global headlines.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33524216
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Fortea Morgana :) PeteByrdie certificated Princess
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Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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We were misled by earlier reports. If it's mostly lead, it's really easy to compare it with silver - lead is really soft.
Surprised it took this long to find out.
Surprised it took this long to find out.