Friday, November 4, 2011

Shipwreck articles in November issue of MLSSA Newsletter

The November issue of the MLSSA Newsletter (http://www.mlssa.asn.au/cgi-bin/Newsletters.cgi?year=2011&nl=MLSSA_NL_387_November_2011.htm) includes articles titled: -
"The emigrant ship Electric (Part 2)"
"Local Sea Mysteries – Part1 (The Vivid)"
"Frames Found at Fishery Beach"
"Simms Cove"
Three of these articles will be followed up in the February issue of the newsletter.

Friday, October 7, 2011

List of International shipwrecks on Wikipedia

A short list of international shipwrecks (sunken or grounded & whose remains have been located) can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks.
South Australian wrecks are at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks#South_Australia.

October 2011 MLSSA Newsletter

The October issue of the MLSSA Newsletter includes:
Salvage of an Old Anchor
The Cape Jaffa
The emigrant ship Electric (Part 1)
Visit http://www.mlssa.asn.au/cgi-bin/Newsletters.cgi?year=2011&nl=MLSSA_NL_386_October_2011.htm
for further details.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Shipwreck articles in MLSSA Newsletter

The September issue of the MLSSA Newsletter includes my articles:

The Mass Grave for the Star of Greece, Jervois Basin Ships' Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail, Henry Ferrers and The Story of the Norma


They can all be found at


http://www.mlssa.asn.au/cgi-bin/Newsletters.cgi?year=2011&nl=MLSSA_NL_385_September_2011.htm

Saturday, September 3, 2011

1880 QUEENSLAND SHIPWRECK UNCOVERED BY CYCLONE YASI

The 1880 Queensland shipwreck Belle was uncovered by Cyclone Yasi in February2011. The 2-masted vessel (brigantine) became exposed in Ramsay Bay, nearCardwell when Cyclone Yasi hit north Queensland. The Belle, which was Adelaide-based, sank whilst she was trying torecover cedar timber washed ashore when the Merchantwas wrecked.

Friday, August 12, 2011

More articles in latest MLSSA Newsletter

The August issue of the MLSSA Newsletter includes my articles on the Star of Greece (again), the SA Maritime Museum and the Jervois Basin Ships' Graveyard Trail. "More About the Star of Greece", "My Recent Visit to the SA Maritime Museum" and "Jervois Basin Ships' Graveyard Trail" can all be found at http://www.mlssa.asn.au/cgi-bin/Newsletters.cgi?year=2011&nl=MLSSA_NL_384_August_2011.htm. There is also an article about the Second Valley jetty if you're interested.


Vladimir Putin's lucky find

Russia's Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin took up scuba diving recently. On his 3rd dive, he dived in to 2m of water in the Black Sea and pulled out two discarded 6th-C. urns. It was during an expedition on the southern Russian coast near Ukraine.

4th Expedition to wreck of the Mentor

Greek Culture Ministry divers recently searched British shipwreck the Mentor for the 4th time, looking for sculptures. They only managed to find 19th C. tableware & firearms. The Mentor sank off of the island of Kythera, off southern Greece, 200 years ago. She was supposed to be carrying sculptures from the Parthenon at the time. None have been found, however, after four expeditions to the wreck.

Search for U-boats

· R Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have joined a team of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to search the Graveyard of the Atlantic for the remains of German U-boats.


Saturday, July 9, 2011

Shipwreck articles published recently

My blogging has been quiet as of late, mostly due to my 'newsletter interests'. I am editor for several newsletters such as the MLSSA Newsletter (& Journal), the SDF news sheet & bulletin and The Gangway Bulletin for Stella Maris Adelaide. I can now report, however, that several shipwreck articles appear in recent issues of the MLSSA Newsletter, as follows: -

The Wreck of the Clan Ranald” - see http://www.mlssa.asn.au/cgi-bin/Newsletters.cgi?year=2011&nl=MLSSA_NL_381_May_2011.htm

The Wreck of the Tug TSS Awarua” - see http://www.mlssa.asn.au/cgi-bin/Newsletters.cgi?year=2011&nl=MLSSA_NL_382_June_2011.htm

HMAS Barcoo” - ditto

The Star of Greece” - see http://www.mlssa.asn.au/cgi-bin/Newsletters.cgi?year=2011&nl=MLSSA_NL_383_July_2011.htm

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

466th anniversary of sinking of the Mary Rose

The Mary Rose, the flagship of Henry VIII, sank in The Solent, near Portsmouth on 19th July 1545. The ship’s hull was raised on 11th October 1982. The ship’s iron anchor was raised from the seabed on 11th Oct 2005, the 23rd anniversary of the recovery of its hull.

Anchor raised from Queen Anne's Revenge

According to the web page found at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8543482/Blackbeards-Queen-Annes-Revenge-wreck-reveals-secrets-of-the-real-Pirate-of-the-Caribbean.html , an anchor from the Queen Anne's Revenge has now been raised. Some short video footage can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y18KjA9aCVA . The Queen Anne’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s flagship, ran aground on a sandbank about a mile from shore on 10th June 1718. Blackbeard’s pirate crew had captured the ship, a French slave ship called Concorde near the Caribbean island of St Vincent in November 1717 and renamed it Queen Anne’s Revenge. It became Bleackbeard’s flagship, sailing alongside three smaller sloops. The Queen Anne’s Revenge was in a flotilla of four vessels heading for Beaufort Inlet, in the then British colony of North Carolina, when she ran aground on the sandbank.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

SS Ellen


The Ellen aground at Morgan's Beach in 1908

It seems that the ship's boiler near rocks at Morgan's Beach, 1 1/2miles north of Cape Jervis, was from the 91-ton SS Ellen which was wrecked there on 12th December 1908.

Ex-HMAS Hobart's radar dish

The radar dish from the ex-HMAS Hobart is on display at the Yankalilla Visitor Information Centre. The display is located outside the VIC, adjacent to the museum. There is also an information sign about the Hobart and its scuttling in 2002 to become the artificial Fleurieu Reef in Yankalilla Bay.

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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

AIMA 2011 SHIPWRECK PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION

Congratulations to Karen Byrnes from Roma, Queensland for being the January winner in the 2nd Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology (AIMA) Shipwreck Photography Competition. She won a night’s accommodation at the Merimbula Divers Lodge in NSW and a 1-day dive charter. Karen’s winning entry was published on page 4 of the February issue of Dive Log. Photographers from all over the world are invited to send in their best photos of any shipwrecks or other underwater cultural heritage above or below Australian or New Zealand waters. The competition is being run until December 2011, with judging occurring each month. Any entries received after the 1st of the month will automatically go into the following month's competition. Images must have been taken in 2011. All winners will be announced in Dive Log magazine until January 2012. For further details regarding the AIMA 2011 Shipwreck Photographic Competition, refer to

http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/shipwrecks/photo-competition/index.html.

Discovery of German U-boat SM UC-42

Deatils regarding the discovery of German U-boat SM UC-42 can be found at http://www.global-adventures.us/2011/01/26/sm-uc-42-german-u-boat/ .

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Discovery of LR Doty in Lake Michigan

According to the web page found at http://www.ship-wreck.com/shipwreck/doty/ , the wreck of the steamship LR Doty, which vanished in a storm in 1898, was found at 300' by a group on 16th June 2010. Their video footage revealed that the wreck is upright & intact. The remains of her cargo were still present in her holds. The combination of cold, fresh water & extreme depth has preserved the wreck.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Anchors from HMS Investigator

OVER 200 YEARS AGO, Matthew Flinders and the crew from the Investigator became the 1st to circumnavigate the Australian coast. At daylight on 21st May 1803, Flinders was preparing to depart from Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago off of Western Australia. Middle Island is the largest island in the archipelago. A fresh breeze started driving the Investigator towards rocks before the sails were loosed. Flinders used the ship’s spare anchors to hold her. He then had to cut two anchor cables just before the ship cleared the rocks at noon. Flinders had lost both his best bower anchor and stream anchor. A bower anchor is one at the bow of the ship. The Investigator’s best bower anchor was over 4m long and weighed over 1 tonne. It had giant flukes sharply offset like a massive arrow. The stream anchor was much smaller, being 3m long and weighing about 406kgs. In 1972, Doug Seton from the SA Museum organized an expedition with some of his fellow Underwater Explorers Club of SA members to find and raise the two anchors. Both anchors were located in Goose Island Bay on 14th January 1973 by members of the Underwater Explorers Club of SA. The bay is so-called because Goose Island is situated in the bay, which is on the northern shore of Middle Island. The anchors were both raised up by the lighthouse ship Cape Don on 19th January 1973. They have now been preserved and restored. The best bower anchor is now located at the SA Maritime Museum at Port Adelaide. The stream anchor was placed in Canberra along with an anchor from James Cook’s Endeavour.