(( Shipwreck Central ))

Click on a title for episode synopsis:

Season I
The Search for the Carpathia
The Princess Sophia Tragedy
Steam Ship Atlantic: Death On the Great Lakes
Mary Celeste, Ghost Ship
Leopoldville/Clayquot, Death on Christmas Eve
Runners and Raiders

Season II
Hunley, The First Kill
Mystery Submarine, the Search for Swissair Flight 111
The Search for the Andrea Gail
Vrouw Maria
The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff
Malahat: Queen of the Rumrunners
From Wrecks to Riches

Season III
Kublai Khan's Lost Fleet
Diving the German V-2 Rocket Caves
The Lost Fleet of Santiago de Cuba
Human Torpedos: The Wreck of USS Mississinewa
Sunk at Robinson Crusoe Island - SMS Dresden
Lost at Sea: The Great U.S. Navy Airships Akron & Macon
The Wreck of the Fox: The Arctic Legacy of Franklin

Season IV
The Search for the Avro Arrow Test Flight Models
The Search for the Early Submarines
The Wreck of Arturo Prat's "Esmeralda"
The Search for "Tonquin"
Still on Patrol- The Search for Hitler's U-boat 215
The Search for Bonhomme Richard
Operation Overlord, The Search of Juno Beach

Season V- Airing Now on History Television & The National Geographic Channel
HMS Doterel
Queen of Nassau
Force Z
Rusalka: Czar's Lost Ironclad
U-215 & Alexander Macomb
Death in the Dardanelles
Ship of Ice

Season I

The Search for the Carpathia

More than 300 kilometers off the coast of England, a team of modern adventurers penetrate the ocean's depths using the most sophisticated search equipment, to uncover another of the world's most famous shipwrecks.

Join the sea hunters as they discover the final resting place of the ship that saved the Titanic survivors ... R.M.S. Carpathia.

She is most well known as the ship that rescued 706 survivors from Titanic in April 1912. The Carpathia was sunk by a German U-Boat while traveling in convoy from Liverpool to Boston in July 1918. Just off the beautiful Irish coast in 500 feet of cold clear water, this boat was found by Clive Cussler's NUMA crew after a lengthy and costly search.

It was identified in September 2000. Cussler reported that the Carpathia was standing upright and unbroken in 514 feet of water 120 miles off Fastnet Ireland, debris fanned out from the holes caused by the torpedoes. The Spring of 2001 saw the first archaeological assessment of the site and the Eco-Nova team were there to document the event.

The Cunarder steamer had been captained by Arthur Rostron. On the night of April 15th, 1912, Rostron had picked up the SOS call from Titanic and immediately rushed to her assistance. Carpathia's journey was fraught with challenge, for on the way, she and her valiant officers and crew, had to make their way through the same icebergs as the Titanic- and at full speed.

The result of their mad dash through the frozen ice fields was to rescue several lifeboats with 706 survivors. There was no sign of Titanic. She had sunk hours before. With the survivors on board, Rostron steered Carpathia back to New York. Her captain and crew were acknowledged as heroes. During the course of investigating Carpathia, The Sea Hunters were given a copy of a never before published letter written aboard the Carpathia and describing the subsequent scenes on board, on their way back to New York.

The story of Titanic has gone down in history but how did the heroic Carpathia end her days?

Carpathia's glory was short-lived. Just six years later, fate would place Carpathia once more in the path of tragedy. It was during WWI on July 17, 1918. R.M.S. Carpathia had been pressed into convoy service, carrying troops and supplies across the Atlantic to the raging war. Along this supply line, laying in wait, were sea hunters of a different breed, the deadly German u-boats. Enroute from Liverpool to New York, one of these u-boats, U-55, torpedoed and sank Carpathia.

Join us as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks and explore other true adventures with the Sea Hunters.

The Princess Sophia Tragedy

Near the center of The Lynn Canal - just off the coast of Juneau, Alaska - a team of shipwreck hunters employ the latest sophisticated equipment to uncover the story of the most tragic shipwreck of the Pacific Northwest: the Princess Sophia. Join the Sea Hunters as they explore the final resting place of one of North America's most controversial sinkings: the Princess Sophia.

This is a tale of a captain who rolled the dice against a stormy Alaskan sea and lost, taking his ship, his crew, and every one of his more than 350 passengers to an early grave.

The Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 and smaller booms that followed enticed a flood of treasure seekers north to the Yukon and Alaska. During those years, the hardy coastal steamers of the Canadian Pacific Railroad and her competitors served as the only practical means of transportation in and out of the region. They sailed the Inside Passage along the stunningly beautiful shores of the Alaska Panhandle, carrying freight and passengers to and from the ports of Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle.

One section of that run was the Lynn Canal, a narrow fjord running from Skagway in the north to Juneau at its mouth. It was here - in these waters - that a simple error in judgment led to heartbreak for the entire region. Here, after hours of helpless waiting for rescue, the passengers of the Princess Sophia slipped into a watery grave. Eighty years have passed and still the question echoes in the Alaskan wind - could they have been saved?

Shock waves from the disaster reverberated throughout the entire Northwest.

Businessmen, community figures, planners and personalities - they all died at once, with no one left behind to take their place or to build their memorials. The Sophia tragedy certainly underscored the need for changes in marine safety regulations and procedures.

Sea Hunter team leader John Davis and dive coordinator Mike Fletcher flew to Juneau, Alaska. They intended to explore the reef and dive the wreck that lies beside it. They wanted to learn more about what happened during Sophia's last terrible moments.

Join us again, as we search the oceans of the world, for lost and famous shipwrecks; another true adventure with The Sea Hunters.

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Steam Ship Atlantic, Death on the Great Lakes

At the base of the Great Lakes, near the center of Lake Erie, the sinking of the steamer Atlantic attracted international attention. She tragically sank in the center of Lake Erie not far from a small town, Port Dover, in Ontario, Canada. In 1853, an obscure inventor, Lodner Philips, brought a submarine to the site. Evidence suggests that the early sub was lost diving and never recovered. This submarine, in addition to the treasures of Atlantic creates one of the richest maritime heritage sites in North America. Join the Sea Hunters as they search for what could be one of the world's oldest existing submarines lost on the wrecksite of an early immigrant ship the grand paddle wheel steamer Atlantic.

Today, she remains one of the best-preserved side wheeled steamers, giving us a glimpse back in time to the age of the western frontier when she served as a vital link in the great migration west.

Named for an ocean she would never see, she embodied the power, romance and majesty of her name. Inspired by the spirit of the West she emerged at a time in North American history when the road into the frontier was on the water. The steamship Atlantic story centers on the link of migration at the base of the Great Lakes in Buffalo, New York. Born from the smoke and steam of the burgeoning industrial economy she was struck down early in life,. She sank - carrying down with her the story of that era. Lost were all the worldly possessions of her immigrant passengers along with a gold shipment belonging to the Express Company.

Her tragic sinking became an international news story. As a result, her gold laden wreck would attract some of the world's leading marine salvagers with their state of the art equipment. More than a decade before the confederate Civil War submarine Hunley would make its mark in history, a little known inventor, Lodner Phillips, would bring his patented submarine to the wreck site of Atlantic. The patented submarine of the eccentric Lodner was incredibly advanced for its time. History suggests this vessel was lost at the wreck site and never recovered.

To search for the submarine, the team travelled to the wrecksite of the steamer Atlantic.

Join us again as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks. Another true adventure with the Sea Hunters.

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Mary Celeste, Ghostship

Just off the coast of the mysterious Caribbean island of Haiti, The Sea Hunters dive to explore a conch shell-covered reef that could contain the last remains of another fascinating shipwreck... Join The Sea Hunters as they use sophisticated search equipment to find the last remains of a world famous ghost ship, The Mary Celeste.

No story of the sea has fired the imagination like that of the brigantine Mary Celeste. She was found over a century ago under sail with not a soul on board. Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife and daughter, and six crewmembers were all gone - vanished into the most mysterious of maritime tales. Many of us know the story of this ghost ship, but what happened to Mary Celeste after this unsolved and baffling enigma? Did she ever sail again? Did her cursed bad luck continue? Join the team as they search for the last resting place of history's most famous ghost ship, Mary Celeste.

The team will set a course to one of the poorest places on earth, the nation of Haiti. Mary Celeste met her end in the waters of mysterious Haiti, off a reef. An American consortium purchased her at a rock bottom price, and at the end of 1884, prepared her to sail from Boston to Port au Prince, Haiti. It would be the last voyage she would ever make.

The journey will take them to an unexpected and remarkable island community built completely of conch shells. Could it be true that beneath this layer of coral and conch shells lies not only the remains of the Mary Celeste but evidence of the criminal conspiracy that killed her? Hers has always been a story of tantalizing fragments, daring the listener to fit them together.

Join us again, as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks, another true adventure with The Sea Hunters.

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Leopoldville/Clayoquot: Death of Christmas Eve

December 24, 1944, two U-boats in the Atlantic are still at work late on Christmas Eve. Off the coast of France one sinks the American troop ship Leopoldville sending over 800 GI's to their grave. The other, in an effort to close the convoy ports of North America, sinks the Clayoquot four miles off the shores of North America. Join The Sea Hunters as they dive the depths and tell the story of what happened and what didn't happen on Christmas Eve, 1944.

On December 16th, the last of Hitler's reserves, smashed through the American lines along the forests of the Ardennes and hurtled toward Antwerp and the sea. Throughout allied Europe, men who had been preparing for a quiet Christmas, perhaps the last of the war, were suddenly called into action.

The troop transport Leopoldville was one of the first to mobilize. She left England with over two thousand two hundred American soldiers on route to Cherbourg, France, and the embattled allied forces. But just a few kilometers from her destination, she was torpedoed and eight hundred and two men perished.

When Leopoldville was torpedoed there was mass confusion on board. What followed on board were feats of heroic bravery, and outrageous incompetence, which ultimately resulted in the loss of over seven hundred and sixty three soldiers and crew. Most of those killed were between the ages of eighteen and thirty-one. The survivors were given strict orders not to discuss what had happened that Christmas Eve. At first, families of the dead were told only that their loved one was 'missing in action', and later that they had died in combat, but no details were provided. The details were kept secret by the British and American war departments for over fifty years.

Across the Atlantic at Halifax, the Canadian minesweeper Clayoquot departed with a convoy of troops and supplies for the reeling allied forces. Tragically, on December 24th, she too was struck down by a German U-boat. Ironically, her sinking ultimately saved hundreds of lives. And those who survived that Christmas of 1944 no doubt pay tribute every Christmas Eve to the crew of the minesweeper that saved a convoy.

Clive's finding of the Leopoldville and the team's finding of Clayoquot, helps to write a final chapter in the events that transpired so many years ago.

Join us again as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks, another true adventure with... The Sea Hunters.

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Runners and Raiders

Scattered on the ocean's bottom, thousands of kilometres apart, lie the remains of three vessels linked by their service to a tragic cause. Each is a testament to the desperate naval war waged during the American Civil War, and the innovations of a doomed Confederate navy. Join the Sea Hunters as they explore two vessels which smuggled goods to the rebel armies and the wreck of the most famous open sea raider of the war, the CSS Alabama.

During America's great Civil War, President Lincoln ordered the blockade of all southern ports in an effort to starve the Confederacy into submission. Necessity being the mother of invention, the Confederacy countered by developing a diversified naval strategy. Drawing on the steam technology of the day, two new types of ships were built. One was the blockade-runner, a fast vessel designed to slip past and outrun the ships of the Union navy. The other was the raider, a well-armed warship whose purpose was to strike at the Union commerce on the open sea. These new naval tactics would mark a place in the evolution of naval warfare.

When Confederate shore batteries opened fire on the besieged garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbour, South Carolina on April 8th, 1861, the American Civil War began. The Confederacy faced a very real prospect of slow strangulation as the federal navy grew increasingly effective at intercepting vessels carrying supplies in and out of the south. This quandary would lead to the development of a new phase in the evolution of naval design. With the unofficial help of England, the south would create two new and very different classes of ship - the blockade-runners, for swiftly darting in and out of the harbours under the noses of the Union navy, and the open sea raiders, for the destruction of the enemy merchant fleet.

Two blockade-runners rest in the warm, clear waters off Bermuda. Largely intact, these two wrecks offer unique insights into these highly specialized ships, and into the very nature of Bermuda's involvement in the American Civil War.

Now join us as we visit the last resting places of two blockade-runners and one of the most famous Confederate raiders in history, the CSS Alabama.

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Season II

Hunley - The First Kill

Two historic shipwrecks, separated by five decades and hundreds of kilometres apart, tell the tale of man's newfound ability to strike at his enemies from beneath the sea. Join The Sea Hunters as they search for the remains of two vessels that introduced submarine warfare to the world; Germany's U-21 which drew first blood in the early days of the First World War; and the innovative underwater fighting ship lost by the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War - the H.L. Hunley.

Searching for shipwrecks can be a time consuming venture. The search can last for a day or for a lifetime. Wrecks can be found hiding in the middle of an ocean, in a harbour, or even under the pavement of a parking lot. The uncovering of a long-lost wreck represents the end of a hunt and the beginning of a story. Two shipwrecks that especially intrigue me provide an insight into the development of modern navies. The actions of these two vessels changed the very face of naval warfare forever. They were the first two submarines in history to sink an enemy warship.

Today, the evolution of man's ability to strike from beneath the waves is moving toward its full potential. The two vessels that started us on this evolutionary path were the first underwater warriors. The first of their kind to seek enemy ships in battle. They were Germany's U-21, a gray wolf which drew first blood during the opening days of the First World War; and the extraordinary underwater fighting ship wielded and lost by the Confederacy during the American Civil War, the legendary HL Hunley. These two vessels mark important turning points in the evolution of the modern submarine. And both have gone down in history as the vessels that got the first kill.

The team will voyage to the waters of the North Sea, in search of one of the most celebrated and feared U-boats of the first world war, U-21, and to a state of the art conservation facility in South Carolina to view the famous Hunley, creating a modern day link with these two warriors from the past.

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Mystery Submarine, the Search for Swissair Flight 111

Just off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, the tragic crash of Swiss Air Flight 111 prompted one of the largest underwater recovery missions in history. Join The Sea Hunters as they probe the site, and explore the remains of the mystery ship discovered during the hunt for the doomed jetliner.

On a warm summer night in 1998, Swiss Air Flight 111 fell from the sky into the North Atlantic. This tragic event triggered one of the largest and most extensive search and salvage efforts ever undertaken in the world's oceans. During this incredible search, a long cylindrical object was discovered on the seabed. Initially thought to be a section of the fuselage, it turned out to be unrelated to the aircraft and was of unknown origin. Join the Sea Hunters as they follow the investigation of this tragedy from the sea floor to the laboratory, and dive to uncover the secrets and identity of the mysterious object that could be a long forgotten submarine.

During the First World War, the submarine evolved from a primitive, untried novelty into a strategic weapon which very nearly won the war for Germany. Spurred by the successes of Germany's u-boat fleet, Britain's Royal Navy attempted to create an effective long-range submarine, the L-class was the successful result. Most of the vessels were finished too late to see combat in the First World War. At the outbreak of World War II, only three of these submarines remained in service - the L-23, 26 and 27.

To acquire sub-hunting skills, Canadian sailors and airmen needed to train with real submarines. After years of petitions from the Canadian admiralty, the Royal Navy finally agreed to give Canada some surplus subs. The L class submarine would fulfill this duty and find its way to the coast of Nova Scotia. It might just turn out that the newly discovered object is one of these long forgotten warriors.

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The Search for Andrea Gail

As portrayed in the movie "The Perfect Storm" the Andrea Gail was lost in one of the most inhospitable working environments on earth, off Sable Island, while fishing in the North Atlantic in October. Though the wreck occurred ten years ago this Halloween, she has never been found. It may provide clues to the real ending of the story of the Perfect Storm.

The Nor'easter now known as the Halloween storm of '91 or the "Perfect Storm" was the result of a culmination of meterological events so rare that it occurs maybe once in a century. Waves ten stories high and winds of over 190 kilometers an hour whipped the North Atlantic. The Andrea Gail went down in that storm. Her crew, like so many Gloucestermen before her, would not return to Gloucester's historic docks.

Indeed, Gloucester is an integral part of the history of the North Atlantic fishing fleet. First settled in 1623, Gloucester would eventually build the first schooner, would become arguably one of the largest fishing ports in the world, and would produce the first fisherman to sail across the Atlantic alone. But this proud tradition of skill and indomitability has come with a price - the loss of hundreds of her valiant sons to the ocean.

And it was off one of the most treacherous areas of the North Atlantic ocean, Sable Island, that the Andrea Gail would meet her tragic fate. In fact Sable Island is surrounded by hundreds of shipwrecks. About 90 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, Sable Island is a most unusual ecosystem, unique in the world. This giant sandbar has beguiling beauty: one of the world's only herds of truly wild horses, a vast array of marine mammals and fish, rare sea birds and many uniquely suited plants.

The Sea Hunters will tell the story of this Island by summarizing its legacy of shipwrecks and comparing it to other dangerous places. We will examine the reasons that make this place so deadly for man while at the same time being such a haven for beauty.

Join us again as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks, another true adventure with... The Sea Hunters.

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Vrouw Maria

In 1771, Catherine the Great of Russia lost her famous treasure ship in the Finnish archipelagos. Many have searched for the Vrouw Maria. A Finnish historian has now located it. Join the Sea Hunters as they travel to the Baltic Sea, and become the first foreign cinematographers to join the Finnish National Maritime Museum's underwater archaeologists, in confirming the identity of this vast treasure ship and filming the process of excavation and preservation.

Under Catherine the Great the Russian court became a centre for European culture and the Vrouw Maria was a part of this. She was sailing from Amsterdam to St.Petersburg with a cargo of fairly ordinary merchandise when she encountered a storm off the Finnish coast. Her captain and crew escaped with their lives to a nearby islet and over the next few days proceeded to salvage much of her more mundane cargo. However, the captain and crew were unaware of the valuable treasure trove contained deep within her cargo holds. Her incredible art collection had been a closely guarded secret. Soon, another storm raged over the area and Vrouw Maria was now irretrievably lost to the depths.

The Empress issued orders for salvage attempts but the ship was never found and the story of her riches remained dormant until the 1980's when diplomatic records were discovered by a Finnish historian.

Since then Vrouw Maria has achieved renown as a treasure ship because of her incredible cargo purchased by the famous Empress and other Russian aristocrats. The Empress was well known for her extensive art collecting. Dutch, Flemish, and Italian paintings from the 16th and 17th century are just a part of her cargo. Paintings by Old Masters Rembrandt and Rubens number among them.

But Vrouw Maria's value extends far beyond that of the art treasures contained within her depths. The relatively undamaged framework of the wreck will enable the archaeologists to study the characteristics of Vrouw Maria's vessel type, known as a 'snow' ship. The wreck will reveal secrets on the loading and transportation of the cargo as well as the ship's sailing abilities. Vrouw Maria will also contribute to knowledge about the shipbuilding methods at the end of the 18th century and yield detailed information about European trade of the time, and manufacturing.

Once again the Sea Hunters bare witness to a cultural gem which closes a gap in the historical record, joining the past with the present. It is a fascinating glimpse into an 18th century time capsule.

Join us again as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks, another true adventure with... The Sea Hunters.

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The Sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff

Just off the coast of Poland, deep beneath the icy waters of the Baltic, lie the torn remains of a German ocean liner. The vessel was to have been the salvation of thousands escaping the wrath of the advancing Soviet army, her dash to freedom cut short by three Russian torpedoes. Join the Sea Hunters as they explore the site of the greatest single shipwreck tragedy in history, the wreck of the Nazi liner Wilhelm Gustloff.

Disaster at sea is a phrase that makes you think of great ocean liners, sinking with huge loss of life - tragedies like Lusitania, Empress of Ireland, and of course, Titanic. Ships whose death toll exceeded one thousand lives. But imagine a wreck that sank with five times the number of victims as Titanic. It was in the Baltic Sea at the end of the Second World War when a ship crammed with over ten thousand men, women and children, fleeing the advancing Russian Army sank carrying with it nine thousand of these refugees who became the forgotten victims of the largest maritime disaster in the history of the world. The Sea Hunters will be the first group to explore the wreck with the aim of publishing the findings.

The team travels to the Gulf of Gdansk, where Wilhelm Gustloff's final voyage began. The Sea Hunters and researchers from the Polish Maritime Museum will sail to the wreck from the historic port of Gdansk.

The Wilhelm Gustloff began her career as a public relations tool for the Nazi regime. Named after a martyr, the assassinated leader of the Swiss Nazi party, the Wilhelm Gustloff was built as a cruise ship for the German worker. The cruise ship career of the Willie G. as she was called came to an end when the war was declared. In 1940, she was assigned to a the newly captured Polish Port of Gdynia to serve as barracks for German U-boat submariners.

In 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, a massive invasion of Russia by an army of approximately three million Germans. Germany had made a huge mistake by invading the Soviet Union. The Soviet winters and sheer ferocity of the resistance had been too much. The Germans were beaten back and forced to retreat to East Prussia, where they found themselves flanked by forces closing in on all sides. Panicked with nowhere to go millions of refugees mostly old men, women and children fled north to the Baltic. With the Soviets closing in, their most likely salvation would be to find ships that could carry them west over the Baltic and home to mother Germany. Thus, the Wilhelm Gustloff would take part in the largest sea evacuation operation in history.

Join us again as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks. Another true adventure with the Sea Hunters.

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Malahat: Queen of the Rumrunners

Within a man made breakwater of derelict ships on Canada's west coast, lies a possible relic from a fascinating era in American history - the rip-roaring time known as prohibition. Join the Sea Hunters as they seek the last resting place of the most famous smuggling ship on the west coast, the fabled, Queen of the Rum Runners, Malahat.

From the years 1920 to 1933, America was thirsty for beer and whiskey. By turning off the tap, anti-saloon do-gooders unwittingly created a sub culture that inspired gangsters, speakeasies and organized crime. Seeing an opportunity, many resourceful Canadians were happy to become suppliers and the rumrunner was born. Mariners on the eastern seaboard, across the Great Lakes and along the west coast, happily embraced the smuggling of liquor for fast and easy profits. One of the finest examples of a rum-running wreck is that of the fabled Queen of Rum Row, Malahat.

Prohibition was an era of gangsters, jazz and bathtub gin. What started out as a noble experiment soon became a multi-million dollar illegal industry controlled by well-run criminal gangs. Crime lords like Al Capone, Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel ruled entire cities buying off police and politicians and gunning down anyone else who got in their way. Small time smugglers gave way to the huge syndicates dealing thousands of cases of liquor across the USA, much of it by sea. During the thirteen years of prohibition, one ship delivered more contraband than any other - the notorious schooner, Malahat.

The story of Malahat begins on Canada's west coast, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The city of Vancouver was the homeport of the Malahat, and the headquarters of Canada's rumrunner fleet. Near the end of World War I, the losses to shipping inflicted by the German u-boat campaign were so great that all available vessels were pressed into the war effort. This left a shortage of ships at home, and Canadian sawmills were left with no way to get their product to the market. After a fierce lobbying campaign, they at last won government funds for the construction of a fleet of schooners. In total twelve schooners were built, the Malahat among them. They were designated Mabel Brown class vessels, and each played their part in the Canadian war effort.

The Sea Hunters have been asked to dive and identify a shipwreck which some claim may be that of the fabled rumrunner. Joining the Sea Hunters in the examination of this wreck is a group of divers from the Underwater Archaeological Society of British Columbia. Almost all underwater archaeology done in British Columbia is done by this volunteer group.

Join us again as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks. Another true adventure with… The Sea Hunters.

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From Wrecks to Riches

Deep below the gray icy waters of the North Atlantic lie two shipwrecks that are blasted and torn, as if by a giant, angry hand. The ships are casualties of war, but it was not enemy action which ripped the wrecks apart. No torpedo could peel open the hull and strip out the cargo so cleanly. This was the work of a Sea Hunter of a different stripe - an entrepreneur who harvested the riches scattered on the ocean floor by two world wars and became history's most successful salvager of sunken wrecks - Britain's Risdon Beazley. Join the Sea Hunters as they dive two shipwrecks, the Russian transport ship Kolkosnik and the Swedish ship Kapaaren. The Kapaaren and the Kolkosnik, are off Halifax, Nova Scotia. Both ships were salvaged by Risdon Beazley… where we can still find valuable cargo he left behind.

The early days of the Twentieth Century brought about tremendous changes in technology and industry. The raw materials for these industries led to an expansion of mining around the globe. As technology grew more sophisticated, so did the need for specialized metals and minerals. The two world wars drove the development of modern industry into high gear. World War One took warfare from the age of cavalry, chivalry and carrier pigeons into the mechanized era of tanks, aircraft, machine guns and wireless communication.

Two decades later, Nazi Germany employed the latest technology to overcome most of Europe. Britain found herself alone in Europe staring across the Channel at Germany's modern air force, navy and panzer armies. Meeting this threat and matching her enemy's weapons required supplies from the nations of her empire and from her ally, the USA. Soon, convoys of ships were braving the U-boat wolf packs, laden with food, manufactured goods and the raw materials Britain needed to manufacture weapons. It was the Liberty ships laden with thousands of tons of copper, lead, tin, aluminium which permitted Britain to build the Spitfires of the Royal Air Force, the torpedo boats of the Royal Navy and the electronics which gave her forces the edge over their German adversaries.

Thousands of these vessels never completed their voyage. Many were the victims of German air attack, others were lost to German surface vessels. The vast majority, however, were destroyed by Germany's deadly U-boats - sent to the bottom with their desperately needed cargos. During World War II, Risdon Beazley's small firm took on all the salvage work the Royal Navy could provide and by war's end, it was established as the most experienced and best equipped salvage company in Britain. Beazley then set his sights beyond the harbours of Britain and began a career which would take his vessels to every corner of the globe.

Join us again as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks. Another true adventure with the Sea Hunters.

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Season III

Kublai Khan’s Lost Fleet

Kublai Khan, the grandson of the great Genghis Khan, proclaimed himself ruler of the Mongols in 1260. Under his rule, the Mongol territory grew to the largest land Empire in history stretching from the eastern shores of China and Korea to Syria in the Middle East and Romania in Europe. But just off the coast of Korea, sat the kingdom of Japan – protected from the Mongols’ grasp by less than 200 kilometres of storm-swept sea. In 1268, Kublai Khan sent envoys to the emperor and government of Japan demanding that the Japanese subjugate themselves to the Khan’s authority. The Japanese military dictatorship, the bakufu, ignored the Khan’s less than subtle request. Angrily, the Khan ordered his vassals in the newly conquered Korea to assemble a fleet for the invasion of Japan. In the fall of 1274, nine hundred ships carrying possibly 30,000 to 40,000 men set sail across the narrow straits between Korea and Japan’s Kyushu coast. Because of its proximity to the Asian mainland Kyushu is considered by many to be the birthplace of Japanese culture and the area through which mainland methods of writing, pottery making, and tea cultivation may have entered into Japan.

After attacking Japanese coastal islands, the Mongol forces landed at various points along Hakata Bay. Usually a route for trade, these waters became a highway for war. Thousands of samurai and warriors rushed to resist the invaders. After a day of savage combat, with the skies darkening and the threat of a storm imminent, the warriors retreated inland and the Mongols retired to their ships. Then suddenly the skies opened and a terrific storm erupted over the Mongol fleet. Against the sudden gales and towering waves, the vessels were defenseless. By some accounts, hundreds of ships and over thirteen thousand men were lost. The surviving invaders were forced to retreat.

But Kublai Khan would not be denied. Months later, in 1275, and then again in 1279, he sent further delegations to demand Japanese subservience. These delegations were received less courteously. The unfortunate envoys were beheaded. Kublai Khan now proceeded to build an even larger fleet. In early summer 1281, thousands of ships and over a hundred thousand men – sailed eastward, bent on conquering Japan. The Mongol Empire was the superpower of the day and their massive invasions of Japan would not be matched in size and scope until the Normandy Invasion of 1944.The Japanese were ready. They had constructed a defensive wall around Hakata Bay - which prevented the Mongols from sweeping across the beaches and invading further inland.”

Weeks of savage combat ensued. By this time, the second and larger of the two fleets, had finally arrived in nearby waters and the great Mongol armada prepared to attack Takashima Island. It was now late summer, and the Japanese beseeched their gods for help. The legend tells us, that the gods heard their prayers. A terrifying “typhoon” struck the Takashima area, reportedly sinking 4,000 Mongol ships and bringing death to more than half their force, perhaps 100,000 men. For the second time, the gods had unleashed the kamikaze upon the enemies of Japan, effectively ending the threat of Kublai Khan conquering the island nation. Nearly seven centuries later, inspired by the ancient victory, thousands of young men would attempt to conjure up the kamikaze once more – sacrificing their lives against a new and deadly enemy of Japan.

The “Sea Hunters” led by Marine Archaeologist James Delgado, are invited to dive the waters of Kakata Bay and using a low frequency sub bottom profiler, will search for remains of the Mongol fleet. Working with the staff of the Mongol Museum on Takashimi Island, the Sea Hunters will search for Mongol ships and artifacts that have lain undisturbed on the ocean floor for over 700 years.

Deep beneath a mountain in central Germany, a team of underwater explorers dive the ruins of a secret Nazi missile factory. Join the Sea Hunters as they explore underground tunnels flooded since just after World War II, where thousands of men died constructing the Vengeance Weapons of Adolph Hitler.” Germany’s defeat in World War I was sealed with the Treaty of Versailles, which restricted the Germans by denying them an effective army, air force or artillery. Soon German generals were exploring loopholes in order to re-arm. Their search led to a small group of amateur rocketry enthusiasts in a suburb of Berlin. In 1932, the most promising of these rocketeers, 20-year-old Wernher von Braun, accepted a position with the Army’s weapons development center in Kummersdorf, near Berlin. Von Braun hoped that the army’s deep pockets would finance his dream of putting a rocket into space.

Two months after von Braun began work with the Wehrmacht, Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany. As the Nazis began to re-arm, rocket research began to benefit from increased funding, and eventually, would gain high priority. Hitler was focused on ballistic missiles raining upon enemy cities hundreds of kilometers away.” A large research and manufacturing complex was built amidst the forest at Peenemünde, on an island off Germany’s Baltic coast. Today, in the quiet villages nearby, there is little left to remind the visitor that this was once the home of the foremost rocket scientists in the world. The prototypes of this jet-propelled flying bomb, later designated the V1, were first tested here. Eventually manufactured in the thousands, the V1’s were launched against targets in Britain and Belgium. Hitler’s interest in the program waxed and waned, but when the Allies stepped up their bombing of German cities, he seized upon the missiles as weapons of revenge. The missiles of Peenemünde were given new names. The flying bomb would be known as Vengeance Weapon One; and von Braun’s missile would become infamous as the V2.”

After an allied raid on Peenemunde a new facility was established for weapons production - ‘Mittelwerk’, would occupy tunnels carved into the Harz mountains by decades of gypsum mining. Near the town of Nordhausen, the tunnels extended almost two kilometers into the mountain, providing over one million cubic meters of underground space. The prison laborers lived in the tunnels in a Buchenwald sub-camp given the name ‘Dora’. Soon the name became synonymous with death

Join Sea Hunter James Delgado and the Sea Hunter Dive Team as they complete a video survey of the now flooded tunnels of Dora. The main test frame where the V-2s were prepared for launch is now under nine meters of water.

The Lost Fleet of Santiago de Cuba

In February 1898, Cuba’s three-year struggle for independence from Spain and fears for American lives and property in Cuba convinced President William McKinley to send the battleship USS Maine to “show the flag”. When Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana Harbor, suspicions of Spanish treachery led to war. As troops trained and assembled to sail to Cuba, the US Navy dispatched a squadron of ships. Spain also rushed its navy to Cuban waters.

The Spanish fleet lay out of reach of the American ships inside the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, protected by 16th century forts at its narrow entrance. To keep the Spaniards bottled up, the Navy sent the collier Merrimac, under heavy Spanish fire, into the narrow channel, where the crew scuttled it. Merrimac was the first ship lost in the Spanish American War.

Ironically, the Spaniards ultimately sent their own block ship Reina Mercedes, to close off the channel and keep the Americans out. The attempt failed when the Spanish ship drifted out of the channel and sank in the shallows. Ultimately, the Spanish Admiral, forced by his superiors to steam out of the harbor, ran past a gauntlet of US Navy ships standing off and waiting for his desperate sortie.

In a running battle along 80 miles of the Cuban coast, the Spanish ships sank, often at point blank range as the US Navy’s Squadron pursued them. The Battle of Santiago, the first naval victory of the war, opened the way into Santiago. Not long after the naval victory, American troops ashore overwhelmed Spanish forces protecting the city – notably at the Battle of San Juan Hill, and ended the war.

The wrecks of the Spanish fleet lie in shallow water along the coast, - many never explored by divers. The wreck of Merrimac, cleared from the channel, may have left traces, even pieces of the ship. The Sea Hunters, working from historical accounts and using high-tech equipment, search for Merrimac, while also exploring the sunken Spanish torpedo destroyers, cruisers and battleships. Their detailed look at a forgotten naval battle that secured and American victory in Cuba – a highly controversial battle, even today, is also a detailed look at the scenes of the war, including rare footage (particularly for American viewers) not only of the wrecks, but of the forts, the sites of battle and the monuments of the battles, all left untouched by Revolutionary Cuba.

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Human Torpedoes: The Wreck of USS Mississinewa

On the Ulithi Atoll, South of Guam lays the wreckage of the USS Mississinewa, a fuel carrying cargo vessel. She was sunk on November 20, 1944 and carries the distinction of being the only vessel confirmed to have been sunk by a Japanese torpedo manned by a Kamikaze pilot who steered the torpedo, a “Kaiten” or “heaven Shaker” to its target and to his own death. Next to the wreckage of the Mississinewa lays a cylindrical object, which could only be the only “suicide torpedo” ever located in the field of battle. Sea Hunter James Delgado, one of the few scholars to study these unique craft, journeys to the Ulithi Atoll to determine just what lies on the bottom and what really happened to the “Mississinewa”.

Sunk at Robinson Crusoe Island – SMS Dresden

In May of 1914, the German Light Cruiser “Dresden” was trapped and sunk by British destroyers. She had been at anchor at Robinson Crusoe Island, 400 miles off the coast of Santiago Chile. Many of her crew were killed and the remainder were placed in a Chilean prison. One of those captured was Wilhelm Canaris. He later escaped Chile by horseback, entered Argentina, and with the help of German sympathizers returned to Germany near the end of the war. Canaris stayed in the German Navy and rose through the ranks until he became Admiral. On New Year’s Day of 1935, Canaris was named as head of the German Abwehr, the Military Intelligence Service. He served as its chief for the next 9 years and in that time assisted with efforts to overthrow Hitler as well as provide the allies with important information on German troop movements. Eventually, Canaris was hung, at Hitler’s orders in the last two weeks of the war. Join Sea Hunter James Delgado and the Sea Hunter dive team as they dive this important WW1 wreck and trace the path of Canaris, as he escapes to become an enigmatic figure of the German Resistance.

Season IV

Lost at Sea: The Great U.S. Navy Airships Akron and Macon

In April of 1933, the United States Navy Rigid Airship “Akron” crashed off the coast of New Jersey. Seventy-three Navy airmen were lost in this horrifying disaster. The development of rigid airships and “blimps” ended in Europe at the end of the First World War. In the U.S. and Great Britain however, limited programs continued. The Akron was commissioned in 1929 and went into service on October 27, 1931. She was built at the U.S. Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation in Akron Ohio. The Akron was built with the capability of docking and hangaring five aircraft while in flight. This attribute makes her unique. She was a one of a kind war machine, a flying aircraft carrier that could carry fighter and bomber aircraft fully armed and fueled, directly to a target which could be either landlocked or near water. The loss of the Akron represents a fiery and tragic end in the evolution of airborne warfare.

Akron’s sister airship, the Macon, suffered a similar fate by crashing into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Ironically, the Macon was carrying the Akron’s five aircraft when it crashed.

Join James Delgado and The Sea Hunter team as they search for the remains of these two unique vessels of war and tell their fascinating history.

The Wreck of the Fox: The Arctic Legacy of Franklin

“What secrets may be hidden within those wrecked or stranded ships, we know not – what may be buried in the graves of our unhappy countrymen or in caches not yet discovered, we have yet to learn. The bodies and graves, which we were told of have not yet been found; the books, journals have not yet been recovered, and thus left in ignorance and darkness with so little obtained and so much yet to learn. Can it be said and is it fitting to pronounce that the fate of the expedition is ascertained.”
-Lady Jane Franklin

The Franklin Expedition is the Canadian Arctic’s greatest tragedy. The search for Franklin survivors was one of the largest and longest in naval history. Despairing at what she considered to be inaction by the British Admiralty, Lady Jane Franklin dispatched the yacht “Fox” under the command of Captain Francis Leopold McClintock, to search the Arctic for signs of her husband. He arrived in the Arctic in 1858 and began an expensive search, which greatly enlarged the available information on the fate of Franklin and his men.

Join James Delgado and “The Sea Hunters” dive team as they travel to the Canadian Arctic to retrace McClintock’s path and then search for the remains of McClintock’s vessel, the “Fox”, lost in that ice covered white wilderness.

Jim Delgado’s extensive research on the Canadian Arctic and on the search for Franklin has just been published in his newest book, “Across the Top of the World”. Work done by Jim in research along with Eco-Nova’s long established expertise in Arctic search and filming techniques, will bring this story to light and will reopen a fascinating era of British Exploration and Canadian Nation Building.

Join “The Sea Hunters” as they dive under the cold waters of Lake Ontario, at the Pickering Test Site, and off the coast of Maryland, at the American C.I.A. Headquarters at Wallop’s Island, and search for exact replicas, reduced in size, of a plane that was the fastest fighter of its day. Launched by Nike Missiles, these models were propelled at supersonic speeds for test purposes and never recovered. Working with the National Aeronautics Museum in Canada, and the Chief Historian for the U.S. Coast Guard in the United States “The Sea Hunters” will dive both sites and search for the last remnants of the fastest plane that was never built and in the process tell a story of espionage, subterfuge and assassination that starts under the cold waters of the Atlantic and Great Lakes and moves to Bermuda, South Africa, Holland and Iraq.

In the early 1950s Canada found herself geographically sandwiched between the world’s two great super powers. Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were growing more bellicose and, unfortunately for Canada the theatre for any potential acts of war would be Canadian air space.

It was under these tense and uncertain conditions that A.V. Roe Ltd. of Canada began the development of the fastest and most sophisticated fighter aircraft ever developed. No one paid much attention until the first five Arrow fighters appeared on the runway after returning from test flights where they flew at nearly twice the speed of sound. Suddenly the world took notice. The sixth Arrow, with a much larger engine was expected to shatter all international speed records and set the world standard for fighter aircraft.

Then just as this plane was to roll out on the tarmac, the doors at A.V. Roe Ltd. were shut and locked. The entire Arrow work force of 14,000 employees was immediately fired. Many who were in a position to know said that Canada had been muscled out of the industry by the United States. The Canadian Prime Minister, said only that the plane was too expensive and that the project was terminated. All existing Arrows were ordered destroyed along with all plans and parts.

The work on an Air to Air Missile “The Velvet Glove” which was to be wing mounted on the fighter was also terminated and Gerald Bull, the Aero-physicist on the project, moved back to his pet project, ballistic launchers for satellites, or “Super Guns”. His work would take him from Canada to Bermuda to the U.S. to South Africa and finally to Brussels and Iraq. Israel’s “Mossad” would warn him several times not to work with Saddam Hussein, he would later be found at the door of his Brussels apartment with several bullets lodged in the back of his head.

Join “The Sea Hunters” as they dive to find the last artifacts of this twisted tale of intrigue.

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The Search for the Early Submarines

The Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood was founded in 1858 and was known as the “Fenian Brotherhood”. This militantly anti-British group waged a propaganda war in the U.S. for Irish Independence and collected money in a “Skirmishing Fund” intended to support armed activities against British interests. John Holland’s brother James was a member of the “Fenians”, it was through James that the “Fenians” learned of John Holland’s work with submarines. When they approached him he offered to build a submersible warship that could attack and sink British Naval vessels. Holland started his work in1878 and by June of 1881 he had a working 31 ft. submersible that could dive to 50 ft., travel at a surface speed of 9 knots and shoot a dummy warhead from a pneumatic gun to a distance of several hundred yards. His sub was now a formidable new weapon with the potential to inflict heavy damage on the British navy. Concurrent to his work on the “Fenian Ram” Holland was also constructing a 16 ft., 1 ton model with which he intended to perfect his technical designs for submerged navigation. This fully working model submarine embodied all of Holland’s latest and most functional dive and steering mechanisms.

Holland’s steady progress in improving the “Fenian Ram” came to an abrupt halt in November 1883. Segments of the “Brotherhood’s” membership locked in a bitter and divisive struggle over the “Ram’s” potential for actually harming British vessels and over the expenditures being made from the “Skirmish Fund”. Late one night in November, fearing that the “Ram” would be seized in the ongoing legal proceedings, one of the warring factions gained access to Holland’s wharf and stole the “Fenian Ram” and Model #3. They took both vessels in tow but just after passing under the Whitestone Bridge, at the Mouth of the East River, “Model #3 foundered, took on water, snapped her tow line and sunk in 110 ft. of water.

The “Sea Hunters”, working with Dr. Pete Capelloti, Chief Historian, U.S. Coast Guard, gain permission to side scan and dive on the South end of Manhattan Island, between the Whitestone and Throg’s Neck Bridges. They will search for the lost Holland designed “Model #3”. The Sea Hunters will first undertake a side scan sonar survey and then dive and ground truth targets located in the search area. The side scan and dive footage will by turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard and to the newly formed “Office of Homeland Security”. With the New York City skyline in the background "The Sea Hunters" dive team will search for this historic submarine while collecting underwater data which will be used to make New York safer from the threat of terrorist attack.

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The Wreck of Arturo Prat's "Esmeralda"

When the Japanese Imperial Navy wanted an example of proper action for officers under fire in a naval engagement they chose the Chilean naval vessel “Esmeralda” and her captain, Arturo Prat, as the model to be studied by all officers graduating from the Japanese Naval Academy.

Mike Fletcher and “The Sea Hunters” team are invited back to Chile in order to assist German government archaeologists in the retrieval of artifacts from the German light cruiser “Dresden” which was lost during WWI off Robinson Crusoe Island in Chilean waters. During the trip the team is invited, by the Chilean Embassy, to dive and film the wreck site of Chile’s most famous naval vessel “Esmeralda”. After leaving Robinson Crusoe Island, the team, along with Chilean navy divers, travel over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) North to the site of the Battle of Iquique to search for the final resting place of “Esmeralda”. The first dive shows that the wreckage presents a vivid illustration of the horror of that battle. The broken hull of “Esmeralda,” her cannons lying quiet on the ocean floor and the skeletal remains of many of her brave crew all tell a graphic tale of the of the horror of battle and the cost of war.

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The Search for "Tonquin"

Indian raids, suicide, mass murder, a New York City multi-millionaire and the competition between the British and Americans for control of the Pacific Northwest all make the “Tonquin” story one of “The Sea Hunters” best.

The American fur trader and New York real estate tycoon, John Jacob Astor was the major competition for British fur traders in the Pacific North West. His activities toward the end of the 18th century and American expansionism above the 49th parallel was a grave concern for the British. Astor’s ever widening activities from his new trading station were closely watched.

In the Spring of 2003 an anchor was found near the rugged B.C. coastal town of Tofino. Fluked, with a wooden shaft, its finder, Rod Palm, thought it might be related to “Tonquin”. John Jacob Astor’s fur trading vessel. When he raised it he was amazed to find over 100 blue-glass beads of the type used by early fur traders adhering to the rust of the anchor. After to talking with local natives, Palm was convinced that he had found the “Tonquin” and announced the find with great fanfare to the world. The Government of British Columbia, not convinced of Palm’s claim called on “The Sea Hunters” and Archaeologist James Delgado to assess the site and carry out a survey.

Join “The Sea Hunters” as they explore this site. Using the research vessel from the University of British Columbia, “The Sea Hunters” will search the waters of Templar channel near Tofino and with side scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler and dredging equipment make a careful survey of the site. These dives will tell for certain whether this notorious vessel has indeed been found. If it is “Tonquin” it will be the earliest wreck ever located on North America’s West coast. Comparative dives will also take place on other early fur trade vessels in the Columbia River and in English Bay. This is a great “Sea Hunters” detective story solving a mystery concerning one of the most controversial wrecks in North American history.

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Still on Patrol- The Search for Hitler's U-boat 215

In July of 1942 the German U-Boat 215, Commanded by Kptlt. Frtiz Hoekner, was on the secret mission to North America. U-215 was a very rare class of u-boat, a type VIID. In total there was only 6 of this type of vessel built. The uniqueness of this design was in the addition of a thirty-two foot compartment between the control room and the galley that housed five vertical mine tubes. Each tube held five SMA (magnetic influence) mines. The addition of these mine tubes allowed the U-Boat Command to assign dual purpose missions to these boats, that of mining enemy harbors and anchorages and the traditional attack role of torpedoing enemy shipping. Kptlt. Hoekner’s secret mission was to mine the entrance of Boston Harbor and create havoc as convoys started their long journey across the Atlantic. He would never accomplish this task. The torpedo he sent into the hull of the Liberty Ship USS “Alexander Macomb” would seal his fate and the fate of his crew long before he reached his destination.

The “Alexander Macomb” was built in Baltimore, Maryland. She was launched on May 6th, 1942. On July 3rd of that year, she was lagging behind her convoy in dense fog. She was six miles back when U-215 fired her torpedoes. Thirty men of her sixty-man crew were killed or wounded in the blast. She sank minutes after the secondary explosions in her cargo hold opened her hull to the waters of the cold North Atlantic.

Minutes after the torpedoes hit the “Macomb,” the convoy escort vessel “Le Tiger” took up the chase for the U-boat. Using ASDEC (a primitive form of sonar) they located the sub as she ran for deeper water. Dropping depth charges at close intervals the “Le Tiger” first slowed her target, then the pings from the ASDEC indicated the target had come to a complete stop on the bottom. Oil and debris on the surface indicated a kill. The “Le Tiger” then went to the aid of the “Macomb” survivors.

Using targets provided by fishermen and multi-beam charting done by the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, the “Sea Hunters” will search for and dive these wrecks, confirming the kill of the U-215, and telling the story of the loss of the “Macomb” and the Nazi plans to mine Boston Harbor.

The Search for Bonhomme Richard

Join “The Sea Hunters” as they search the cold waters of the North Sea for the United States Navy’s most famous vessel, Captain John Paul Jones’ “Bonhomme Richard”. Using the latest in side scan sonar and magnetometer search equipment and working from tide charts and drift patterns developed by Dr. Clive Cussler, “The Sea Hunters” will search the North Sea for America’s most famous shipwreck.

In August of 1779 the “Bonhomme Richard” and a small accompanying fleet were ready to sail from France. They carried instructions to attack British shipping and to divert attention from the Franc-Spanish Invasion that was to attack on the South coast of England. Jones sailed West of Ireland, over the top of Scotland and Southward into the North Sea. He was sailing along the East coast of England when he encountered a British fleet accompanied by the 50 cannon British war ship “Serapis”. “Serapis” had the advantage in both size and fire power and as the battle played out it was clear that the “Bonhomme Richard” was taking a horrible beating. Captain Pearson of the “Serapis” called over “do you surrender” and to this Jones gave his famous reply, “I have not yet begun to fight”. As the “Serapis” and “Bonhomme Richard” passed close to fire broadsides the bow sprint of the “Serapis” became tangled in the rigging of the “Richard”. Jones’ men raced aboard the “Serapis” and after hours of bloody hand to hand combat “Serapis” was taken. Jones and his crew did all they could to keep “Bonhomme Richard” afloat after the battle but to no avail. She was too badly damaged and she sank just hours after the first major naval victory of the U.S. Navy in their war for independence.

Join “The Sea Hunters” as they dive the beaches of Normandy and search for artifacts of the largest and most famous maritime invasion of all time. Just outside the active surf areas of Juno, Utah and Omaha beaches rest the visual remnants of “Operation Overlord”; the action which turned the tide in WWII and marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany in Europe.

The U.S. Navy’s Historical Center has begun a side scan sonar review of the Allied ordinance that remained in place off Omaha and Utah beaches. They have collected a massive library of images.

In the summer of 2004 “The Sea Hunters” and a team from the Canadian Navy will arrive in Normandy to start a similar survey on Juno Beach. Dr. Robert Nieland of the U.S. Naval Historical Center will work as a consultant to the Canadian team. The combined group will carry out a side scan survey of Juno followed by an underwater video survey of sites at Juno, Utah and Omaha carried out by Mike and Warren Fletcher, the Sea Hunters’ team Archaeologist James Delgado and Canadian navy divers. This unique survey and exciting set of dives will capture images from that fateful June morning which will transport our viewers back in time and allow us to segue to our large selection of relevant historic footage and interviewees.

Season V

HMS Doterel

Join the "Sea Hunters' as they travel to the Southern reaches of the planet and dive wrecks from Britain's great age of Maritime supremacy. Following the discovery of the Magellan Straits in October of 1520, by Hernando De Magallanes (Ferdinand Magellan), from the 16th to the 18th century a series of daring expeditions took place. But it was the British who would eventually dominate the world's seas and come to build one of the largest naval and merchant fleets in the world. They were Rulers of the Seas, and Chile became a stopping point for the Royal Navy as it traversed the globe and showed its 'flag' to its various colonies and protectorates. The treacherous waters would claim their victims, including those of the Royal Navy and the merchant fleet. But not all of these victims were due to the infamous waters of southern Chile, one Royal Naval vessel was lost due to a mysterious explosion. Rumors of Fenian explosive devices and plots surround the incide...a possible attempt by Irish revolutionaries to wound the Empire.

Queen of Nassau

Join the Sea Hunters as they dive and explore Canada's first naval training ship resting in the magnificent waters of a National Marine Sanctuary. The HMCS "Canada" was built in England at the Vickers Maxim and Sons Yard in Barrow in Furness. She was delivered to Canada in 1904 to work in the Canadian Fisheries Protection service. She later became the Canadian Navy's first naval training ship and was, as stated by Canadian naval historians, the "Flagship of the embryonic Canadian Navy at the time, symbolic of the evolution of Canada from a dominion within the British Empire to a sovereign nation". She was decommissioned in 1919 and was sold in 1924 to Mr. Barron Collier, a rich Florida landowner, who renamed her "Queen of Nassau". She sank en-route to Tampa Florida in 1926.

Force Z

Join the Sea Hunters off the east coast of Malaysia as they dive to the graves of two proud warriors whose sinking changed naval warfare forever. Bathed in the warm crystal waters of the South China Sea lay the pristine wrecks of two giant warships - HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse. The sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse sent shock waves through the British Admiralty in the same way Pearl Harbor totally disrupted Washington. Inexpensive little planes with cheap torpedoes were taking out capital ships with near total impunity. The rules of naval warfare were being rewritten and aircraft and carriers were moving to the forefront.

Rusalka: Czar's Lost Ironclad

Driven "like a knife" into the soft clay bottom of the Baltic Sea rests one of Czarist Russia's most powerful warships. Standing nearly erect, her bow buried deep in the clay at 74 meters and her stern just 33 meters from the surface, is the wreckage of "Rusalka". For nearly 100 years the remains of Imperial Russia's largest "ironclad" have laid hidden beneath the waves of the Baltic. Now, "The Sea Hunters", working with the Estonian Maritime Museum, will bring her image and story back to the world. Join The Sea Hunters as we explore this remarkable wreck, tell the story of her last voyage, and learn the remarkable story of her founder.

U-215 & Alexander Macomb

Join the "Sea Hunters" as they dive the remains of the "Alexander Macomb" search her extraordinary cargo of planes, tanks and military equipment and tell the story of Liberty Ships, "the boats that won the war". The "Alexander Macomb" started life on February 18, 1942, as Hull number 0036 at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland. Six weeks later she slipped down the ways. She steamed to New York and loaded her war time cargo of Sherman Tanks, P-40 aircraft and other parts and supplies for the Allied war effort and then sent to Boston to muster in convoy to Halifax and on to Archangel. On her maiden voyage across the Atlantic and just hours out of Boston she was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-Boat, 10 of her crew were lost. Like nearly 600 of her sister convoy vessels she would end the war forgotten on the bottom of the cold Atlantic Ocean.

Death in the Dardanelles

Join the Sea Hunters as they dive a closed Turkish military zone for the remains of two British battleships lost in the Dardanelles campaign. In the Straits of the Dardanelles off the coast of Gallipoli, lies the wreckage of HMS "Goliath" and the HMS "Triumph", both lost while stationed with the Allied fleet during the Dardanelles campaign. "HMS Triumph", sunk by famed U-boat captain Otto Hersing in U-21, was a Swiftsure class battleship, and now lies in nearly 72 meters of water. Another pre-dreadnought, the Majestic, was sunk a few days later by the same U-boat. "HMS Goliath", a Canopus class battleship was sunk by the skilled and audacious maneuverings of a Turkish torpedo boat, the Muavenet. These losses represented a major blow for the Royal Navy and were indicative of the bloodshed and massacre that were to follow on the shores of Gallipoli.

Ship of Ice

Join the Sea Hunters as they dive amidst the spectacular backdrop of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in one of the country's most beautiful National Parks to explore the remains of an amazing top secret WWII experiment. In 1942, Geoffrey N. Pyke, an eccentric British genius, made a proposal that captured the imagination of Lord Mountbatten and Sir Winston Churchill. Pyke suggested the idea of building a huge aircraft carrier made of ice. The proposed dimensions of the final aircraft carrier were to be, 2000 feet long by 300 feet wide. Pyke called the proposed vessel "Habbakuk" a misspelling of the Old Testament Book of the Prophet. The carrier was to be made of a remarkable product called 'pykrete'...a mixture of ice and wood pulp, producing incredible strength and resilience.

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