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December 29, 2004
Helping Tsunami Victims
Everyone at Shipwreck Central would like to express our deepest regret to all those effected by the December 26th tsunami in Southern Asia. At this time we would like to provide the following information for those wanting to donate to the relief effort. International users should contact your local Red Cross office to donate.
Canadian Red Cross
1-800-418-1111
(or donate through your local Red Cross office)
UNICEF Canada
1-800-567-4483
UNICEF Canada
2200 Yonge St., Suite 1100
Toronto, Ont.
M4S 2C6
Oxfam Canada
1-800-466-9326
Asian Earthquake/Floods Relief, Oxfam Canada
200-215 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, Ont.
M5T 2C7
Posted by victoria at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2004
Christmas Eve with the Sea Hunters
The Princess Sophia Tragedy: Airing December 24. Check local listing for times.
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.
To watch clips from this episode find the Princess Sophia on the map.
Posted by victoria at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2004
Magazine Update
Happy Holidays Everyone!
We have just posted our first Photo Journal in the Magazine. The subject is the search for U-215. See exclusive images of the expedition. Keep your eye out in the new year for more exciting Photo Journals.
Posted by victoria at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2004
The Search for the Carpathia
Watch the episode that started it all: Season 1, Episode 1 The Search for the Carpathia. Airing this Friday, December 17, on History Television. Check your local listings for times.
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.
For more information on the Carpathia find her on the map, her vessel profile is loaded with video.
Posted by victoria at 09:45 AM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2004
Pear Harbour Remembered
At 6:00 a.m. on December 7th six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes composed of torpedo bombers, dive-bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters on Pearl Harbour. Caught off guard by the subsequent waves of attack within the first 10 minutes the USS Arizona had been hit twice. The devastating explosion that resulted ripped through the forward part of the ship igniting brutal fires that burned for two days; debris showered down on Ford Island and the surrounding area. The Arizona had been struck down taking with her 1103 lives, over half the casualties of that infamous day.
The Japanese attacked military airfields at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. Overall, twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were sunk or damaged, aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged, American dead numbered 2,403. That figure included 68 civilians, and there were 1,178 military and civilian wounded.
For more information find the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma on the map.
Posted by victoria at 08:37 AM | Comments (0)
December 06, 2004
Job Posting: Videoblographer
We're looking for a very special person at ShipwreckCentral.com, maybe even more than one.
The job involves seven 2-week trips to far flung places in the world over the next eight months, shadowing our Sea Hunters dive team as a Videoblographer, reporting back daily to the website in a videoblog format - "Live from the Dive". Chile, Florida, Singapore, Estonia, Turkey, George's Bank, Jasper...
We need someone who can combine a high geek quotient, getting the job done technically and the files uploaded with little support, with an engaging on-camera personality and no fear of getting the story, whatever that story may be. Turning water into wine also helps. Writing/blogging skills are a requirement. Being able to handle video and sound gear a plus, although there is support for that. An interest in diving and shipwrecks certainly helps. Your age, gender, or geographic location is not an issue.
So, have a burning desire to be on camera, and be calling some of the creative shots? Love travel? Like getting paid? Like having the proper gear to get the job done? (A 12" Powerbook+ HDV camera are our tools of the trade). Like scrambling to figure out how to do things that have never been done before?
Posted by victoria at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)
Season 4 Preview: Bonhomme Richard
Season 4 of "The Sea Hunters" won't begin airing until February 2005 but you don't have to wait to see a preview of 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.
To learn more, search for the Bonhomme Richard on the map.
Posted by victoria at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
Halifax Explosion Remembered
On December 6, 1917, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the largest man-made explosion until the first atomic bomb occurred.
At 8:45 in the morning a French ammunition ship, the Mont Blanc and the Norwegian cargo ship Imo collided in the narrows of Halifax harbour. Vapors from vats of benzol, which were wrongly stored on the deck of the Mont Blanc, were set afire by sparks from the collision. The Mont Blanc was shipping large quantities of munitions to Europe as part of the war effort. She was carrying over 2700 tons of explosives, such as TNT, guncotton, and picric acid. The fire engulfed the Mont Blanc and the crew quickly abandoned ship upon the Captain's orders. They rowed to safety in two rowboats and reached safety on the Dartmouth shore as the burning ship continued to drift toward the busy port of Halifax.
At 9:04:35, with firefighters on the scene and school children gathering to watch, a massive explosion ensued. More than 2.5 km2 of Halifax was leveled and windows were shattered as far as Truro, Nova Scotia, 100 kilometres away. An anchor from the Mont Blanc was found five kilometres from the harbour. The disaster resulted in approximately 1635 deaths (approx. 1000 died instantaneously from the blast), nine thousand injured and approximately 30 million dollars in damage. 325 acres of city was destroyed. 1500 people became homeless as a result of the devastation. The following day a blizzard hit the city, crippling recovery efforts.
If not for the efforts of neighboring Provinces, the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee the devastation would have escalated further. Each year, Nova Scotia donates a giant evergreen to the people of Boston as a thank you for their assistance following the Halifax Explosion.
For more information on the Halifax Explosion find the Mont Blanc on the map.
Posted by victoria at 08:51 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2004
Lost at Sea: Akron and Macon
This friday night stay in to watch The Sea Hunters as they search for the remains of this unique vessel of war and tell this fascinating history. History Television- Check local listings for times.
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.
Can't wait to watch this episode? Check out the Akron and Macon on the map.
Posted by victoria at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)
