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The Shipwreck Hunter

Page 44

by David L. Mearns


  A report into the circumstances attending the loss of MV Derbyshire which foundered on or about 9 September 1980 in position approximately 25° 30° North, 130° 30’ East with the loss of 44 lives’ (Department for Transport, 1986)

  R. E. D. Bishop, W. G. Price and P. Temarel, A Theory on the loss of the MV Derbyshire’, Transactions Royal Institute of Naval Architects, 133 (1991), 1–27

  M. Dickinson, ‘Report of the ITF Derbyshire Mission (International Transport Workers’ Federation, London, 1994)

  D. Mearns, ‘Search for the Bulk Carrier Derbyshire’. Unlocking the Mystery of Bulk Carrier Shipping Disasters’, International Conference Man-Made Objects on the Seafloor, Society for Underwater Technology, London, 1 February 1995

  D. Ram well and T. Madge, A Ship Too Far — The Mystery of the Derbyshire (Plodder & Stoughton, London, 1992)

  The Honourable Mr Justice Colman, ‘Report of the Re-Opened Formal Investigation into the Loss of the MV DERBYSHIRE’ (The High Court of Justice [Admiralty Court], 2000)

  UK/EC Assessors’ Report, ‘MV Derbyshire Surveys’ (Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, 1998)

  III HMS Hood and KTB Bismarck’. SEARCH FOR AN EPIC BATTLE

  Iain Ballantyne, Killing the Bismarck (Pen & Sword Maritime, Barnsley, 2010)

  David Mearns and Rob White, Hood and Bismarck (Channel 4 Books, London, 2001)

  Burkard von Miillenheim-Rechberg, Battleship Bismarck (Arms and Armour Press, London, 1991)

  Norman Polmar and Michael WEite, Project Azorian (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2010)

  Mike Rossiter, Ark Royal (Bantam Press, London, 2006)

  Bruce Taylor, The Battlecruiser HMS HOOD (Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, 2004)

  IV TSS Athenia: THE FIRST CASUALTY OF WORLD WAR II

  Francis Carroll, Athenia Torpedoed, the U-Boat Attack that Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic (Pen & Sword Maritime, Barnsley, 2012)

  Cay Rademacher, Drei Tage im September: Die Letzte Fahrt der Athenia 1939 (Mare, Hamburg, 2009)

  Melanie Wiggins, U-Boat Adventures: Firsthand Accounts from World War II (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2013)

  Andrew Williams, The Battle of the Atlantic (Bantam Press, London, 2006)

  V HMAS Sydney (II) and HSK Kormoran: SOLVING AUSTRALIA’S GREATEST MARITIME MYSTERY

  Commissioner T. R. H. Cole, The loss of HMAS Sydney II (Department of Defence, Canberra, Australia, 2009)

  T. Detmers and J. Brenneke, Hilfskreuzer Kormoran (Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich, Germany, 1959)

  T. Frame, HMAS Sydney — Loss & Controversy (Hodder & Stoughton, Rydal-mere, NSW, Australia, 1983)

  G. H. Gill, Australia in the War of1939–1945, Royal Australian Navy 1939— 1942, Vol. 1 (Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia, 1957)

  R Hore and D. L. Mearns, ‘HMAS Sydney – An End to the Controversy, Navy Historical Review, Vol. 24, No. 4, December 2003

  M. McCarthy, HMAS Sydney (II) (Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, WA, Australia, 2010)

  G. McDonald, Seeking the Sydney: A Quest for Truth (University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, WA, Australia, 2005)

  D. L. Mearns, The Search for the Sydney (Harper Collins, Sydney, Australia, 2009)

  M. Montgomery, Who Sank the Sydney? (Leo Cooper and Seeker & Warburg, London, England, 1983)

  W Olson, Bitter Victory — The Death of HMAS Sydney (University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, WA, Australia, 2000)

  W Olson, HMAS Sydney (II) – In Peace and War (Wesley John Olson, Hilton, WA, Australia, 2016)

  Royal Australian Navy, Sea Power Centre, HMAS Sydney II, The Cruiser and the Controversy in the Archives of the United Kingdom, ed. Captain Peter Hore (Royal Navy, Defence Publishing Service, Canberra, Australia, 2001)

  P. Schmalenbach, German Raiders – A History of Auxiliary Cruisers of the German Navy 1895—1945 (Patrick Stephens, Cambridge, England, 1979)

  B. Winter, HMAS Sydney — Fact, Fantasy and Fraud (Boolarong Publications, Brisbane, Australia, 1984)

  VI AHS Centaur, SUNK ON A MISSION OF MERCY

  R. Goodman, Hospital Ships (Boolarong, Brisbane, Australia, 1992)

  D. Jenkins, Battle Surface – Japans Submarine War Against Australia 19421943 (Random House Australia, Milsons Point, NSW, 1992)

  David L. Mearns, A Quest for Australia’s Wartime Wrecks’, The Explorers Journal Vol. 88, No. 2, p. 22–27 (2010)

  C. S. Milligan, Australian Hospital Ship Centaur (McGill University, Montreal, Canada, 1981)

  C. S. Milligan and J. C. H. Foley, Australian Hospital Ship Centaur The Myth of Immunity (Nairana Publications, Queensland, Australia, 1993)

  A. E. Smith, Three Minutes of Time: The Torpedoing of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur (The Lower Tweed River Historical Society, Queensland, Australia, 1991)

  VII Esmeralda: VASCO DA GAMA’S SECOND ARMADA TO INDIA

  Pêro d’Atafde, Carta de Pero de Atayde a El-rei D. Manuel Fevereiro 20, 1504, ANTT, Corpo CronolANTT, Corpogico, Parte I, Maço 4, No. 57

  J. Barros, Ásia de JoÃo de Barros: Dos feitos, que os Portuguezes fizeram no des-cubrimento, e conquista, dos mares, e terras do Oriente, Decada I, Livro VII, Capitulo II (1552)

  F. L. Castanheda, História do descobrimento & conquista da Índia pelos portu-gueses, Livro I, Capitulo LIV (trans. 1582; 1st edn 1551–60)

  G. Corrêa, Lendas da India, Livro I, Capitulo VI (Lisbon, Academia Real de Sciencias, 1858; written c. 1550s)

  Bailey W. Diffie and George D. Winius, Foundations of the Portuguese Empire 1415–1580 (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1978).

  D. GUniversityis, ChrUniversitynica do Felicíssimo Rei Dom Emanuel, Parte 1, Capitulo LXXIV; Parte 4, Capitulo LXXXVI (Lisbon, 1567)

  A. Gomes and A. M. Trigueiros, Portuguese Coins in the Age of Discovery 1385–1580 (Lisbon, 1992)

  Livro das Armadas da India, 1497—1640 (manuscript in the Arquivo Nacional Torre de Tombo)

  Livro das Armadas da India, c. 1568, Memoria das Armadas que de Portugal passaram à Índia esta primeira é a com que Vasco da Gama partiu ao desco-brimento delà por mandado de El-Rei Dom Manuel no segundo ano de seu reinado e no do nascimento de Cristo de 1497 (manuscript in the Academia de Ciências de Lisboa)

  David L. Mearns, Dave Parham and Bruno Frohlich, ‘A Portuguese East Indiaman from the 1502–1503 Fleet of Vasco da Gama off Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman: an interim report’, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 45.2: 331–351 (2016)

  S. Subrahmanyam, The career and legend of Vasco da Gama (Cambridge, 1997)

  A. M. Trigueiros, Apareceu O ‘Índio’de D. Manuell, Moeda, 21.2, 55–9, 1996

  VIII Indianapolis and Endurance: WAITING TO BE FOUND

  Stephen Harding, The Castaway’s War: One Man’s Battle Against ImperialJapan (Da Capo Press, Boston, MA, 2016)

  Dan Kurzman, Fatal Voyage: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis (Atheneum, New York, 1990)

  Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell, Shackleton’s Way (Nicholas Brealey, London, 2003)

  Pete Nelson, Leftfor Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis (Delacorte Press, New York, 2002)

  Richard F. Newcomb, Abandon Ship: The Saga of the USS Indianapolis, The Navy’s Greatest Sea Disaster (HarperTorch, New York, 2001)

  Ernest Shackleton, South (William Heinemann, London, 1919)

  Frank A. Worsley, Endurance (Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, New York, 1931)

  The Shipwreck Hunter

  Afterword

  Robert D. Ballard, The Discovery of Titanic (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1987).

  Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew and Annette L. Drew, Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of Cold War Submarine Espionage (Hutchinson, London, 1999)

  Acknowledgments

  The original idea for this book came from Tom Gilliatt, Publishing Director for Allen & Unwin in Australia, some years ago after I had located the wreck of Centaur. During those initial discussions Tom made a pretty convincing case
that people would be interested in a broader book about how someone becomes a ‘shipwreck hunter’ and what a career in this unusual profession would entail. I hope he was right, but I take full responsibility for whether I’ve managed to live up to his expectations and have been able to convey what a truly exciting thing it is to make such remarkable shipwreck discoveries. To look back thirty years and more of one’s professional life takes time, however, so I am most grateful to Tom for his patience in waiting until I could manage the break needed to complete this book.

  I would also like to thank Clare Drysdale, the Editorial Director of Allen & Unwin, for her enthusiasm and encouragement throughout the project. It was important to me that this book was published in both Australia and the UK. I thank my agents, Heather Holden-Brown and Margaret Gee, for finding the right publisher to make that happen. I would also like to thank Alison Cathie who introduced me to Heather, and was extremely kind and generous with her time in taking an interest in my writing career.

  Writing this book allowed me to appreciate the importance of my teachers and mentors in helping me develop as a scientist, a professional and as a person. I owe an enormous amount to Gregg Rice,* formerly of Fairleigh Dickinson University, Al Hine and Peter Betzer from the University of South Florida College of Marine Science, and to Don Dean who gave me my chance at Eastport International and who showed by his example how to lead a team.

  I was extremely fortunate to have joined two pioneering companies at the precise moment they were developing ground-breaking technologies to reach the greatest depths of the ocean. However, what really made Eastport International and Blue Water Recoveries truly special were the talented people who worked there. Both companies were small enough that your co-workers were also friends. While their names might not appear in the book the following people played big parts in several of the stories I’ve told. At Eastport International: Mark Wilson, Bill Lawson, Craig Bagley, Larry Ledet, Carl Overby, Ron Schmidt,* Paul Nelson, Greg Gibson, Terry Carroll, John Finke, Jerry Marenburg, Don Dean, John Kreider, Larry Mocniak and Roy Truman. At Blue Water Recoveries: Bob Hudson, Mark Cliff, Carole Menzies, Jim Mercer, Julian Cope, Peter Cope and Lyle Craigie-Halkett.

  There are numerous other colleagues and friends who have made important contributions to the projects covered in this book. Although I haven’t the space to name them all, I would like to acknowledge and thank the following people in particular.

  Lucona: Irv Bjorkheim and Larry Robinson; Derbyshire: Mark Dickinson, Rob White and Rory McLean; HMS Hood: Ted Briggs,* Julian Ware, Sarah Marris and Lindsay Taylor; HMAS Sydney: John Perryman, Wes Olson, Barbara Poniewierski, Peter Hore, Garry Baverstock, Glenys McDonald, Keith Rowe, Don Pridmore, Patrick Flynn, Mack McCarthy and the Finding Sydney Foundation Directors; AHS Centaur: Chris Milligan, John Foley,* Anthony Crack and Arthur Dugdale; Esmeralda: Alex Double, Dave Parham, Bruno Fröhlich, Hassan Al Lawati, Ayyoub Al Busaidi and Ahmed Al Siyabi; Endurance: Terry Garcia, Kristin Rechberger and Alexandra Shackleton.

  Finally, to my wife Sarah and our children Sam, Alexandra and Isabella, my eternal thanks and love.

  (*deceased)

  Index

  Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.

  Adventure Galley, 357

  AEl, Australian submarine, 370–71

  Al Munassir, RNO, 348–9, 350–52, 354

  al-Gaddafi, Muammar, 54

  al-Siyabi, Ahmed, 354

  Albuquerque, Francisco de, 336, 338

  Allen, Paul G., 163

  AMS-60 sonar, 240, 306–8

  Androsch, Hannes, 27

  Anson, HMS, 114

  Antarctic, 174

  Antelope, HMS, 152

  Aquitania, RMS, 234, 235

  Arisan Maru, 171

  Ark Royal, HMS, 128, 163, 197

  Ataíde, Pêro de, 336–8, 353

  Athenia, TSS, 172–97

  Atlantic Donaldson Line, 181

  autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), 371, 383, 384

  Bagley, Craig, 73, 81, 84

  Baleares, 367

  Ballard, Dr Robert, 14, 70, 97, 112, 132, 135, 140, 218, 381–3

  Bartolomeo Colleoni, 204, 205, 206

  Baverstock, Ernie, 368

  Baverstock, Garry, 368

  Bayes, Thomas, 147

  Bayliss, Marion, 93–4

  BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), 172–5, 186, 190–92, 195–7

  Beatty, Admiral David, 114

  Berry, Jessica, 346–7, 354

  Bibby Line, 57, 69, 72, 102, 104

  Billson, Bruce, 231–2

  Birmingham, Ron, 229, 231

  Bishop, Price and Temarel, 60, 61, 86

  Bismarck, KTB, 70, 112, 116, 120–30, 131–43, 150,218, 383

  Bjorkheim, Irv, 35, 37

  Blecha, Karl, 27, 31, 33

  Bligh, Anna, 273, 274, 276, 293, 304, 310,311,313, 323

  Blue Funnel Line, 278, 286

  Blue Water Recoveries (BWR), 93, 116–17, 133, 140, 276, 302, 330, 337, 342

  BLUElink, 235–6

  Briggs, Peter, 371

  Briggs, Ted, 113, 117–20, 125–6, 132–3, 144, 151, 153, 154–8, 160, 162–3, 169

  British Research Ship Association (BRSA), 60, 61

  Bryce, Quentin, 323, 324

  Bucknall, Belinda, 66

  Bulldog, HMS, 194

  Bunjes, Wilhelm, 221, 226

  Burgel, Dr Len van, 235, 290

  Burnett, Captain Joseph, 206, 208, 210, 261, 264–5

  Cabral, Pedro Álvares, 332–3

  Calabria, Battle of, 203

  CamÃrao, Antonio, 340

  Cape York, SS, 297

  Cast Kittiwake, 58, 61

  Centaur, AHS, 224, 271–325

  Centaur Association, The, 271, 274, 277, 313–14, 320–21

  Central America, SS, 330

  Ceylon, HMS, 133

  Challenger Space Shuttle, 15–16

  Chamberlain, Neville, 175, 178–9

  Channel 4, 84, 91, 93, 111, 130, 138, 148, 197

  Christensen, Owen, 283

  Churchill, Winston, 114, 126–8, 193

  City of Flint, SS, 183

  City of Winchester, 343—5

  Cliff, Mark, 116–17

  Cliffe, Captain Blair, 238–9, 246

  Clifford, Barry, 357

  Cockroft, David, 67

  Cocos, Battle of (1914), 202

  Cole, Justice Terence, 262–5

  Collingwood, HMS, 162

  Collins, Captain John, 203–6

  Colman, Hon. Mr Justice, 102–3, 105–6

  Columbus, Christopher, 331, 357

  Comanche ROV, 257–61

  Cook, Captain James, 177, 179—80, 182–5

  Cope, Peter, 338–41

  Copland, Barnet, 181–2, 185–6

  Costigan, Erica, 296

  Crack, Anthony, 276, 288, 293, 294, 310, 313, 321, 324

  Crane, Russell, 323

  Craven, John, 147

  Cunningham, Admiral Sir Andrew, 204

  Curtin, John, 284

  CURVIII ROV, 15–16, 18

  da Gama, Vasco, 331–6, 362

  Daily, Richard, 137

  Daimler, Hans Peter, 31–2, 50

  Daniel H. Wagner Associates, 38

  Davies, Dr Chris, 73

  Dean, Don, 24, 37, 66–7, 112

  Deep Drone 6000 ROV, 15

  Deep Submergence Laboratory (DSL), 96–7

  Demetra Beauty, 55

  Dennis, Professor Peter, 212–13

  Derbyshire, MV, 55–107, 116

  Derbyshire Families Association (DFA), 61, 64–7, 70, 83, 86, 87–8, 91, 93–4, 96, 102, 104, 106, 107

  Detmers, Captain Theodor, 207–8, 210–11, 216, 218, 220–29, 248–50, 261, 265, 278

  Dias, Bartolomeu, 331

  Dickinson, Mark, 67, 73–4, 78, 88, 89

  Dillon, AS H., 184

  Don, David, 174, 181

&n
bsp; Donaldson, John Francis, Baron

  Donaldson of Lymington, 90, 91–3, 94, 96

  Dönitz, Admiral Karl, 179, 181, 192, 193, 195

  Dorsetshire, HMS, 129

  Double, Alex, 339–40, 343

  Doyle, Dr Eibhlin, 188, 190–91

  Dugdale, Major Arthur, 313

  Dundas, Bill, 117, 126

  Durban, HMS, 206

  Duvoisin, Jack, 291–3, 298

  Eastport International, 14–16, 18, 23–4, 53, 66

  Edlemaier, Johann, 45

  EG&G 259–4 sonar, 12–13

  Elder, Jean, 296–7

  Electra, HMS, 126, 185–6

  Emden, SMS, 202–3, 205

  Endurance, HMS, 174

  Endurance, USS, 377–80

  Enola Gay, 372, 375

  Erebus, HMS, 371

  Escort, HMS, 185

  Esmeralda, 329–63

  Evans, Dr Ross, 295

  Faulkner, Douglas, 91—4, 97, 98, 99, 107

  Fincham, Peter, 192

  Find AE1 Ltd, 371

  Fischer, Heinz, 27

  Fisher, Admiral Sir John ‘Jackie’, 113–14

  Fisher, Mel, 329

  Flynn, Patrick, 239–40, 244–3, 251

  Foley, John, 277, 284, 298, 313, 315–18, 320

  Foxton, Eric Gilson, 297

  Franklin, Sir John, 371

  Frohlich, Dr Bruno, 343–4

  Fulk Al Salamah, 348

  Fullford, Major R. K., 300–301

  Gardam, Tim, 130–32, 143, 156, 197

  Garrett, Peter, 321

  General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO), 384, 385

  Geosounder, 236, 238–40, 248, 257, 258

  Gibson, Greg, 45, 49, 76–7, 82

  Gillard, Julia, 262, 310

  Gillespie, Ken, 323

  Giovanni delle Bande Nere, 204

  Glass, Rudi, 300

  Glossop, Captain John, 202

  Gneisenau, 121

  Goebbels, Joseph, 193

  Graham, Ted, 228–9, 230–33, 254, 275–6

  Gratz, Leopold, 27, 32

  Griffin, Dr David, 235–6, 290, 304–5

  Grove, Eric, 138

  Grudzinski, Jan, 369–70

  Gwinn, Lt Wilbur, 374

  Harukaze, JDS, 170, 171

  Hashimoto, Mochitsura, 375

  Havock, HMS, 204

  Hedrick Johnson, Tammi, 368–9

 

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