Undersea Adventure: Ocean Archeology and Underwater Salvage
Add some adventure to your summer with these books about ocean archeology and underwater salvage taking you from World War II to the age of pirates, from solving the mysteries of the Titanic to finding an expedition lost during its mission of Arctic exploration in the Northwest Passage. Read about real expeditions that solved mysteries, advanced science, and pulled up historical items, entire shipwrecks, treasure and more.
Where divers dare : the hunt for the last U-boat by Randall Peffer.
On April 16, 1944, the tanker SS Pan Pennsylvania was torpedoed and sunk by the U-550. In return the sub was sent to the bottom by three destroyer escorts which were guarding the convoy. For more than 60 years the location of the U-boat's wreck eluded divers. In 2012, a team found it. This was the last undiscovered U-boat in diveable waters, more than three hundred feet below the surface. This is the story of their 20 year quest to find the 'Holy Grail' of deep sea diving and the tenacious efforts to dive on this treacherous wreck.
The raising of the shipwreck "Arabia" by David Hawley.
In the 19th century, the Arabia steamboat struck a sunken tree and sank just north of Kansas City. It was rumored to contain treasure. This is the true story of the recovery of this ship and the surprising cargo inside
Pirate hunters : treasure, obsession, and the search for a legendary pirate ship by Robert Kurson.
Finding and identifying a pirate ship is the hardest thing to do under the sea. But two men--John Chatterton and John Mattera--are willing to risk everything to find the Golden Fleece, the ship of the infamous pirate Joseph Bannister. If Chatterton and Mattera succeed, they will make history--it will be just the second time ever that a pirate ship has been discovered and positively identified. They must travel the globe in search of historic documents and accounts of the great pirate's exploits, face down dangerous rivals, battle the tides of nations and governments and experts. But it's only when they learn to think and act like pirates--like Bannister--that they become able to go where no pirate hunters have gone before.
The eternal darkness : a personal history of deep-sea exploration by Robert D. Ballard, with Will Hively.
Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic. He led the teams that discovered hydrothermal vents and "black smokers"--cracks in the ocean floor where springs of superheated water support some of the strangest life-forms on the planet. He was a diver on the team that explored the mid-Atlantic ridge for the first time, confirming the theory of plate tectonics. Today, using a nuclear submarine from the U.S. Navy, he's exploring the ancient trade routes of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea for the remains of historic vessels and their cargo. In this book, he combines science, history, spectacular illustrations, and first-hand stories from his own expeditions in a uniquely personal account of how twentieth-century explorers have pushed back the frontiers of technology to take us into the midst of a world we could once only guess at.
The shipwreck hunter : a lifetime of extraordinary discoveries on the ocean floor by David L. Mearns.
David L. Mearns has discovered some of the world's most fascinating and elusive shipwrecks. From the mighty battleship HMS Hood (sunk in a pyrrhic duel with the Bismarck) to solving the mystery of HMAS Sydney, to the crumbling wooden skeletons of Vasco da Gama's sixteenth century fleet, Mearns has searched for and found dozens of sunken vessels in every ocean of the world. The Shipwreck Hunter chronicles his most intriguing finds. It describes the extraordinary techniques used, the detailed research and mid-ocean stamina (and courage) required to find a wreck thousands of feet beneath the sea, as well as the moving human stories that lie behind each of these oceanic tragedies. Combining the adventuring derringdo of Indiana Jones with the precision of a scientist, The Shipwreck Hunter opens an illuminating porthole into the shadowy depths of the ocean
Ice ghosts : the epic hunt for the lost Franklin expedition / Paul Watson.
Spanning nearly 200 years, Ice Ghosts is a fast-paced detective story about Western science, indigenous beliefs, and the irrepressible spirit of exploration and discovery. It weaves together an epic account of the legendary Franklin Expedition of 1845--whose two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, and their crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice--with the modern tale of the scientists, researchers, divers, and local Inuit behind the recent discoveries of the two ships, which made news around the world.
Shadow divers : the true adventure of two Americans who risked everything to solve one of the last mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson.
For John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, deep wreck diving was more than a sport. But in the fall of 1991, not even these courageous divers were prepared for what they found 230 feet below the surface, in the frigid Atlantic waters sixty miles off the coast of New Jersey: a World War II German U-boat, its ruined interior a macabre wasteland of twisted metal, tangled wires, and human bones–all buried under decades of accumulated sediment. No historian, expert, or government had a clue as to which U-boat the men had found. In fact, the official records all agreed that there simply could not be a sunken U-boat and crew at that location. Over the next six years, an elite team of divers embarked on a quest to solve the mystery.
Titanic's last secrets : the further adventures of shadow divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler by Brad Matsen
After rewriting history with their discovery of a Nazi U-boat off the coast of New Jersey, legendary divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler decided to investigate the great enduring mystery of history's most notorious shipwreck: Why did Titanic sink as quickly as it did? To answer the question, Chatterton and Kohler assemble a team of experts to explore Titanic, study its engineering, and dive to the wreck of its sister ship, Brittanic, where Titanic's last secrets may be revealed.
Expedition Whydah : the story of the world's first excavation of a pirate treasure ship and the man who found her by Barry Clifford with Paul Perry.
As a child, Barry Clifford's uncle would spend long afternoons telling him the story of Black Sam Bellamy, a pirate from England who captured the heart of Cape Cod's lovely Maria Hallert. Bellamy and his crew sailed to the Caribbean to make their fortune, and make it they did, becoming among the most successful pirates of the early eighteenth century. On their return to Cape Cod, where Bellamy planned to reunite with his lover, a powerful storm wrecked the ship at Maria's very doorstep, killing almost all on board. Mesmerized by the tales of the Whydah and the riches that sank with her, Clifford embarks on a lifelong quest to find the sunken pirate ship and tell the story of her mysterious crew and the age they lived in.
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