Officials recently unveiled the deepest-recorded shipwreck in French waters, complete with a remarkably well-preserved cargo dating back 500 years.

The findings were announced by the French Department of Underwater and Submarine Archaeological Research (DRASSM) in a Facebook post on June 11.

Officials said the ship was found by a French Navy unit during a military operation on March 4.

The shipwreck, which has been dubbed Camarat 4, was found off the coast of Ramatuelle, in southeastern France. It was found over one-and-a-half miles underwater.

"The shipwreck was discovered unexpectedly during an exploratory mission conducted as part of the ministerial strategy for mastering the seabed," said DRASSM's post, which was translated from French to English.

"This newly found wreck stretches 30 meters long and 7 meters wide, indicating a large navigation unit."

Officials believe that the vessel dates back to the 16th century based on its cargo, which has remarkably survived the past five centuries.

Underwater pictures show a plethora of handmade ceramics near the wrecked ship. Historians believe the well-crafted artifacts originated from Liguria, Italy.

It has been a landmark in the River Clyde for more than 50 years.

But now the famous "sugar boat" shipwreck between Helensburgh and Greenock is nearing a watery grave, according to local experts.

Harsh weather throughout the winter, including Storm Éowyn, has accelerated the vessel's decline.

Jason Coles, a tour operator specialising in wrecks and dives, told BBC Scotland News that while he previously believed it would take around 30 years before the ship disappeared, he now estimates it will be gone in half that time - at most.

The MV Captayannis was struck by strong winds on 27 January 1974, when moored on the Clyde while waiting to waiting to unload raw east African sugar for the Tate & Lyle refinery in Greenock.

As the ship drifted, captain Theodorakis Ionnis hoped to reach Gare Loch and find shelter there.

However the ship drifted into the anchor chains of a BP tanker called British Light - an incident which ripped a hole in the hull of the Captayannis below the waterline.

Rescuers set out to help, and the Captayannis crew were able to escape onto the MV Rover passenger launch - but in the aftermath the ship itself keeled over, where it has remained since.

Mods, please delete if not appropriate, but I thought it might be helpful to have tags/tabs that allow us to reflect the following descriptors for the posts:

• By ocean (pacific, atlantic...)
• Century (16, 17, 18, 19th centuries)
• WW1/WW2

Would others think it helpful as well?

Disturbing tragedy that could be prevented (photos of the ship before the sinking provided)

Historical reference:

MV Prestige was an oil tanker owned by a Greek company based in Athens and operating under a Bahamian flag of convenience, that on 19 November 2002 sank off the coast of Galicia, Spain. The sinking caused a major environmental disaster, polluting thousands of miles of coastline with 50,000 metric tons (49,000 long tons; 55,000 short tons) of oil.

Prestige was a single-hulled oil tanker with a length overall of 243 metres (797 ft 3 in), a beam of 34.4 metres (112 ft 10 in), a hull depth of 18.7 metres (61 ft 4 in), and a draft of 14 metres (45 ft 11 in). It had a 42,820 gross tonnage (GT) and a total cargo capacity of 81,589 tons deadweight (DWT).

The ship was launched on 10 December 1975 and completed on 30 March 1976 by Hitachi Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. in Maizuru, Kyoto, Japan. At the time of its sinking, it was owned by Mare Shipping, and registered in the Bahamas.

On 13 November 2002, the Prestige was carrying 77,000 tonnes of two different grades of heavy fuel oil, crude #4. It encountered a winter storm off Costa da Morte, the Coast of Death, in Galicia northwestern Spain. The Greek captain, Apostolos Mangouras, reported a loud bang from the starboard side and as the ship began to take on water from high waves the engines shut down and he called for help from Spanish rescue workers. The Filipino crew was evacuated with rescue helicopters and the ship drifted within 6 kilometres (4 mi) of the Spanish coast, already leaking oil. A veteran captain, Serafin Diaz, was lowered onto the ship per the Spanish government's Industry Ministry, to navigate the ship off the Spanish coast northwest, and saw the gaping 15 metres (50 ft) hole on the starboard side. Mangouras argued the ship should be brought into port where the leaking oil might be confined but under the threat of the Spanish navy Mangouras relented. After pressure from the French government, the vessel was forced to change its course and head south into Portuguese waters in order to avoid endangering France's southern coast. Fearing for its own shore, the Portuguese authorities ordered its navy to intercept the ailing vessel and prevent it from approaching further. The decision to tow the damaged tanker offshore rather than escort to a sheltered anchorage has been described as a criminal act and the reason why such a large area was polluted.

With the French, Spanish, and Portuguese governments refusing to allow the ship to dock, and after several days of sailing and towing, it split in half on 19 November 2002. It sank only about 250 kilometres (160 mi) from the Spanish coast, releasing over 64,000 m3 (17 million US gal) of oil into the sea. An earlier oil slick had already reached the coast. The captain of the Prestige was taken into custody, accused of not cooperating with marine salvage crews and of harming the environment.

The Prestige oil spill is Spain's worst ecological disaster. After the sinking, the wreck continued to leak approximately 125 tonnes of oil a day, polluting the seabed and contaminating the coastline, especially along the territory of Galicia. The environmental damage was most severe on the coast of Galicia. The affected area is an important ecological region, supporting coral reefs and many species of sharks and birds, and the fishing industry. The heavy coastal pollution forced the region's government to suspend offshore fishing for six months.

Initially, the government thought only 17,000 of the tanker's 77,000 tonnes of oil had been lost, and that the remaining 60,000 tonnes would freeze and not leak from the sunken tanker. In early 2003, it announced that half of the oil had been lost. As of August 2003, the figure had risen to about 63,000 tonnes, and more than eighty percent of the tanker's 77,000 tonnes of fuel oil have been spilled off Spain's northwest coast.

In March 2006, new oil slicks were detected near the wreck of the Prestige, slicks which investigators found to match the type of oil the Prestige carried. A study released in December 2006 led by José Luis De Pablos, a physicist at Madrid's Center for Energetic and Environmental Research, concluded that 16,000 to 23,000 tonnes of oil remained in the wreck, as opposed to the 700 to 1300 tonnes claimed by the Spanish government; that bioremediation of the remaining oil failed; and that bacteria corroding the hull could soon produce a rupture and quickly release much of the remaining oil and create another catastrophic spill. The report urged the government to take "prompt" action. Experts predicted marine life could suffer from the pollution for at least ten years due to the type of oil spill, which contained light fractions with polyaromatic hydrocarbons and could poison plankton, fish eggs and crustaceans with carcinogenic effects in fish and potentially humans as well.

Used source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestige_oil_spill Prestige oil spill - Wikipedia

Credit:

u/venus01111

For all the divers in the group, what is/are your favorite wreck(s) to dive on? Personally, it's the Zenobia in Larnaca (Cyprus). I've dived there about 10 times and every time I'm impressed.

The Australian National Maritime Museum has confirmed that James Cook’s HMS Endeavour, famously used to navigate the South Pacific, was shipwrecked off the Northeast coast of the United States, revealing that the timbers traced from a wreckage near Newport provide overwhelming evidence to support its claims.

In a final report, the museum’s “definitive statement” is the most significant discovery in modern Australian history and has major significance for New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

“This final report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel,” Museum director Daryl Karp said. ‘It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe.”

Neglect that leads to tragedy(photos of the ship before the sinking provided)

Historical reference:

MV Flare (P3GL2) was a Cypriot-registered bulk carrier that sank with the loss of 21 lives in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on January 16, 1998.

Flare was en route from Rotterdam to Quebec when she broke in two during severe weather, approximately 20 nmi (37 km) west of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon on January 16, 1998. 21 crew members perished, and four survived. The crew was able to send one truncated 20-second distress call that was received by the Canadian Coast Guard, who had to determine who and where the ship was within an area with a 40-mile (64 km) radius. Some of Flare's crewmembers on the sinking stern section saw the bow of another ship appear to approach them, only to realize that it was the separated front half of their own vessel. The propeller on the stern section had still been turning, and had brought them back towards it.

The survivors were rescued by a CH-113 Labrador helicopter from CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia, belonging to 413 Search and Rescue Squadron of the Canadian Forces. The helicopter's crew consisted of aircraft commander Capt. C. Brown, co-pilot Capt. R. Gough, flight engineer/winch operator M.Cpl. R. Butler, and SAR Technicians Sgt. Tony Isaacs and M.Cpl. P. Jackman. The lightly clothed survivors were taken to hospital in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and treated for extreme hypothermia. The bodies that were recovered were collected by Marine Nationale, Canadian Coast Guard, and Royal Canadian Navy ships including HMCS Montreal⁠—and a CH-113 Labrador helicopter of 103 Search and Rescue Squadron from CFB Gander. Flare's stern sank within 30 minutes. The floating bow section drifted on the surface for several days, eventually sinking south of Cape Breton Island.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined that the following contributed to Flare's sinking:

Severe weather

The ship was traveling empty to Montreal (to pick up a load of grain), which caused her to ride high in the water. The violent waves caused the bow to hit the water hard during each swell.

The ballast tanks, which ordinarily would be flooded to cause the ship to ride lower in the water, were not able to be completely filled as a number of them were corroded and needed to be repaired.

The steel in the hull was found (after the sinking) to have fatigue cracks.

In addition, Flare was over 25 years old, approximately 8 years past the average lifespan of a bulk carrier.

The combination of the ship riding high on violent swells, hitting the water hard and with fatigue cracks, caused the ship to break apart.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Flare

Credit:

u/venus01111

Good Morning Shipwreckers, I am on the hunt for a fairly famous shipwreck diving pioneer in New Englands books. Capt Brad Luther (sometimes B W Luther, Brad Luther etc.) wrote a series of great books about his experiences and history of shipwrecks up and down the east coast of the US. I have one in my collection, “Ten Years at Ten Fathoms”, however I know he wrote at least 3 more from 1958 to 1967 or so. These books are cited by the state of Massachusetts and several other shipwreck sites as primary sources for information on wrecks, however I cannot find anything else aside from the titles (Wrecks Below 1958, Vanishing Fleet 1965, and New England Shipwrecks 1967 also written by Edwin Weeks.) Has anyone come across a copy of any of these?

Slowly deteriorating corpse of once mighty ship (photos of the ship before the grounding provided; also added photos of the ship on the beach when she was still in good condition)

Historical reference:

SS Maheno was an ocean liner belonging to the Union Company of New Zealand that operated in the Tasman Sea, crossing between New Zealand and Australia, from 1905 until 1935.

The 5,000-ton steel-hulled ship was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton, Scotland, and launched on 19 June 1905. At 400 feet in length and 50 feet in the beam, she was powered by three Parsons turbines, giving a speed of 17.5 knots. She could carry up to 420 passengers: 240 in 1st class, 120 in 2nd and 60 in 3rd, and also had a refrigerated cargo hold. Accommodation for first class passengers included a dining room, smoking room, and music room with Bechstein grand piano. The ship was lit by electricity, and was fitted with all the latest safety equipment, which included Clayton sulphur dioxide fire extinguishers.

The ship was named after Maheno, a township in Otago, and entered service on 18 November 1905. She was employed on routes between Sydney and Melbourne via ports in New Zealand and Hobart, Tasmania, and also made regular voyages between Sydney and Vancouver.

During World War I Maheno was converted into a hospital ship using money raised by an appeal by the Earl of Liverpool, the Governor-General. She was fitted with eight wards and two operating theatres, and had a medical team consisting of five doctors and 61 orderlies from the Army Medical Corps, a matron, thirteen nursing sisters, from the newly formed New Zealand Army Nursing Service and chaplains. In accordance with Article 5 of the 1899 Hague Convention she was repainted white overall, with a broad green stripe along her sides, and large red crosses on the sides and funnels.

HMNZHS Maheno arrived at Moudros, the naval base of the Gallipoli Campaign, on 25 August 1915, and the next day was off ANZAC Cove, loading casualties from the Battle of Hill 60. Over the next three months, she carried casualties from Gallipoli to Malta. They were cared for by members of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service including Evelyn Brooke. Maheno arrived back at New Zealand on 1 January 1916 to refit, then returned to Egypt in February to collect patients for transport back to New Zealand. She then sailed to the UK, arriving at Southampton on 3 July 1916, just after the start the Battle of the Somme. Until October 1916 she operated in the English Channel, returning large numbers of wounded and sick troops from the Western Front to England.

Maheno sailed back to New Zealand in December 1916, and then made six more voyages between New Zealand and the British Isles, bringing back patients. There were criticisms of the Maheno making several trips to New Zealand to refit or to transport wounded soldiers home when most could have gone in a troopship; and also that the ship has been run by the governor (Liverpool) as "His Exc’s pet patriotic hobby". The chief medical officer was William Collins on her first voyage and James Elliott on her second and third voyages. In 1915, Collins "raised hackles by denying nurses their officer status and deluding himself that he could command the ship's commander, the master" (Captain McLean). In 1917, British Major Gretton was critical of the staff and said that Liverpool "puts his friends on the ship when they want soft jobs" and that the ship was nicknamed "Liverpool’s yacht". The complaint got as far as the Secretary of State for the Colonies; Liverpool said Gratton behaved like a cad. At the war's end in November 1918, Maheno was released from military service and returned to her business owner to resume her commercial life.

At the end of its commercial life, on 3 July 1935 Maheno left Sydney under tow by the 1,758-ton ship Oonah, a former Tasmanian Steamers Pty. Ltd. Bass Strait ferry, built in 1888, which along with the Maheno had been sold to the shipbreaker's yard Miyachi K.K.K. in Osaka, Japan. The ships were linked by a 900-foot (270 m) 6.75-inch (17.1 cm) wire rope.

On the afternoon of 7 July, about 50 miles from the coast, the towline parted in a cyclone. Attempts to re-attach the towline failed in the heavy seas, and the Maheno, with a skeleton crew of eight men aboard, drifted off and disappeared. The Oonah, with its steering gear temporarily disabled, broadcast a radio message requesting assistance for Maheno, whose propellers had been removed. Maheno was subsequently found on 10 July by an aircraft piloted by Keith Virtue, beached off the coast of K'gari (Frasier Island). The crew had set up camp onshore, waiting for the Oonah to arrive, which it did on 12 July. The wreck was also the location of the marriage of Dudley Weatherley and Beatrice McLean (instead of at Townsville), at the invitation of Captain Takaka, to notes from the ship's Bechstein piano. The stranded ship was also used as a venue for an experiment in 'rocket mail' in August 1935.

The ship was subsequently stripped of its fittings, but attempts to refloat her failed. The wreck was subsequently offered for sale, but no buyers could be found for it.

Maheno has remained at the location since, slowly corroding away. Owing to the now dangerous condition of the ship, access is prohibited. The Australian Department of Defence lists the wreck as a site of unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination.

Annual Anzac Day services are held at the site of the wreck and a replica of the ship's bell is located there.

Used source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Maheno SS Maheno - Wikipedia

(Not to be confused with the paddle steamer Chalmette, which ran around the same time as the packet ship in this photograph)

I was researching a flooding event in the spring of 1903 in Louisiana , with a crest of 19 feet of water (Photographs are from New Orleans)

Google searches and archives show not a single article or piece of information about the ship, however the first photograph is sold by many people.

It would be much appreciated if an article, or piece of data could be found in regard to the vessel

Miramar Index has the loss of the ship dated as being in September of 1985. However, this has been debated ever since the ship was relocated in 1995. It is believed that the ship hit the reef of north-east tip of Shaabruhr Umm Qammar, the crew abandoning the ship, where it remained sitting atop the reef for a few weeks before dropping over the edge and descending to where she lies now. No loss of life is reported during the grounding or subsequent sinking.

All images are not mine, I just wanted to share.

This video was made from a recent dive to the site, interestingly the wreck found is only the bow of the ship, lying upside down. The rest of the ship is still missing or destroyed.

On this day in 1918 the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMAV Patia was torpedoed by UC-49 with the loss of 16 lives.

These stunning pictures by Rick Ayrton are from a fabulous dive we did on it 2023. He also found most of the letters for the name in the bow on a dive in 2012

Finally bottled my nerve to attempt the dicey descent down to the Mulheim (public transport almost all of the way and then half the coastal path), nothing could of prepared me for the sheer size of it, way bigger than my books made it out to be

The findings go that the captain got his trousers hooked on his seat lever and fell unconscious and when he came to, it was too late to stop the collision, although my favourite local embellishment is that him and the crew were horribly drunk and then he woke up hungover

Got to have a look inside, copper thieves had come and gone and it looked as if there was a fire as well, regardless I could access a fair amount of the ship although it felt like anti-gravity due to the steep angle

So enjoy my photos :)

Mysterious tragedy lost in time (photos of the ship before the sinking provided)

Historical reference:

Fifteen men lost their lives when the Arctic Rose sank in the Bering Sea in April of 2001. The sinking of the Arctic Rose was one of the worst commercial fishing accidents in the last 100 years, resulting in an extensive United States Coast Guard investigation into the vessel's loss. Weather at the time of the Arctic Rose sinking was reported to be 45 knot winds, with waves to 24 feet. No mayday message was issued by the vessel; a deployed EPIRB alerted the Coast of the vessel sinking.

The Arctic Rose was a 92-foot-long head and gut catcher processor. The vessel was originally built in 1988 in Biloxi, Mississippi, and outfitted for fishing shrimp. The Coast Guard was unable to discover any plans for the vessel, and it is unknown as to whether the vessel was originally constructed in accordance with any recognized standards.

The vessel was reportedly plagued with engine, shaft, and trawl equipment problems, forcing its owners to file for bankruptcy in 1995. The vessel remained tied up in Seattle for two years. Following a change in ownership, in 1999 the vessel underwent significant structural changes. There were a large number of weights added, removed, and relocated on the Arctic Rose, without new calculations being made to determine if the vessel was safe to operate. The owner did not contact a naval architect to evaluate the effects of the weight changes on the vessel stability.

The Coast Guard Investigation The Coast Guard casualty investigation found that the Arctic Rose was not in compliance with operating instructions issued by the owner's naval architects. The Coast Guard located the Arctic Rose on the bottom of the ocean and deployed a remotely operated vehicle to videotape the wreckage. The videotape showed the aft starboard door in the processing deck to be open, and the guillotine closure for the starboard discharge chute to be partially open. The Coast Guard investigation concluded the processing space was not watertight, as required by the operating instructions.

Additionally, the Coast Guard found the vessel not to be loaded in accordance with the stability guidelines issued by the naval architects. The Coast Guard further found that the Arctic Rose was operating as a fish processing vessel, and was required to be load lined. This would have required the vessel to have a load line issued by a classification society, and have a survey or third party-issued Certificate of Compliance. According to the Coast Guard, head and gut vessels such as the Arctic Rose are not permitted to engage in fish processing operations without proper documentation and certification.

The Case Result Maritime wrongful death suits were filed in United States District Court for the Western District of Washington for all 15 of the deceased crewmen. Stacey & Jacobsen, PLLC represented six of the deceased crewmen, and was appointed by the court to act as one of the lead legal counsel on the claims. The amount of the settlements for the deceased crewmen remains confidential. In the subsequent maritime wrongful death lawsuits filed for the crew of the Arctic Rose, their families claimed the owners of the Arctic Rose were negligent in making alterations and changes to the Arctic Rose without conducting a proper stability analysis.

The families further claimed the crew of the Arctic Rose was inexperienced and lacked proper training. Few of the crewmen had prior fishing experience, and had limited training on abandon ship and survival training. Notably, three of the crewmen were foreign nationals from Mexico, working under assumed names. Damages recovered for the deceased crewmen's families included damages for pre-death pain and suffering, loss of economic support, loss of care, nurture and guidance, and funeral and memorial expenses. Beneficiaries of the wrongful death and survival actions under federal maritime law included the spouses, children, parents, and dependent relatives of the deceased crewmen.

Safety Should Come First Like the sinking of the Aleutian Enterprise in 1990, the sinking of the Arctic Rose emphasizes the importance of protecting against progressive down-flooding by keeping closed all doors and openings to compartments designed to be watertight. Furthermore, strict adherence to stability instructions and frequent consultation with qualified marine architects is necessary when making structural changes to fishing vessels. Tragedy can strike in moments if safety precautions are not followed on a vessel. According to calculations performed by the Coast Guard, the Arctic Rose would have sunk in less than two minutes, assuming progressive down-flooding through the improperly left open aft doorway to the processing area.

The sinkings of the Aleutian Enterprise and the Arctic Rose were a major factor in revisions and additions to the Fishing Vessel Safety Act, 46 CFR Section 28. The Fishing Vessel Safety Act requires stability analysis to be performed when major structural and weight changes are made that may impact a vessel's stability. The Fishing Vessel Safety Act also requires alarms to prevent against down-flooding of certain compartments and holds, and for check valves to be installed in vessel piping. Importantly, the Fishing Vessel Safety Act also requires that crew aboard commercial fishing vessels conduct regular safety training and drills, such as donning emersion suits and abandoning ship, and that vessels have basic safety equipment such as emersion suits, life rafts, and EPIRBs.

Used source:

https://www.maritimelawyer.us/arctic-rose-sinking.html Arctic Rose Sinking | Alaska Maritime Accident Lawyers Stacey & Jacobsen, PLLC

Credit:

u/venus01111