Institute of Maritime History

The Roper is finally home and we took her out Satuday to dive the U-1105 and the Favorite. 

The visibility on the U-1105 was the best any of us has ever seen, ambient light actually reached the boat enough to be able to see your buddy or the u-boat from several feet away, perhaps as much as 10-15 feet with your light.  Between the great visibility and the absolute lack of current, it was my first opportunity to really tour the u-boat and get a feel for her.  I have posted photos on Facebook and will also e-mail them to Dave, so he can add to this blog.

She safely returned from St. Augustine on Friday, 7 August.  The folks at LAMP worked her hard and took very good care of her.  She is fully operational for the upcoming field school in the Potomac.

We might take her south again next year for another session, perhaps with some modifications -- including better stowage on deck and below, and a small derrick for lifting more ballast from the site LAMP is working.

http://books.google.com/books?id=PSBvAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22chronicles+of+coloni...

Check out this great post at the St. Augustine Lighthouse blog on their recent work. It features some great video.

http://www.staugustinelighthouse.com/blog/lamposts/continued_work_on_the_shipwrec.php

Long-time friend Townie Burden just gave IMH a lot of used gear, including wetsuits, drysuits, hoods, booties, BCs, and accessories.  Some of it is almost new, but some is pretty salty.  The suits are small, medium, and extra large.  We will keep some as loaners, and sell some.  If you are interested, contact david.howe@maritimehistory.org.

He also gave us a Fisher Pulse 8-X underwater metal detector.  We will keep that for use in the field, not sell it.  Sorry!

Remy A. Pohl, a diver and high school senior from Hastings NY, will spend the next three weeks living aboard the IMH houseboat at Tall Timbers and doing as much field work as possible and as much data entry as he can stand.  He is on facebook.

See http://www.archaeology.org/0907/underwater/

Good stuff!!

The Maryland Department of Planning received $78,000 to identify and assess naval engagements of the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 in Maryland.  Work will include collecting baseline data at six engagement sites to build future planning and management efforts, including National Register nomination for eligible sites.

For other details see http://media-newswire.com/release_1093643.html.

IMH will hold a four-day field school in underwater reconnaissance by sidescan sonar, and site mapping in low-visibility water.  Tentative dates are 15-16 and 22-23 August 2009.

The school will be based at Tall Timbers MD.  It will comprise one day ashore and one day afloat, for divers and non-divers, and two days in the water mapping two wrecks in the lower Potomac (divers only).

Space is limited, but some slots are still available.  If more people sign up than we can accommodate, we will offer it again later in the year.

On 31 July and 1 August 1776, Loyalist forces under Lord Dunmore, the last royal governor of Virginia, burned a number of their own vessels near St. George's Island where the St. Mary's River joins the Potomac.

In March 2009 IMH hired Azulmar LLC to run a sidescan and mag survey in the area.  Azulmar got several sidescan and mag hits, and sent us an initial group of 13 potential sites.