The Shipwreck Hunter

Author: David L Mearns
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1925576337
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 524

Book Description
David Mearns, the man who discovered the wreck of HMAS Sydney, takes us on an extraordinary voyage through his amazing career as one of the world's most successful shipwreck hunters. 'The underwater worlds of past and present collide in the depths of the ocean in this gripping and suspenseful narrative by David Mearns, a true expert on the mysteries of the deep sea.' CLIVE CUSSLER David Mearns has found some of the world's most fascinating and elusive shipwrecks. His deep-water searches have solved the 66-year mystery of HMAS Sydney, discovered the final resting place of the mighty battlecruiser HMS Hood and revealed the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur in the narrow underwater canyon that served as its grave. His painstaking historical detective work has led to the shallow reefs of a remote island that hid the crumbling wooden skeletons of Vasco da Gama's sixteenth century fleet. The Shipwreck Hunter is the compelling story of David's life and work on the seas, focusing on some of his most intriguing discoveries. It details the extraordinary techniques used, the research and the mid-ocean stamina and courage needed to find a wreck kilometres beneath the sea, as well as the moving human stories that lie behind each of these oceanic tragedies. Part detective story, part history and part deep ocean adventure, The Shipwreck Hunter is a unique insight into a hidden, underwater world.

The Shipwreck Hunter

Author: David L. Mearns
Publisher: Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1925575284
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 544

Book Description
Winner of the Mountbatten Award for Best Book, 2018 David Mearns has discovered some of the world's most fascinating and elusive shipwrecks. From the mighty battlecruiser HMS Hood to the crumbling wooden skeletons of Vasco da Gama's 16th century fleet, David has searched for and found dozens of sunken vessels in every ocean of the world. The Shipwreck Hunter is an account of David's most intriguing and fascinating finds. It details both the meticulous research and the mid-ocean stamina and courage required to find a wreck miles beneath the sea, as well as the moving human stories that lie behind each of these oceanic tragedies. Combining the derring-do of Indiana Jones with the precision of a surgeon, in The Shipwreck Hunter David Mearns opens a porthole into the shadowy depths of the ocean.

Pirate Hunters

Author: Robert Kurson
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0812996526
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE • A thrilling adventure of danger and deep-sea diving, historic mystery and suspense, by the author of Shadow Divers 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. At large during the Golden Age of Piracy in the seventeenth century, Bannister should have been immortalized in the lore of the sea—his exploits more notorious than Blackbeard’s, more daring than Kidd’s. But his story, and his ship, have been lost to time. 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. Soon, however, they realize that cutting-edge technology and a willingness to lose everything aren’t enough to track down Bannister’s ship. 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. Fast-paced and filled with suspense, fascinating characters, history, and adventure, Pirate Hunters is an unputdownable story that goes deep to discover truths and souls long believed lost. Praise for Pirate Hunters “You won’t want to put [it] down.”—Los Angeles Times “An exceptional adventure . . . Highly recommended to readers who delight in adventure, suspense, and the thrill of discovering history at their fingertips.”—Library Journal (starred review) “A terrific read . . . The book gallops along at a blistering pace, shifting us deftly between the seventeenth century and the present day.”—Diver “Nonfiction with the trademarks of a novel: the plots and subplots, the tension and suspense . . . [Kurson has] found gold.”—The Dallas Morning News “Rollicking . . . a fascinating [story] about the world of pirates, piracy, and priceless treasures.”—The Boston Globe “[Kurson’s] narration is just as engrossing as the subject.”—The Christian Science Monitor “A wild ride [and an] extraordinary adventure . . . Kurson’s own enthusiasm, combined with his copious research and an eye for detail, makes for one of the most mind-blowing pirate stories of recent memory, one that even the staunchest landlubber will have a hard time putting down.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “The two contemporary pirate-ship seekers of Mr. Kurson’s narrative are as daring, intrepid, tough and talented as Blood and Sparrow—and Bannister. . . . As depicted by the author, they are real-life Hemingway heroes.”—The Wall Street Journal “[Kurson] takes his knowledge of the underwater world and applies it to the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’ . . . thrillingly detailing the highs and lows of chasing not just gold and silver but also history.”—Booklist “A great thriller full of tough guys and long odds . . . and: It’s all true.”—Lee Child

The Shipwreck Hunter

Author: David L Mearns
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1681778289
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 565

Book Description
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 derring-do of Indiana Jones with the precision of a scientist, The Shipwreck Hunter opens an illuminating porthole into the shadowy depths of the ocean.

Shipwreck

Author: Dave Horner
Publisher: Sheridan House
ISBN: 9781493059591
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description
Based on the exceptional and fascinating eyewitness account of a 17th century Spanish padre, Dave Horner's Shipwreck is the absorbing and true story of two immense galleons that were lost (along with hundreds of passengers and millions of pesos in treasure) to disasters at sea. Shipwreck is an extraordinary literary adventure which interweaves accounts of the many attempts throughout the past three centuries to recover the sunken treasure, including the recent discovery and salvage of one of the galleons by Dave Horner himself. Shipwreck is an outstanding history of true adventure on the high seas, past and present, which is wonderfully enhanced for the reader with 50 photographic illustrations, six maps, four line drawings, seven appendices, as well as bibliographies of archival sources, institutions, original documents or primary works, and a general listing of thematically appropriate titles for further suggested readings.

Treasure Islands

Author: Alec Crawford
Publisher: Birlinn
ISBN: 9781780277400
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
In 1971 Alec Crawford is determined to make his fortune from ship salvage. Early attempts lead nowhere until he teams up with a new partner, Simon Martin. Diving in Hebridean waters, they explore remains of the Spanish Armada, and the wreck of the SS Politician, the vessel made famous in the Whisky Galore. But money is scarce and irregular, and the work is fraught with danger and disappointment. Until they hear of one of the most incredible wrecks of all time - the White Star Liner Oceanic, which, when built in 1899, was the biggest and most luxurious ship in the world. Widely regarded as an 'undiveable' wreck, lying somewhere off the remote island of Foula, they decide to take the challenge. They face unbelievably dangerous waters and appalling weather conditions, and when a large salvage company takes action against them, they also have a huge legal fight on their hands. But if they succeed, the rewards will be enormous...

Shipwrecks of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland Waters

Author: Gary Gentile
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781883056469
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Book Description
GARY GENTILE'S POPULAR DIVE GUIDE SERIES Over 100 GPS and loran numbers included As suggested by the title and series name, this volume covers the most well-known wrecks sunk in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. For each of the wrecks covered, a statistical sidebar provides basic information such as the dates of construction and loss, previous names (if any), tonnage and dimensions, builder and owner (at time of loss), port of registry, type of vessel and how propelled, cause of sinking, location (GPS and/or loran coordinates if known), and depth. In most cases, an historical photograph or illustration of the ship leads the text. Throughout the book is scattered a selection of additional photographs. Each volume is full of fascinating narratives of triumph and tragedy, of heroism and disgrace, of human nature at its best and its basest. These books are not about wood and steel, but about flesh and blood, for every shipwreck saga is a human story. Ships may founder, run aground, burn, collide with other vessels, or be torpedoed by a German U-boat. In every case, however, what is emphatically important is what happened to the people who became victims of casualty: how they survived, how they died. Also included are descriptions of the wrecks as they appear on the bottom. At the end of each volume is a bibliography of suggested reading, and a list of GPS and loran numbers of wrecks in and adjacent to the area covered. Wrecks covered in Shipwrecks of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland Waters are: Alum Chine, American Mariner (target ship), Benjamin O. Colonna, Columbia, Columbus, Dragonet (American submarine), Express, Favorite, General J.A. Dumont, Hannibal, Herbert D. Maxwell, Levin J. Marvel, Mary A. DeKnight, Medora, Nelly White, New Jersey, S-49 (American submarine), Three Rivers, Tulip (Civil War gunboat), U-1105 (German U-boat), Wawaset, and Wilson Small. Also included is a special section about shipwrecks in Curtis Bay and Mallows Bay.

Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea

Author: Gary Kinder
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
ISBN: 155584796X
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 526

Book Description
“Titanic meets Tom Clancy technology” in this national-bestselling account of the SS Central America’s wreckage and discovery (People). September 1875. With nearly six hundred passengers returning from the California Gold Rush, the side-wheel steamer SS Central America encountered a violent storm and sank two hundred miles off the Carolina coast. More than four hundred lives and twenty-one tons of gold were lost. It was a tragedy lost in legend for more than a century—until a brilliant young engineer named Tommy Thompson set out to find the wreck. Driven by scientific curiosity and resentful of the term “treasure hunt,” Thompson searched the deep-ocean floor using historical accounts, cutting-edge sonar technology, and an underwater robot of his own design. Navigating greedy investors, impatient crewmembers, and a competing salvage team, Thompson finally located the wreck in 1989 and sailed into Norfolk with her recovered treasure: gold coins, bars, nuggets, and dust, plus steamer trunks filled with period clothes, newspapers, books, and journals. A great American adventure story, Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea is also a fascinating account of the science, technology, and engineering that opened Earth’s final frontier, providing “white-knuckle reading, as exciting as anything . . . in The Perfect Storm” (Los Angeles Times Book Review). “A complex, bittersweet history of two centuries of American entrepreneurship, linked by the mad quest for gold.” —Entertainment Weekly “A ripping true tale of danger and discovery at sea.” —The Washington Post “What a yarn! . . . If you sign on for the cruise, go in knowing that you’re going to miss meals and a lot of sleep.” —Newsweek

Shipwrecks

Author: Nick Hunter
Publisher: Raintree
ISBN: 140624970X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
Examines the hunt for shipwrecks and the valuable treasures they hold, whether that be gold and jewels, or important artefacts that offer us a window on to the past. Part of the Treasure Hunters series, this book offers a cross-curricular mix of science & technology and history, with a fun, dramatic approach.

Dead Men's Silver

Author: Hugh Edwards
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
ISBN: 0730499081
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 569

Book Description
The story of more than sixty years of diving adventures, through starkly contrasting locations and extraordinary advances in technology. From boyhood dreamer to master treasure hunter, Hugh Edwards documents his life through tales of shipwreck and salvage. the story of more than sixty years of diving adventures including his significant find of the Batavia, Hugh Edwards documents his life through tales of shipwreck, treasure hunting and salvage.Brought up on tales of pirates and great treasure hunters, Hugh Edwards never expected to handle 'pieces of eight' himself. But one exciting day off the West Australian coast, that is exactly what happened, when he and his team located treasure lost from the Dutch East Indiaman shipwreck the Vergulde Draeck. It was a moment of astonishment and euphoria, as there in his hand lay a piece of silver with the inscription: PHILIPPUS IIII ... REX HISPANIA ... DG - Philip IV, King of Spain, Dei Gratia (by the Grace of God). the date on the coin was 1654.Nearly fifty years later Hugh Edwards has explored shipwrecks around the world - in the Mediterranean, the Falklands, Cambodia - wherever there is treasure to be found. He has been recognised as 'primary finder' of the 1629 wreck of the Batavia and the 1727 wreck the Zeewyk. He has worked with some of the world's craziest, daring and most successful divers in some of the most beautiful or stormy places on Earth.this is the story of a lifetime of adventure - of dangerous seas, thrilling underwater locations, of pirate diplomacy and empire building, and of modern derring-do. 'Ever since there have been ships and sailors there have been shipwrecks. Each is different, and each is a time capsule, arrested at a particular moment - and they all came to the same unexpected and unscheduled end.' Hugh Edwards