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From Hurriyet Daily News

The world’s second underwater "Archeopark" will be created in İzmir’s Karaburun district by the 360 Degree Historical Research Foundation, Ankara University and İzmir Underwater Foundation.

A ship prepared in Urla within the Mordoğan Yapay Resif Projesi will be sunk in Mordoğan at the end of the month. This will create a platform for the study of underwater archaeology, and contribute to the development of diving tourism. 

"The sinking in Mordoğan will be the second example in the world after that in Kaş," archaeologist Osman Erkurt said. "We think the underwater archeopark to be constructed here will be very important for scientific research. This project is being conducted with the contribution of Ankara University and the Urla and Mordoğan municipalities." 

"As widely known, amateur divers are not allowed to conduct research on ancient sunken ships. This will facilitate these divers to widen their field of specialization," said Professor Hayat Erkanal, chairman of Limantepe Excavations. 

"The Mordoğan district is very important for excavations. Erkanal is struggling to make people conscious of our history by revealing our historical values so they can understand its importance.

We, as the local authorities, will cooperate in this pursuit," said M. Selçuk Karaosmanoğlu, Urla mayor. 

"We initiated this important project to attract amateur divers around İzmir to this district. We aim to turn our district into an underground center and publicize this value to the whole world," explained Mordoğan Mayor Ahmet Çakır.

By Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès

The French writer Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès tells how he pursued his dream of uncovering “fragments of raw beauty long since forgotten” from the depths of the sea, an emotional experience very different from a treasure hunt.

Between 1986 and 2001, the novelist took part in underwater archaeological excavations off the coast of Libya, exploring that “unseen part of ourselves” which must be carefully and respectfully protected.

It all began in 1985. Not long returned from his first terrestrial dig with the French archaeological mission in Libya — one of the privileges of friendship — Claude Sintes [Director of the Museum of Ancient Arles] wasted no time in sharing his experiences with me: coming from Apollonia, he had seen Cyrene, Sabratha and Leptis Magna — Greek and Roman remains surpassing in size everything we knew or could have imagined.
 

By Oliver Balch

Authorities have begun an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of a treasure-laden ship after it ran into difficulties in the Magellan straits off the southern coast of Argentina

The ship, registered in Chile, was carrying more than nine tonnes of gold and silver worth at least £14m when it hit a fierce storm in the channel. Waves of up to 10 metres forced the crew to evacuate.

The seven-man crew of the Polar Mist left the engines running to avoid fuel pollution after they abandoned ship. A few hours later, a coastguard helicopter spotted a second boat approaching the distressed vessel.

The Beagle, which is also registered in Chile, began to tug the 23 metre Polar Mist in the direction of the Argentine port of Río Gallegos. Coastguard authorities presumed its intentions were to rescue the ship.

About 25 miles off shore, during the night, the troubled Mist Polar reportedly began listing from side to side. According to the tug's captain, it then sank beneath the waves, and the bullion is now lying on the seabed, 80 metres below the surface.

The cargo was on a scheduled journey from two mines in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz to the Chilean port of Punta Arenas. The gold and silver was destined for a refinery in Switzerland.

The captains of the two clippers are said to be helping officials with their investigation. In the meantime, all other ships have been banned from entering the area where the Polar Mist allegedly went under. Efforts are due to get under way shortly to salvage the cargo.

"The case remains open," said Gerardo Caamaño, the judge overseeing the investigation.

By Kathleen Strelow

I’ve always had a fascination with shipwreck expeditions, and when the Titanic exhibit came to Chicago I ended up seeing it three times. Visiting the Civil War Museum last summer, I was excited to find a traveling exhibit of the Maple Leaf expedition.

Originally used in Canada as a pleasure excursion vessel, the Maple Leaf was eventually purchased by the Union Army for use in the Civil War. It was sunk by a Confederate torpedo in the St. John’s River near Jacksonville, Florida on April 1, 1864. It was one of the largest ships sunk during the war.

The torpedoes, like the one that sunk the Maple Leaf, were made out of small tar-coated wooden beer kegs that floated just under the water so they could not be seen.

Keith Holland and the St. John’s Archaeological Expedition, Inc. rediscovered and partially excavated the Maple Leaf in 1984.

It wasn’t until 1992 that the St. John’s Archaeological Expedition, Inc. entered a cooperative agreement with the East Carolina University Program in Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology to conduct a three-year investigation of the Maple Leaf site. There were 667 dives and 617 dedicated hours in the 1992 excavation alone.

There were some amazing artifacts on display from the Maple Leaf exhibit, including a bayonet, pistol cleaning rod, drum stick, a U.S. Army belt buckle, a fountain pen and brass ink well, as well as William Potter’s swords.

Due to the ship sinking so quickly, and because of the type of muddy sediment that covered the wreck, the artifacts have been kept in good condition.

This artifact collection was donated to the state of Florida, and is curated by the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research.

By Robin McKie

Britain's love of seafood is helping to destroy the nation's maritime heritage.

That is the stark warning of marine archaeologists who say hundreds of sunken ships, from Elizabethan warships to second world war submarines, are being torn apart by trawlers - fishing for scallops and flatfish - dragging chains and cables across the seabed.

Investigations using robot submarines have revealed that serious damage has been inflicted on vast numbers of the 32,000 pre-1945 ships whose wrecks litter Britain's coastal waters.

Examples include the recently discovered 18th-century warship HMS Victory, which led Britain's fleet before Nelson's flagship of the same name. In 1744, Victory sank with all hands near the Channel Islands. Cannon hauled from the wreck showed it had suffered severe damage from trawlers.

"Marine wrecks give us a very important picture of life in the past," said Dr Sean Kingsley, of Wreck Watch International. "Everything used by the crew - pipes, cards, dice, cooking utensils - is preserved by the mud into which the ship settles, even its wooden hull."

Newly discovered wrecks are usually left undisturbed where they are assumed to be safe. But surveys by controversial US company Odyssey Marine Exploration suggest such wrecks are in danger from trawling, quarrying and oil-industry work.

Read more...

By Jack Shenker

Some of the world's most exciting sunken treasures could soon be on view after Egypt confirmed plans to build a giant underwater museum in the Mediterranean.

But as preparation begins on the site of Cleopatra's Palace in Alexandria, funding and technical problems are proving as divisive and controversial as the famed queen herself.

Ancient Alexandria was one of the world's great centres of civilisation, and since excavations in the eastern harbour began in 1994, divers have unearthed thousands of historical objects.

These have included 26 sphinxes, several vast granite blocks weighing up to 56 tonnes each, and even pieces of what is believed to be the Pharos of Alexandria lighthouse, one of the seven classic wonders of the world.

Remnants of Queen Cleopatra's palace complex are also submerged beneath the waves, after the island on which it stood fell victim to earthquakes in the 5th century.

Now ambitious but controversial plans are under way to open up this unique site via an immersed fibreglass tunnel which would enable close-up viewing of the underwater monuments.

The designs were drawn up by the French architect Jacques Rougerie, a veteran of water-based construction projects, and have been backed by the United Nations cultural agency Unesco.

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From BBC News

The English navy at around the time of the Armada was evolving revolutionary new tactics, according to new research. Tests on cannon recovered from an Elizabethan warship suggest it carried powerful cast iron guns, of uniform size, firing standard ammunition.

"This marked the beginning of a kind of mechanisation of war," says naval historian Professor Eric Grove of Salford University.

"The ship is now a gun platform in a way that it wasn't before."

Marine archaeologist Mensun Bound from Oxford University adds: "Elizabeth's navy created the first ever set of uniform cannon, capable of firing the same size shot in a deadly barrage. 

"[Her] navy made a giant leap forward in the way men fought at sea, years ahead of England's enemies, and which was still being used to devastating effect by Nelson 200 years later."

Read more...

By Virginia Wheeler and Rhodri Phillips

This is the amazing image which could show the fabled sunken city of Atlantis. It shows a perfect rectangle the size of Wales lying on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean nearly 3½ miles down.

A host of criss-crossing lines, looking like a map of a vast metropolis, are enclosed by the boundary.

They seem too vast and organised to be caused naturally. And last night the possibility of an extraordinary discovery had oceanographers and geophysicists captivated.

The site lies 620 miles off the west coast of Africa near the Canary Islands — a location for Atlantis seemingly suggested by the ancient philosopher Plato.

He believed it was an island civilisation sunk by an earthquake and floods around 9,700BC — nearly 12,000 years ago. 

The “grid” showed up on Google Ocean, a Google Earth extension that uses a combination of satellite images and marine surveys.