User login
Latest news going up
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Upcoming Dive shows
Care to comment? See our FaceBook page
Search for Bonhomme Richard intensifies
The Ocean Technology Foundation will launch its fifth expedition later this summer to search for the wreck of John Paul Jones' Revolutionary War ship the Bonhomme Richard in the North Sea.
Contemporary painting by Richard Willis
Undersea Search Is On for Famous Revolutionary War Ship
RELATED CONTENT:
The Bonhomme Richard was commanded by U.S. naval hero John Paul Jones during the American Revolution in 1779, and was lost at sea during a decisive battle off the coast of England. Jones’ famous words, “I have not yet begun to fight!” were shouted during a ferocious, point-blank battle with the British ship Serapis. Although Jones emerged victorious, 36 hours later he watched his beloved ship sink into the unforgiving North Sea.
The two-week expedition may provide the best chance yet to find the famed ship off the northeast coast of England as the U.S. and French navies are providing state-of-the-art sonar systems, an oceanographic survey ship, a mine hunter, underwater vehicles and divers.
"This is the latest and greatest equipment," Jack Ringelberg, president of the foundation, said Monday.
Previous expeditions have eliminated a 400-square-mile area where the ship was thought to be while additional historic data and information about how it may have drifted before it sank have refined the search area.
And unlike past expeditions, which either surveyed possible wreck sites or explored targets, this venture will have the capacity to do both. The exact dates of the trip were not released.
The OTF has been searching for the remains of Bonhomme Richard for five years. “The American public deserves some uplifting maritime news,” said Melissa Ryan, the expedition’s Project Manager, “and we hope to be able to tell them that we’ve found this significant piece of U.S. History.”
Advertisement
Works by our contributors
Other recent news
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
