Abandoned 1854 ship found in Arctic

[Dennis Donovan]

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/28/hms-investigator-arctic.html

HMS Investigator, abandoned in the Arctic 155 years ago during a search for Sir John Franklin's expedition, has been found.

Parks Canada archeologists looking for the ship found it 15 minutes after they started a sonar scan of Banks Island's Mercy Bay in the Northwest Territories, said Marc-André Bernier, chief of Parks Canada's underwater archeology service.

When the team arrived , the whole bay was covered in ice," Bernier said. "On July 25, the team had an opening in the ice.… It happened to be where the ship had been abandoned."

They started a sonar scan of the area identified by British navy accounts as the spot where the ship had been left. They used a torpedo-shaped scanner, towed behind a Zodiac inflatable boat, which sends out sound waves and produces images of the floor of the bay.

"After 15 minutes, they basically had an image of the wreck," Bernier said.

"It's in good condition," he said. "Very good condition, actually — surprising condition."

The ship is upright in about 11 metres of water, its bottom buried in sediment if it's still there, and the upper deck under about eight metres of water.
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I love maritime archeology - very cool find!:thumbsup:

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Doggerland

It's slightly off-topic, but it is maritime archeology.

Do a Google search on it when you have a free afternoon.

--d!

[EFerrari]

2. This is a fascinating story! It's so cool that they found the ship.

I saw a presentation about it but can't remember where. Maybe BookTv.

[Turbineguy]

3. There's a Maritime Archeology Museum

in the Netherlands.

But then again, there's a cigar band museum in the Netherlands too.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Very cool... Rec #5. :)

Amazing to have found this after all of these years, and in such good condition. Must have been a beautiful ship in its day... :bounce:

Reminds me of the only ship of its kind still in use... built in 1863. :shrug:

Star of India