Shipwrecks and Underwater Exploration
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Chiquita Doesn't Want a Banana
Shipwrecks and maritime history have always been a fascinating subject to the general public whether it’s a natural disaster such as the perfect storm or a disaster of egos as in the RMS Titanic sinking in April 1912. With 2,227 passengers and crew on board there were lifeboats to save less than half of the passengers on the ship. It is still to this day considered the greatest maritime disaster and greatest loss of life. The Titanic is not without company its sister ship the Britanic also sunk as well as the RMS Lusitania which sank in May 1915 with nearly 2,000 passengers on board. Much like most Captains of that day ego had gotten in the way and despite being warned various times about German UBoats in the area he decided to press on it was struck by a German torpedo and sank killing 1,195 passengers. We are fascinated by this as a culture our ocean is literally a junk yard for lost ships and other vehicles such as trains, military vehicles tanks, jeeps and fighter planes.
The Bermuda Triangle is an area that has proven to be a playground for adventurers and scientists alike who either believe or would like to disprove the theories of strange occurrences and disappearances of ships and planes throughout the years. The triangle also known as The Devils Triangle is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vehicles are alleged to have mysteriously disappeared in ways that we cannot explain. These occur either by human error, piracy equipment failure or natural disasters. Some say there are also paranormal activities at play when most of these vehicles go missing and are never heard from again. These are just some of the aspects of ocean travel that both intrigues and frightens us.
The most famous wreck of the Bermuda Triangle is the loss of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger bombers on a training mission on December 5, 1945. During their training mission the flight leader complained of compass irregularity of instruments going awry and confusion as to where they were located. There were many attempts to calm down the leader or take the lead in his place but ultimately they were rejected and the men followed their leader as they were instructed. All of their conversations were captured on audio and can be heard up until the very end planning their end, when one man goes down we all go down. What makes this story even more intriguing is that when the navy launched a rescue mission the PBM Mariner flying boat may have exploded in mid air while searching for the flight squad and those 13 crew members were also lost. It was a dark day for the navy losing a total of 32 crew members. To this day no one has been able to solve the mystery or locate the wreck of all 5 avengers it is one of the most sought after wrecks in maritime history.
One of the most popular shipwrecks that divers flock to is the S.S. Thistlegorm originally discovered by the master himself Jacques Cousteau. The Thistlegorm is especially intriguing because of the types of vehicles you can find at the bottom. It was a British Navy ship that was sunk by a German bomb in 1941 it carried guns, bombs, and ammunition on its way to Alexandria. The wreck is located 30 meters below the surface of the Red Sea just off the coast of the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. It's particularly fun for divers because they can explore locomotives, guns and torpedos as well as a variety of military vehicles that were on board at the time of its sinking.
Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes are some of the most well preserved wrecks of the day there are literally wrecks from every time period, shape and size so in tact that it looks as if they just sank. This is because of the lakes being fresh water bodies salt water erodes the ships themselves either from chemical organisms or rust. Oceanography students from the local colleges frequently dive in these waters so that they can survey the ships and get a better understanding of their current ecosystem. The visibility level in these waters is excellent too which makes it an amazing dive where details can be seen from centuries ago. The shipwrecks themselves are in danger and it's not from man but from a living organism that is exclusive to the Great Lakes, Zebar Mussels and Quagga Mussels are very harmful to their delicate ecosystem, and to the shipwrecks. The species attach themselves to the shipwrecks and feed off of the minerals that exist in the metal on the ship.
The most famous Great Lakes shipwreck is the Edmund Fitzgerald which sank on November 10, 1975, 17 miles north-northeast of the Whitefish Point, Michigan. Whitefish Point is the site of the Whitefish Point Lighthouse and The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS). The Historical Society has conducted three underwater expeditions to the wreck 1989, 1994, and 1995. The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with her entire crew of 29 men due to severe weather and in the early morning suddenly sank. Captain McSorley of the "FITZ" had indicated he was having difficulty and was taking on water. The ship was listing to the port side and had two of the three ballast pumps working. She lost her radar and there was damage to her ballast tank vent pipes. The Captain was overheard on the radio saying, "don't allow nobody on deck." The Captain said it was the worst storm he'd ever seen. The ship now lies broken in two sections 530ft underwater. The Edmund Fitzgerald is forever remembered in the song by Gordon Lightfoot, The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, during the three expeditions to the wreck the families of the crew that went down with the ship asked that the bell be recovered as a remembrance of all those lost.
This is just one of the many shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the Great Lakes due to high traffic and severe weather seasons usually through the months of November to January. During the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 historically referred to as the "Big Blow, the Freshwater Fury" or the "White Hurricane," was a blizzard with hurricane force winds that devastated the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario from November 7th through November 10th, 1913. The storm battered and overturned ships left and right leaving 250 people dead, 19 ships destroyed, and 19 others stranded. Till this day it is the worst storm of the Great Lakes history.
Our Maritime history is preserved through museums, documentaries and school textbooks, stories told from generation to generation so that both the memory and intrigue of these wrecks live on. More and more people are becoming knowledgeable of our marine history the destruction that can be caused by the ocean and all its mysteries. We've yet to explore more than 1% of our ocean floor and what we've found so far is mountainous regions, underwater volcanoes, gas bubbles and many areas so deep they cannot be seen by our current technology. Until we are able to truly understand the intriquisies of the ocean floor we cannot sustain a safe environment for mariners and ships. Whether large or small all vehicles that sail the ocean are in danger and must always be alert and at their best for the ocean itself is a fickle thing it can and will at any time claim your life without discrimination without conscience.
Follow Erin on Twitter: @snogvlog