Two Brothers Wreck discovered!

[vladimir]

HONOLULU — In the annals of the sea, there were few sailors whose luck was worse than George Pollard Jr.’s.

Pollard, you see, was the captain of the Essex, the doomed Nantucket whaler whose demise, in 1820, came in a most unbelievable fashion: it was attacked and sunk by an angry sperm whale, an event that inspired Herman Melville to write “Moby-Dick.”

On Friday, in a discovery that might bring a measure of peace to Captain Pollard, who survived his second wreck (though his career did not), researchers are to announce that they have found the remains of the Two Brothers. The whaler went down exactly 188 years ago after hitting a reef at the French Frigate Shoals, a treacherous atoll about 600 miles northwest of here. The trove includes dozens of artifacts: harpoon tips, whaling lances and three intact anchors.

For an archaeologist, this might have been the best fifteen-foot dive ever:

With a few spare days left before returning to Honolulu, however, the team decided to poke around a tiny sandbar known as Shark Island.

Kelly Gleason, the leader of the team, was in the water — crystal-clear shallows about 15 feet deep — when a colleague suddenly signaled that he had seen something.

“All of a sudden,” said Dr. Gleason, a marine archaeologist, “we came across this large anchor.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/science/11shipwreck.html?pagewanted=1&hp

If you find this interesting at all and haven't read the first mate's account, The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex, I highly recommend it. It's a great (and short) read.

 

[reeftank]

I read one of the books about the Essex, but I'm not sure what one. I high;y recommend reading about the story, though. It would've been really cool to discover the wreck.

 

[Geekhybrid]

"In the Heart of the Sea" is a fantastic account of the Essex disaster. Well worth reading, even if you're not in to history and maritime tales, the story is that good.

 

[myscubastory.com]

Really good thread! I wish i could dive the wreck!

you can read this article here too :

'Moby Dick' captain's ship found -- BBC News - 'Moby Dick' captain's ship found

 

[Udiver]

Sounds very intresting.

 

[don mccord]

I'd give my right arm to do this dive ! Or someone's arm (and eat it too !)