Magazine: Lost Treasure Magazine

Lost Treasure magazine is a fun magazine that chronicles people's attempts to find lost treaure. They don't deal with the major search companies - the ones who launch searches costing millions of dollars, but rather those of the "common" people, the ones who purchase a metal detector and go out into woods and scour beaches to see what they can find.

A print subscription to the magazine costs $33.95, a digital subscription, only $23.95.

I take the liberty of sharing their calendar of events for the rest of 2010:

APRIL



10th – Belmar, New Jersey. Premier Belmar Beach Blast sponsored by the East Coast Research & Discovery Association - 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., rain or shine, at the John Taylor Pavilion. For more information, contact Harold Lowenfels ECRDA 2010 Beach Blast, 2845 Lenox Street, Toms River, NJ 08755 or e-mail Art Pearson at artmds@verizon.net



17th – 18th – Winfield, Pennsylvania. 31st Annual 2-Day Treasure Hunt sponsored by the Susquehanna Valley Metal Detecting Club at the Union Township Fire Co. Three hunts per day. No Clad! For more info, contact Lenny Cooper at (570) 752-6347, e-mail coop6347@msn.com or Ed Burke at (570) 331-0600, e-mail potogold1@verizon.net



16th – 18th – Riverside, California. The West Coast Prospectors and Treasure Hunters present their 23rd Annual Hunt, Rendezvous 2010 at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park. Make your reservations early at (951) 684-7032 or (800) 234-7275. For more information, contact Ralph Crowther, 26722 Valpariso Dr., Mission Viejo, CA 92691 or e-mail ralph.crowther@mindspeed.com



23rd – 25th – Keene & Marlborough, New Hampshire. 17th Best O’ North East (BONE) Treasure Hunters Weekend sponsored by Professional Treasure Hunters. For info, e-mail gstreeter@ne.rr.com or call (603) 876-4443. Advance registrations to PTHHS, 307 Main St., Marlborough, NH 03455.



24th – Radersberg, Montana. Headwaters Chapter of the GPAA’s 7th Annual Claim Jumpers Metal Detector Hunt. Gold Nuggets! Silver Coins! Prizes! For info, e-mail gpaainfo@yahoo.com



24th – 25th – Cashmere, Washington. The North Central Washington Prospectors’ 11th annual Gold and Treasure Show at the Chelan County Fairgrounds. Sat., 9-5, Sun., 9-4. $3 admission, 12 and under free. For more info, contact Carl Pederson, President at repete7@verizon.net or call (509) 630-8239.



30th – May 2nd – Apache Junction, Arizona. FMDAC 2010 Spring Festival - three days of fun and activities at the Goldfield Ghost Town. Hunts all three days with seminars and displays on site. Detectors, gold nuggets, silver coins and other prizes to be won. For more information, contact Duane Biller at dbiller@atlanticbb.net or Mike Smith at promack@quik.com, (480) 983-7011. You can go online to www.fmdac.org to download hunt forms.



MAY



15th – Virginia Beach, Virginia. Save the date. This is the hunt all your friends told you about. The one and only 23rd annual open hunt sponsored by Tidewater Coin and Relic Club at the beautiful Virginia Beach oceanfront. Rain or shine. Detectors, gold, silver and prizes galore. Contact Ina Finn at sanddigger@charter.net or (757) 679-0467.



16th – Lathrop, Missouri. The Three Trails Historical Search Team of Independence, Missouri, will sponsor their 26th Annual Treasure Hunt at the Antique Show Grounds. For more information, contact Gregg Arnold at (913) 831-1011 or e-mail gastudio@kc.rr.com



22nd – 23rd – Grand Rapids, North Dakota. Minnkota Artifact Recovery Group’s 11th annual treasure hunt. For more info, contact Jeff Kehl at jkehl1963@yahoo.com or (320) 845-7814.



22nd – Onset, Massachusetts. The 18th Annual Open Treasure Hunt sponsored by the Gateway Treasure Hunters Club at the Onset Public Beach, rain or shine. Registration begins at 9 a.m. Easy access from I-95, I-495 and Mass. Routes 3, 6, 25 and 28. For more info, call Roy Gouge at (508) 759-9779, e-mail phylroy@verizon.net or visit the club’s website at http://mysite.verizon.net/gthclub22



29th – 30th – Casper, Wyoming. Gem, Rock & Mineral Show at the Fairgrounds Industrial Building. Admission $3. Hosted by the Natrona County Rockhounds. For more info, contact Randy Senberg at (307) 234-6156.



JUNE



5th – Shawsville, Virginia. 19th Annual Open Hunt by the Roanoke Valley Coin & Relic Club at Camp Alta Mons. More info, Marilyn Epperly, 2136 Maiden Lane, SW, Roanoke, VA 24015, (540)342-0153 or e-mail grammaepp1@juno.com or Anna Feazell (540) 563-4118 or e-mail at shortbelle@aol.com



5th – Stanwood, Washington. Pilchuck Treasure Hunting Club’s 28th Annual Hunt, Junefest 2010, at the Stanwood Fair Grounds, 6431 Pioneer Hwy. Raffles: Main, 50/50, Silver Dollar and Treasure Wheel. Potluck lunch at noon, bring a dish. Kids’ Hunt (12 years or under). Check www.pilchucktreasurehunts.org for updated information. For more, e-mail pilchucktreasurehunts@yahoo.com



6th – Topeka, Kansas. Topeka Treasure Hunters’ Open National Treasure Hunt at Reynolds Lodge at Lake Shawnee. Five hunts rain or shine, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. For more info, contact Russell Broxterman, 1210 School, Box 162, Auburn, KS 66402, (785) 256-2925.



12th – 13th – Hampton, Illinois. Cedar Valley Research and Recovery will hold their Fifth Annual Treasure Hunt at the Illiniwek Forest Preserve, Route 84. For more, contact Joseph Evans, 3427 Circle Dr., Cedar Rapids, IA 52402, Phone (319) 265-4418 or e-mail joeevans@imonmail.com



18th – 20th – Athol, Idaho. Northwest Treasure Hunters Club’s 38th annual hunt at the Farragut State Park. Contact Eric Payne at (208) 772-4794 or by e-mail at payneea@hotmail.com



18th – 20th –New Staunton, Pennsylvania. Treasurefest 2010 at the Fox Den Acres campground. There will be 10 hunts with a variety of themes. You can enter for one day or all three. The fee is $30 per hunt and registrations can be sent to Ed Burke, 84 S. Atherton Ave., Kingston, PA 18704, call (570) 331-0600, or e-mail potogold1@verizon.net, or Duane Biller (724) 439-1380, snakemandb@earthlink.net



19th – 20th – Hastings, Nebraska. The Nebraskaland Treasure Hunters Club’s Annual Hunt at the ghost town of Leroy, south of Hastings on Hwy. 281. For info, contact Dale or Marilyn Ratzlaff at (402) 736-4455 or dalyn@mainstaycomm.net



19th – 20th – Powell, Wyoming. The Wyoming State Mineral & Gem Show hosted by the Shoshone Rock Club and assisted by the Cody 59'ers at the Park County Fairgrounds, 655 5th Street. Admittance - Adults: $2 each, Ages 12-18: $1 each. For information, contact Jane R. Neale, (307) 754-3285 or Mary Ann Northrup, (307) 754-4472.



19th – 20th –Georgetown, Indiana. The Hoosier Hills Treasure Hunters Club and the Down n’ Dirty Diggers Metal Detecting Club will each host one day of this weekend hunt – the Diggers’ 9th Annual Open Hunt on Sat., and the Hoosier Hills’ “Second Day” Hunt on Sun. For more info on the Diggers, contact Mike Byrn by e-mail at byrn@hughes.net or call (812) 366-3558. For more on the Hoosiers, contact Chad Beesley at c.beesley@insightbb.com or call (812) 966-2137 or (812) 498-0336.



26th – 27th – Palmer, Alaska. Alaska Treasure Seekers’ 34th Annual Metal Detecting Hunt at the Alaska State Fairgrounds – France Equestrian Center – 2075 Glenn Highway. For more info, contact Cathy Lundine, (907) 696-1910 or e-mail lundine5aol [dot] com



JULY



10th – 17th –New Staunton, Pennsylvania. Treasure Week at the Fox Den Acres Campground. Three hunts a day with many other hunts and activities. For more info, contact Jill & Carl McFeeders, jcseeker@core.com or phone (330) 364-1608.



24th – 25th –Nekoosa, Wisconsin. MidState Metal Detector Club’s 14th Annual Open Hunt and State Championship at the Deer Trails Park Campground (please note the hunt location has changed). Contact Steven Miller, N3091 CTY RD B, Hancock, WI 54943, or e-mail stmill@uniontel.net



26th – August 1st – Vallonia, Indiana. Southern Indiana Treasure Fest 2010 sponsored by Pepsi-Cola at the Starve Hollow State Recreation Area south of Brownstown on HW 135. Jackson County Fair all week. Events for all ages every day! Free Kids Hunts ages 3-12, and Jr. Hunts ages 13-15 for $10. The week’s events sponsored and/or provided by Bounty Hunter, Fisher Labs, Garrett Metal Detectors, The Lincoln Hills Treasure Hunters Club, White’s Electronics, The Hoosier Hills Treasure Hunter’s Club, Real Treasure Hunters, Teknetics, Cannonball Express Metal Detectors, Wick’s Pies, Wray & Co. Treasure Shop, Tesoro, and The Down n’ Dirty Diggers. For more info, contact Chad Beesley at (812) 966-2137 or Terry Rittenhouse at (765) 857-2400.



AUGUST



7th – Orting, Washington. The Puget Sound Treasure Hunters Club, Tacoma, Washington, is sponsoring their annual Lenny Phay Memorial Hunt, “Silver Bonanza,” rain or shine. Two major silver hunts, one a silver dime hunt and the other a big silver hunt, plus a detector and a treasure chest raffle. Fun for the entire family, to include youth hunts. For more info, contact Jim Ratcliff, Sr. at (360) 556-3914 or Jim Ratcliff, Jr. at (360) 556-4009, e-mail scouthobby@comcast.net or visit http://sites.google.com/site/pugetsoundtreasurehunters/home



7th –8th – Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 28th Annual Black Diamond Treasure Weekend sponsored by the Black Diamond Treasure Hunters Club at the Plymouth TWP. Recreation Field on Route 11. For information, send self-addressed stamped envelope to B.D.T.H.C., P.O. Box 1523, Kingston, PA 18704, or go to www.bdthc.org to download the flier. Send e-mail requests to treasure1@aol.com or phone Byard Derr (215) 536-0796, George Walko (570) 287-3602 or Ron Denman (570) 288-7787.



SEPTEMBER



11th – Milan, Michigan. Michigan Treasure Hunters’ 37th Annual Open Hunt at the KC Campground. For more information, contact Vincent Tremain, 15552 Stonehouse Circle, Livonia, MI 48154, or visit www.michigantreasurehunters.com



11th – 12th – Boonville, Indiana. Lincoln Hills Treasure Club’s 4th Annual Treasure Hunt at Scales Lake Park on the sandy beach, sponsored by Robert Jackson. Entry fees put in the hunt as silver dimes. Prize donations welcome. Free Kids’ Hunt, Teens’ Hunt $10. For more info, contact Robert Jackson at (812) 925-3280 or (812) 305-0295.



18th – Knox, New York. 40th Annual Club Hunt with over $5,000 in prizes, sponsored by the Empire State Metal Detector Association, at the Knox Firemen’s Park. For info and registration form, go to www.esmda.org. For more info, contact Bob Lavoy at metal@nycap.rr.com or call (518) 356-0564.



19th – Lathrop, Missouri. 34th Annual Open Hunt sponsored by Mo-Kan Search and Recovery Club at the Lathrop Antique Show Grounds. For more info e-mail Terry Theiss at outboundace@hotmail.com, call Chuck Clevenger at (816) 436-0697, or visit the club website at www.mokansr.com



25th – 26th – Mt. Vernon, Illinois. The Tri-State Metal Detecting Club will host its Annual two-day hunt loaded with silver coins, unique hunts, prizes, raffles, and lots of fun! For more info, contact Justin Stevens at (618) 201-1853 or by e-mail at tds62864@hotmail.com



26th – 27th – Java Center, New York. Genesee Valley Treasure Seekers, Inc.’s 10th Annual Hunt at the Beaver Meadows Campgrounds. Prizes include detectors, and gold and silver coins. Events benefit the American Cancer Society. For more information, call John Howard at (585) 663-7368.

In search of USS Cumberland and CSS Florida

The CSS Florida is another Confederate ironclad that Clive Cussler searched for. He chronicled that search in The Sea Hunters (1996).

A year and seven months after the Cumberland sank, just off the town of Newport News, Virginia; the CSS Florida was scuttled. Most historians, including Cussler, believe it was done on the orders of Admiral David Dixon. Here's a bit from Wikipedia:

At Newport News, Virginia [after having been captured in Brazil and brought back to the U S, in violation of Brazil's neutrality laws] on November 28, 1864, Florida reached the end of her strange career when she sank under dubious circumstances after a collision with the USAT Alliance, a troop ferry. The sinking was most likely done at Admiral David Dixon Porter's encouragement, if not his orders. The Florida could therefore not be delivered to Brazil in satisfaction of the final court order, and could not rejoin the ranks of the Confederate Navy.

Here's the story of the Florida prior to the sinking, as told by Cussler:

On March 22, 1862, the Oreto puts out to sea from Liverpool. Allegedly built for the Italian navy, it was instead sailed to Nassau in the Bahamas, where it was given to the commans of the Confederate blockade runner, John Maffitt.

August 16, 1862
Now mounting 6-inch guns, two 7-inch Blakely rifled guns and a twelve-pound howitzer, the ship is re-christened the CSS Florida.

September 4, 1862
After a 3-day cruise across the Gulf of Mexico from Havana, the yellow-fever afflicted crew manage to run the blockade into Fort Morgan, Florida.

January 16, 1863 Maffitt and the Florida steam out of Mobile ay and begin their raiding career.

After two successful voyages, the Florida was in port in Bahia, Brazil to take on supplies and coal. Despite the fact that it was a neutral port, Commander Napoleon Collins of the USS Wachusett sailed in and captured her, and towed her back to Virginia.

So angry were the Brazilians at this violation ofd neutrality that an international incident was in the offing. Rather than be forced to release the Florida, the decision was made by Thomas Seward (according to Cussler) to scuttle her.

At the same time that Cussler looked for the Cumberland, he also looked for the CSS Florida.

Researchers Bob Fleming and Dr. Chester Bradley (an authority on the sinking of Cumberland, Florida and Congress) helped with the document search.

To be continued

Lost Aircraft

When people think of lost treasure, they generally think of sunken treasure, pirate treasure. But there have been thousands of "treasures", of one kind or another, lost over the years, and treasure hunters search for them all.

How about lost aircraft?

Some aircraft are lost, although they aren't known to be. Take for example this recent WWII plane, found on March 18, 2010:

A World War II-era U.S. Navy aircraft was discovered by a logging company near Rockaway Beach

Loggers made a rare find last week when they came upon a World War II-era U.S. Navy Aircraft in a heavily wooded area near Rockaway Beach.

"If this is one of our shipmates we would treat that like we would treat one who died today with respect to our fallen comrade and respect to the family," said Sean Hughes, Navy Region Northwest Public Affairs Officer.

"We would try to connect the past with the people who may still be alive. I don't want to speculate that there are remains, but if there are, we will treat them with the utmost respect."

Investigators were initially concerned that there might be unexploded bombs or bullets on the site, but a search by Oregon State Police bomb technicians turned up no obvious signs of any unexploded ordnance, Hughes said.

Workers for a lumber company spotted the plane while harvesting timber March 18, according to Tillamook Sheriff Todd Anderson. They initially spotted a wing, tail, landing gear and other debris.

The debris was found in a heavily wooded area on private property off a logging road, and covers about a 200-yard area.

The aircraft has been identified as a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. It was found about 20 miles northwest of Naval Air Station Tillamook, which was decommissioned in 1948. However, the station of origin has not been determined and Hughes said it is too soon to say if or when the plane was listed as missing.

Anderson said he was told by the Pentagon that it was a two-person plane.

"I've talked with a retired sheriff who was here since the 1950s and he is not aware of that type of crash," Anderson said. "The Air Station Tillamook flew the Curtiss from 1942 to 1948 on sub missions. They carried a torpedo weighing up to 500 pounds that was meant to disable Japanese subs.There is one reported missing from 1945 with two crew members."

Anderson said his primary concern is determining if there are "fallen comrades," and secondly, if the plane might have been decommissioned and sold and flown by someone other than the Navy.

Sig Unander Jr., a Cornelius resident who has spent years tracking down the wreckage of military airplanes, said there have been many crashes of Helldivers based out of Astoria.

" I am unaware of one crashing there but there are probably 30 military aircraft not accounted for in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana from the mid 1930s through mid 1940s."

A team of Navy personnel are working on-scene to investigate and share information with Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command. Personnel include archeologists, DNA experts, ordnance specialists and their own public affairs unit.

"The JPAC team does this all the time," said Hughes. "They are on scene collecting as much data from the scene as possible to share with the command, which has fairly extensive data on missing personnel. Safety and integrity of the aircraft site is paramount. It is important that the Navy team on-scene be allowed to make a thorough, undisturbed investigation at this time."

Once it's determined if there are human remains at the site, that will determine the next phase of the investigation, Hughes said.

"It may be a project that goes on for a while," said Hughes. "This is just the initial phase."

and

World War II air crashes in the Northwest
A P-63 crashed into the Bull Run watershed on Sept. 1, 1944.

An Army B-17 crashed Aug. 1, 1943, on Cape Lookout on the Oregon Coast, killing nine of the 10 aboard. The plane was from Pendleton on a gunnery training mission

A Navy PBY-5 crashed Jan. 31, 1945, in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in Southern Oregon's Coast Range, killing the crew of seven. A ground party reached the crash a few days later and deemed the terrain too difficult to recover bodies. They buried the crew there.

A Navy F6F Hellcat crashed on Deadman Peak in the Blue Mountains in November 1944, killing a pilot out of Pasco, Wash. A party located the crash in June 1945 and found the pilot's body.

A B-17 crashed Aug. 16, 1943, south of Langdon Lake in the Blues, killing the pilot, 1st Lt. Lewis W. Hubbard, and three crewmen. The bomber was on a training flight from Pendleton.

An Army P-38 crashed sometime in 1943 in a farmer's field near Onalaska, Wash., killing the pilot.

An Army B-24 crashed Feb. 12, 1945, into a ridge in Oregon's Pueblo Moutains, three miles northwest of Denio, Nev. The 11 persons on board died.
..
A Navy PV-1 Ventura crashed Nov. 29, 1945, five miles east of Mount St. Helens on a flight from Seattle to Red Bluff, Calif.
.
A B-17 crashed Dec. 2, 1943, into a ridge near Potlatch, Idaho. Pilot Capt. John E. Gaffney and six others bailed out and lived.

A B-24 crashed April 23, 1944, 25 miles northeast of McDermitt. The crew of 10 bailed out and was rescued by Indians from the McDermitt reservation.

Crashes documented by Sig Unander Jr., of Cornelius, a self-described aviation archeologist.Now, Navy investigators are focusing their efforts on determining if human remains might also be at the scene.

In 2007, there was a report of a Republic RC-3 SeaBee found in Lake Quebec.

Lost Aircraft Found after 50 Years - updated

Lac Simon, Quebec - A Republic RC-3 SeaBee has been found in the deep waters of Lac Simon, Quebec. The discovery ends the mystery of this lost aircraft that has endured for fifty years. Guy Morin and Chris Koberstein located the aircraft using sophisticated side scanning sonar equipment.

Hunting expedition ends in tragedy
On November 21st 1957, the Republic RC-3 SeaBee piloted by Gaetan Deshaies made three trips between Lac du Diable (Devil's Lake) and Schryer lake to bring a party back from a hunting expedition. The first trip returned cargo and game. The second trip brought four of the members back, and necessitated a precautionary landing on Lac Simon to await clear weather. Conditions that day were windy and snow squalls reduced visibility to zero at times. The final trip included the last three members of the hunting party: Tony Chivazza, Philippe Ouimet, Louis Hamel and their hunting dog. The plane and its occupants were lost on a crash landing in Lac Simon. Evidence confirming the loss in Lac Simon included the discovery of the dog on the shore of the lake. An autopsy performed on the dog revealed the cause of death to be coronary hemorrhaging, a sign the animal had suffered a deadly impact. A child reported seeing a plane performing pirouettes in the sky that day, and local farmers reported hearing a strange sound similar to a muffled impact. A substantial search and rescue operation was conducted to locate the aircraft which focused on Lac Simon. Even with the use of electronic search equipment, grappling hooks and SCUBA divers, the plane and its occupants could not be found. Over the past fifty years the mysterious disappearance of the SeaBee aircraft turned to legend in the Lac Simon area.

The Discovery
The discovery of the remains of the aircraft was made in 2007 utilizing sophisticated side scan sonar technology with the assistance of Dan Scoville. The sonar imagery showed a substantial debris field surrounding the wreck, demonstrating the severity of the impact. This debris field includes the port passenger and forward doors, two of the occupant's bodies, a rifle, the port sponson (wing tip float) and other items. The Seabee was found in deep water, well beyond recreational limits for SCUBA diving of 135 feet. These depths necessitated the use of advanced diving techniques to confirm the identity of the plane. Morin and Koberstein made use of mixed gas diving techniques involving gas mixtures of helium, nitrogen and oxygen as well as rebreather technology to perform dives on the wreck. A remote operated vehicle developed by Scoville was used to map the debris field and to identify, locate items, and document the site using video. The registration letters were clearly visible on the body of the aircraft confirming its identification.

Exploring the Wrecked Aircraft
In the deep and cold waters where the plane rests, there is no visible light to illuminate the plane. The remote operated vehicle uses artificial lighting to bring back images of the aircraft. The plane rests upright on the bottom and shows many signs of the violence of the impact. The cabin is crushed by the weight of the engine bearing down upon impact, with the roof pressed to the instrument panel. The fuselage is curled upward with several kinks at key structural junctures. One such crimp immediately aft of the front seats seals the passenger section, entombing the two rear passengers within. The tail is arched upward similar to a scorpion's tail. Moving closer to the pilot's seat, the port door is open, the glass is gone. A rifle rests on the pilot's seat, balanced on the edge with the stock protruding from the fuselage. The starboard wing shows many signs of structural damage with the missing sponson and strut, multiple bends, and misaligned flap and aileron. The sponson and strut were located 150 feet away in the debris field. The propeller is in perfect condition and resting in a vertical position, both signs that it may not have been turning during impact. The starboard and forward doors are missing and are located over a hundred feet away. Two of the occupants of the aircraft were thrown a distance from the aircraft. The boots they were wearing are still visible along with the belt and knives that they wore for the hunt.

Wreck Detectives
The discovery is the culmination of intensive research efforts by Morin. The search began well over a decade ago with archived materials of the period including newspapers and Government of Canada files. Weather data from the period was obtained through Environment Canada to elucidate how the floating debris came to rest where it was found. Weather modeling of floating debris provided useful clues on where the wreck may be located. A probability model was developed to organize the search effort. Interviews were conducted with individuals familiar with the events of the time to obtain added information. The field work was equally demanding due to the underwater topography of the lake. Lac Simon has depths of over 300 feet over much of its area necessitating extended cabling for the sonar probe, and further requires careful navigation to contend with the underwater pinnacles and narrow fissures. The underwater topography has an additional challenge in creating illusions for the sonar in the forms of rocky outcroppings, clay shelves and other elements such as trees and logs. The search was challenging because of the nature of the target. Airplanes are known to be very difficult to detect, and may offer a very slight signature on the sonar record. This requires careful analysis of the sonar record, and increases the number of targets that must be investigated. The remote operated vehicle built by Scoville and utilized by the team was key in performing the extensive target investigation and providing the added knowledge to improve target interpretation.

Republic RC-3 SeaBee
It has been more than half a century since the last Seabee amphibian rolled off the production lines at Republic Aviation Corp of Farmingdale, New York. A total of 1060 Seabees were manufactured by Republic Aviation Corporation from 1945 to 1947. These aircraft were exported in numbers, to countries like Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, England, India, Mexico, Norway, Sweden and Uruguay. The Seabee was one of the most popular bushplanes and air ambulances in the late 1940s and in the 1950s in countries like Canada, Norway, Sweden and the USA. Many stories can be told about life-saving missions flown by hero Seabee pilots to rescue seriously ill persons from remote islands and wilderness. Even today, a few Seabees are still earning their keep commercially - as bushplanes, air taxis and school planes! In the World of Aviation, probably only the DC-3 transports have had longer commercial careers than the Seabees. Several museums such as the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario features a SeaBee on display. Designed for the postwar civilian aircraft market and with a retail price of $4500 at the time, SeaBees are currently valued between $50000 to $175000. For additional information and images of the Seabee aircraft on the bottom of Lac Simon, visit our website: http://www.shipwreckworld.com/

See the link for much more on this story.

Search for missing female WWII pilot
Oct 6, 2009

Searchers are still looking for the last missing WASP, Gertrudge Tomkoins Silver
Tuesday, specially trained divers scoured an area of the Pacific Ocean near LAX hoping to solve a mystery six decades in the making.

Gertrude Tompkins Silver was a "WASP", one of the elite Women Air Force Service Pilots flying non-combat missions during World War II.

Silver had just been secretly married, which was against military regulations.

Silver disappeared in 1944 with her P-51 Mustang vanishing just after take-off from Mines Field, better known now as Los Angeles International Airport.

More: P-51 Mustang - The Gertrude Tompkins Expedition
"She was the last of a flight of three," said aviation archaeologist Pat Macha. "She flew into a heavy cloud or fog bank and was never seen again."

Of course, Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Vega (and her navigator Greg Noonan) are perhaps the most famous missing airplane of all time, but there are others. The hijacker, DB Cooper, for one.

Steve Fossett, who crashed in 2007, was not found until a hiker stumbled across his wallet a year later, this despite the massive search that had been under way for him. (After the failure of the search, scurrilous lies were published that Fossett had just "skipped town" with his fortune. But it just goes to show how much unexplored wilderness still exists in this country, and indeed, around the world.

(How much longer unexplored wilderness, or wilderness at all, will exist, is another point, beyond the scope of this article.)

Odyssey Marine

A couple of years ago, I bought shares in Odyssey Marine, hoping the stock would rise and I would become rich beyond the dreams of avarice. It didn't happen. Actually, I have lost half of my investment! (Not that this was a great tragedy....I only bought 100 shares.)

Now, I'm not really dissing Odyssey Marine. They've got a lot to deal with - they've found a ship in international waters and yet Spain is claiming it, and the treasure it contains to be their's, so there are lawsuits and the lawyers are taking away all the money and leaving none for shareholders.

Still, there story is interesting and here it is.

From their website:

Odyssey is the world leader in deep-ocean shipwreck exploration, searching the globe's vast oceans for sunken ships with intriguing stories, extraordinary treasure and precious artifacts spanning centuries of maritime travel. Our important discoveries also uncover priceless new knowledge and history from the depths. As we recover these shipwreck treasures once believed lost forever, we also resurrect lifetimes long forgotten, offering a rare and fascinating window into historic events that would otherwise remain obscure.

Our passion for shipwrecks and the amazing stories they tell is as deep as the oceans we explore.

No one knows shipwrecks better than our world-class team of researchers, scientists, technicians, and archaeologists. We've surveyed and mapped more than 10,000 square miles of seabed and spent more than 9,000 hours diving on shipwreck sites using advanced robotic technology, while more importantly, applying the highest archaeological standards. Our expert team has discovered hundreds of shipwrecks ranging from 3rd century BC Punic sites to U-boats and Colonial warships.

In 2003, we discovered the Civil War-era shipwreck of the SS Republic® and recovered over 51,000 coins and nearly 14,000 artifacts from the 1,700 foot (518 meters) deep site. In May 2007, we announced the recovery of over 500,000 silver and gold coins, weighing 17 tons, from a Colonial-era deep-ocean site code-named "Black Swan." In 2008, Odyssey discovered what is considered one of the most significant shipwrecks in history, HMS Victory, Admiral Sir John Balchin's flagship which perished in 1744. And our expeditions continue to unveil new sites with fascinating stories and cargoes.

We share the thrill and adventure of deep-ocean exploration by making shipwreck treasures, artifacts and information available to collectors, the general public and students through our webstore, exhibits, books, television, merchandise, and educational programs. During the first quarter of 2009, Discovery Channel aired a 12-part primetime series about our worldwide explorations called "Treasure Quest". We also provide information, materials and access to historical, archaeological and scientific researchers.

Follow our progress as new shipwrecks are discovered, treasures are brought to the surface and forgotten tales are told by long lost ships covering thousands of years of mankind’s nautical history. To stay informed about the latest Odyssey news, be sure to sign up for e-mail updates in the upper right corner of this page.

and

A Commitment to Archaeology

Odyssey Marine Exploration has pioneered a new branch of archaeology, which we call “commercial marine archaeology,” defined as the pursuit of deep-ocean archaeological research and exploration as a “for profit” venture. This model is currently the only practical way of sustaining highly expensive research and archaeological operations in the long-term and has enabled us to actually explore more shipwrecks than any university or institute in the world. Between 2000 and the 2008 Odyssey surveyed and mapped more than 10,000 square miles of seabed and spent more than 9,000 hours exploring potential and actual shipwreck sites with advanced robotic technology, while applying the highest archaeological standards. To date, we have discovered nearly 300 shipwrecks around the globe ranging from 3rd century BC Punic sites to U-boats and modern-day fishing vessels.

Our shipwreck exploration is conducted under strict archaeological and scientific guidelines, supervised internally by our project archaeologists and sometimes externally by archaeologists and other accredited scientists whom we invite to collaborate on projects. Odyssey’s professional mission differs profoundly from marine salvage operations whose sole aim is to recover commercially valuable items from wrecks, typically disregarding their significant archaeological and historic value.



In our commitment to recover, preserve, document and share underwater cultural heritage with future generations, Odyssey adheres to the same rigorous standards applied to terrestrial and shallow-water sites and is setting new principles and standards for the future of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration and marine archeology.

In 1990, Odyssey co-founders, Greg Stemm and John Morris, directed the world’s first robotic deep-sea excavation on a Spanish colonial shipwreck lost in 1622 in nearly 1,500 feet (500 meters) of water, 70 miles off Key West. Dozens of intact ceramic olive jars, as well as thousands of ceramic sherds, hundreds of pearls and silver coins, ballast stones, rat bones and seeds were recorded to an accuracy of 10 centimeters. Odyssey continues to uphold and expand upon these standards today.



Our research brings together world experts to study shipwrecks and their environments. The inter-disciplinary HMS Sussex Project completed the most detailed environmental coring program ever undertaken on a deep-water wreck. Even the location of every sea urchin was plotted to understand how the wreck site and marine environment have interacted over the centuries and to help develop a plan for the future preservation of the site.



An additional element fundamental to Odyssey’s operations is the capability to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This feature is a practical necessity for Odyssey's deep-water archaeological projects, given the cost of the expeditions and the time needed to access deeper sites.



The resulting information derived from Odyssey’s shipwreck projects is disseminated and made available to the public through a variety of media, including published books, archaeology and artifact reports, archaeology presentations, journal articles, educational curriculum and project plans - with the goal of inspiring public awareness, appreciation and knowledge of these fascinating historical, archaeological and cultural discoveries. For more details click "Publications" on the menu to the left.

The major distinction between the “commercial marine archaeology” practiced by Odyssey and “pure” academic, institutional archaeology is that after thorough conservation, research, analysis and documentation, some duplicate artifacts - typically trade goods - that have been recovered in large and repetitive quantities are made available for purchase by the public - for collectors and others with the interest, capability and resources to provide for the proper preservation of artifact collections.



The funds generated by these sales are used to finance further exploration and recovery projects, which includes the archaeologically-sensitive investigation of historically significant shipwrecks containing valuable cargo as well as some wrecks that do not necessarily represent commercial opportunities, but offer substantial cultural, historical and/or educational value.

Additional information about Odyssey's archaeological excavation and artifact conservation and documentation is available in the "Our Approach" section.



The following goals are integral to Odyssey’s archaeological mission:



• Archaeologists maintain high standards of archaeology in compliance with and above current practices and guidelines during the investigation and excavation of shipwrecks.



• A commitment to forging partnerships with stakeholders, such as (but not limited to) governments, to ensure that even in international waters concerns for national cultural patrimony are addressed.



• To develop new methods, technologies and standards to advance the emerging discipline of deep-water archaeology.

• To recover and conserve artifacts, trade goods and other historic entities from shipwrecks as cultural resources for study, documentation, education and enjoyment in both the present and future.



• To conserve fully, record and study artifact assemblages before collections are passed on to museums and collectors.

• To ensure that the results of archaeological projects are widely accessible through a variety of academic and popular media.

• To archive all research material and data in accordance with current museum practices and archival guidelines.

• Where and when appropriate, to work in partnership with academic institutions, governments and companies in the best interests of managing the maritime cultural heritage of the world’s oceans for the benefit of mankind.

Arthur McKee, Jr. Part 2

Arthur McKee, Jr., known as Art McKee or Silver Bar McKee, is termed the father of modern treasure hunting.

Art McKee was born and bred in Bridgetown, New Jersey. He was an adventurous boy, but a reader as well,especially of books by treasure hunters and divers, such as On the Bottom, by Commander Ellsberg and I Dive For Treasure, by Lieutenant Harry E. Riesenberg.
He graduated from high school, but did not go on to college, instead working at various jobs, including summers as a lifeguard at a lake in south Jersey.

In 1934, when he was 24, a massive storm struck the town and destroyed the lake. In addition, the bridge that connected east Bridgetown to west Bridgetown was severely damaged.

A hard-hat diver was hired by the city to survey the damage, and he hired McKee to tend his lines. McKee continued to work for this diver on other projects along the Delaware River, and eventually learned how to do hard hat diving himself.

Around 1936, an injury to his left knee forced McKee to move to Florida, so that he could exercise the knee all year long by swimming in the warm Florida waters.

He got a job in the Florida Keys, as chief diver on the underwater pipeline that delivered drinking water from the mainland at Homestead (where McKee was based), through the hundreds of tiny islands that made up the Keys, to Key West.

McKee spent two years at this work, repairing the 15-inch dia. underwater pipe as needed, perfecting his skills witth the hard hat.

When not working, McKee spent his time exploring the reefs, and supplemented his income by supplying local gift shops with coral and marine specimens.

Then he started salvaging material off the many shipwrecks that dotted the coast.

The Capitana: The first treasure wreck -- 1938
McKee was 28 years old when he first began to search for treasure wrecks. A commercial fisherman, Reggie Roberts, told him that he'd seen cannon "sticking out of an old pile of ballast rocks down by Plantation Key."

McKee dove the site, and brought ashore various indecipherable artifactsm which turned out to be silver coins. After research, he learned that the site was that of the Capitana el Rui, the flagship of the Spanish treasure fleet of 1733, sunk by a hurricane in the Florida Straits that year.

McKee, along with friends, excavated the wreck for some years. They excavated twenty different sizes of cannon, more than a thousand silver coins dated before 1733, silver statues, religious medals, candlesticks, pewter mugs and plates, jewelry, buttons and buckles, navigation instruments, daggers, swords, pistols, cannonballs and grapeshot, broken crockery, ship's blocks and bits of rope.

McKee wanted to place these artifacts in a museum, but didn't have the capital. He started various related sidelines - ferrying tourists out to the wreck site to watch divers working, and then, later, allowing tourists to go down to the site in a hard hat. In 1949, when McKee was 39, he had enough funds to build a museum called McKee's Museum of Sunken Treasure.

In addition to the Capitana, McKee and his associates found and exccavated nine of the twenty-two ships lost in the 1733 hurricane. However, in 1960, McKee's claim to the wrecks in this area was challenged by rival treasure hunters, the River Rats consisting of Tim Watkins, Olin Frick, and other divers, operating aboard a ship named The Bucanneer..

McKee went to the state to attempt to enforce his rights, as he'd leased the area from the state. He learned that the wrecks were 3-and-a-half miles offshore, and the state only had legal authority within 3 miles, so he could do nothing legally to keep rival treasure hunters from the wrecks in his "leased" area.

Port Royal
After stopping his excavations on the 1733 shipwrecks, McKee spent some time exploring this sunken city. Indeed, he and Ed Link had been on an expedition there in 1956. (Robert Marx would make his fame with this site.)

The Genovès
A 1730 Genoa-built 54-gun frigate, loaded with 3 million pesos of gold and silver that left Havana in August, and sank near the channel between Serranilla and Pedro Shoals, on Banner Reef. However, local inhabitants salvaged much of the treasure and other materials at the time.

However, treasure hunters continued to search for it in the hopes that there was more treasure to be found. And Art McKee also searched for it, launching an expedition in 1962. Ed Link was also part of the expedition. The expedition was not a success, however.

McKee would return with another expedition years later. Burt Webber was a part of this group. However, again, the ship wasn't found.

In 1979, just before he died, Art McKee did in fact find the Genovès.

Note: I've copied this post from my currently in hiatus website, Treasure Wrecks Journal: http://thethunderchild.com/GhostGunsVirginia/TreasureWrecks/ArtMcKee.html

Arthur McKee, Jr. - part 1

Arthur McKee, Jr. (November 2, 1910. Died: 1979) is profiled in Sunken Treasure: Six Who Found Treasure, published way back in 1988. Written by Roger Burgess.

McKee worked in the "Golden Age" of treasure hunting - just before WWII when hard hat diving was the norm, and just after World War II when the new sport of scuba diving was just getting started, and previously hidden treasures were suddenly accessible.

McKee got his start diving at Gorda Cay in the Bahamas. At the time he was diving, the reef had been killed. Island fishermen had poured bleach into the holes of the reef, causing lobsters to scurry out into the open for easy catching. Of course the bleach killed the coral, which killed the reef, and the island fisherman had one day of easy lobstering for decades of no more lobsters.

(According to Wikipedia, Gorda Cay - if its the same one!) is now a private island owned by the Walt Disney Company, as a private stop for its cruise line).

Castaway Cay is a private island or "out island" in the Bahamas which serves as an exclusive port for the Disney Cruise Line ships Disney Wonder and Disney Magic. It is located at 26°05′N 77°32′W / 26.083°N 77.533°W / 26.083; -77.533 near Great Abaco Island, and was formerly known as Gorda Cay. It is owned in full by The Walt Disney Company, giving them substantial control over the experience of visitors to the island. A post office on the island has special Bahamian postage specific to Disney Cruise Line, and a "Castaway Cay" postmark.

In any event, the first ship Art McKee, and a group of fellow treasure hunters, found was the Spanish galleon Maravilla, in 1948. Well, not the galleon itself, but rather two contemporary ships, much smaller, that had salvaged silver from the sunken galleon, and were in turn sunk themselves near Gorda Cay.

One of Plantation Key's landmarks is the McKee castle. Arthur McKee Jr. worked as a diver for the Navy in 1941 and 1942 on the construction of the freshwater pipeline. In 1948 he found the remains of the 1733 lost Spanish fleet. Amongst cannons, ballast and other treasures were silver coins dated 1732. He brought up so many bars of silver that he gained the nickname of "Silver Bar McKee." His finds inspired building a museum at Treasure Harbor in 1949. Three years later he opened his "Treasure Fortress," which is known today (1999) as Treasure Village. Art McKee is often referred to as "the father of modern treasure diving."

from History of Plantation Key

The Search for the Guggenheim Treasure

Saw this on Yahoo news today... it appeared on Smithsonian News on March 5, 2010.

The Search for the Guggenheim Treasure
Loot valued at $20 million lies off the coast of Staten Island, and Ken Hayes is on the hunt for the sunken silver bullion

Among the old-timers casting for stripers along the Arthur Kill between Staten Island and New Jersey talk tends to return to a few well-thumbed topics. The most intriguing of these is the tale of the silver ingot that once snagged in the eel trident of the old Indian fisherman named Blood. From there, conversation invariably turns to the Lost Guggenheim Treasure.

On the still, moonlit night of September 26, 1903, a tug urged the barge Harold out of what’s today the South Street Seaport and south past the Statue of Liberty. The Harold’s load that night was nearly 7,700 silver-and-lead bars. They were destined for the glowing Asarco smelters of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The silver, and the smelters, belonged to the Guggenheim family, which had made its fortune in mining and smelting.

The cargo never arrived, at least in one batch. Somewhere in the Arthur Kill tidal strait the Harold tipped, sending most of the silver bars to the bottom. The barge’s deckhands—“dumbest skunks I ever had to do with,” the salvage company’s owner later told the New York Times—didn’t notice until docking at dawn. A secret salvage effort recovered about 85 percent of the bars, but that still left up to 1,400 “pigs” unfound. Today they could be worth $20 million.

Read the complete article at the link above.

CSS Texas

I was reading Clive Cussler's Sahara today. It is not one of my favorite Cussler books, indeed it's right down there near the bottom of the list (and indeed, of all the Cussler books, I can't believe that this is the one they chose to make a movie out of!)

In the book, Cussler says that the Confederate ironclad Texas successfully escapes from Union forces by showing Abraham Lincoln (whom the Rebels have kidnapped), and that the men who manned the batteries would "swear forever afterwards" that they saw Lincoln on the ship.

So, I was kind of assuming that Cussler was telling a real story, of an ironclad called the Texas that disappeared, with soldiers saying they'd seen Lincoln on board (whom I'd assumed would be an impostor, used for the purpose).

But it seems not so. The real Texas never made it anywhere, it was captured by Union forces before it could go anywhere.

The CSS Texas (Confederate States Ship Texas), was a twin propeller casement ironclad ram of the Confederate Navy, named for the state of Texas. She was sister ship to CSS Columbia. Since the ship was built so late in the American Civil War, it saw no action before being captured by Union forces.

The keel for the CSS Texas was laid down at Richmond, Virginia. She was launched in January 1865. At the time of Robert E. Lee's evacuation of Richmond on 3 April 1865, she was left unfinished but intact in an outfitting berth at the Richmond Navy Yard, one of only two vessels which escaped destruction by the departing Confederate forces. Captured when the city fell the following day, the ironclad was taken into the United States Navy, but saw no service. Texas was laid up at Norfolk until 15 October 1867 when she was sold to J.N. Leonard & Co. of New Haven, Connecticut.

Well, it made a good story anyway!