Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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The Ghost of the HMS Ontario
June 16, 2008 5:19 PM
On Halloween night in 1780, Lake Ontario must have been a fearsome place. The storm that blew across was enough to sink the HMS Ontario, a British sloop only five months old. It's estimated that 120 people died, though the British, doing badly against the American revolutionaries, tried to keep it quiet.
Six bodies washed ashore the next summer. Aside from some debris from the sinking, that was the only sign of the ship for 200 years.
Now it's been found, in several hundred feet of water, by two men, Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville. They've posted word of their find, as well as images, HERE. And video of the ship, in remarkable shape after two centuries, is HERE.
For Kennard in particular, finding the Ontario has been a 30-year labor of love. He began looking, in his spare time, when he was a young engineer at Kodak. But the technology of the time was not good enough for amateurs -- even in the best sense of the word -- to find a wreck some 500 feet down.
Six years ago he met Scoville, who was working with side-scan sonar. They went out on Lake Ontario, often at night so treasure hunters wouldn't watch them and figure out where they were up to. "You'd be amazed what people will do," Kennard told me. A week ago they came across a wreck. There are many in the Great Lakes -- but not with 18th-century crow's nests on their masts.
The ship is deep enough that sunlight never penetrates. The water is cold. There have been few microorganisms to eat away its timbers.
What do you do with a treasure once you've found it? You leave it there. The men say they would like to make a documentary from the hours of underwater video they shot with a robot submersible, but the wreck is a gravesite, they say, and British property as well. They say they'll keep its location and depth a mystery.
(Image courtesy Kennard and Scoville/shipwreckworld.com)
June 16, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (10)
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It's nice to read of a discovery by people who respect the dead and property of other nations. I applaud them and their sensitivity. I wish them luck on this and future endeavors.
Posted by: Andy | Jun 16, 2008 7:17:56 PM
Andy
Also if you remove waterlogged wood to the surface it disintegrates rather quickly. By leaving it in place they preserve it.
Posted by: Quietman | Jun 16, 2008 8:09:58 PM
I've heard the same thing, Quietman, that it's better not to raise it. Sure is a beautiful ship, isn't it??
Posted by: Pat | Jun 16, 2008 10:34:27 PM
I am a very proud American, with heavy English/British backgrounds. Hence, my name Windsor. Truly, after years of diving,I feel it should be a joint venture of our countries to bring this perfect "yacht" back to life. Seems to be the best preserved wooden specimen to date. Yes, sadly, I am aware that it 'may' be a watery grave, but, we've raised other craft with total military dignity, why not this exquisite marine warhorse ??
Posted by: dropmedic | Jun 16, 2008 10:56:30 PM
I'd say leave it. Just trying to move it could destroy it. Leave it as it is. You could, Drop, work to build a full size replica. That way the history of the vessel and sailing could be brought to the younger generations who have only seen of such things in books, tv and movies like Pirates of the Carribean. Once it becomes real to them, then they'll think it's somewhat cool, and want to preserve it.
Posted by: Lawrence | Jun 17, 2008 10:18:15 AM
dropmedic
It would depend on just how waterlogged the wood has become. Waterlogged wood normally has become soft as they found out with previous wooden ship ventures.
Lawrence made a good suggestion in that it could be photographed and measured in place to create a blueprint for a replica.
Posted by: Quietman | Jun 17, 2008 11:09:55 AM
We need to leave it alone for now until we perfect the technology that will allow us to create a virtual duplicate. Laser scanning is exploding into archaeology - it's just a matter of time before they take it underwater.
Posted by: cturple | Jun 17, 2008 11:54:11 AM
Quietman - I assume it depends on how dense the wood is, as some wood never seems to get waterlogged at all. The dense, old-growth logs at the bottom of the Great Lakes apparently come up pristine and extremely valuable.
Posted by: jock59801 | Jun 18, 2008 10:21:45 AM
jock
If that turns out to be the case I am all for recovery intact.
What I said about waterlogging was actually from a TV documentary on recovering wooden artifacts in Europe (I don't recall where) from a viking longboat. As they brought up the wood they put it directly into containers of water and gave that explanation.
Posted by: Quietman | Jun 18, 2008 11:00:17 AM
The discoverers deserve respect for not exploiting their find. It's refreshing to hear about people who are motivated beyond self-interest.
Posted by: kathy | Jun 18, 2008 8:45:57 PM
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