WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Naval Historical Center (NHC) announced in October it is joining the Ocean Technology Foundation (OTF) in spearheading an expedition in the summer of 2006 to search for the remains of American Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones’ ship Bonhomme Richard.


Father of the U.S. Navy, John Paul Jones, is entombed at the U.S. Naval Academy and is guarded by Midshipman 24-hours a day, three hundred sixty five days a year.

“Finding Jones’ ship will vividly bring to life an inspiring chapter in America’s past using ocean technologies that are vital to America’s future,” said Dr. Sylvia Earle, a member of OTF’s board of directors.

Other project collaborators include the University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center, the College of Exploration, and English Heritage, which advises the British government on the historic environment.

One of the most memorable battles of the American Revolution took place off the coast of England Sept. 23, 1779, between the British ship HMS Serapis and Bonhomme Richard, captained by Jones. It was during this three-and-a-half-hour battle - most of it taking place at point blank range - that Jones shouted his legendary words, “I have not yet begun to fight,” in response to an offer to surrender. Ultimately, he emerged victorious and took control of Serapis, and 36 hours later watched his own ship sink into the North Sea.

"This expedition is a natural fit for OTF’s capabilities," said retired Capt. John Ringelberg, president of the OTF. “Our partners are the best and the brightest in their specific fields, and they form an exceptional team.”

One of the search team members, Peter Reaveley, is considered an expert on the battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis. Reaveley has spent more than 30 years compiling and analyzing eyewitness accounts, deriving the historical weather, wind and tidal data, and determining damages inflicted on the ship in the course of the battle. OTF has also created a computer model of the ship, which will simulate how it may have drifted after the battle. With the benefit of all this information, the project team has pinpointed an area where they believe the wreckage lies.

OTF and its partners will conduct surveys of the ocean floor using a magnetometer, which can detect large amounts of metal ballast underwater, and high-tech sonar systems that can identify anomalies on the ocean bottom. When found, the wreck of Bonhomme Richard will be one of the most important archeological discoveries in U.S. naval history.

“You cannot find a more important underwater archaeological site to the U.S. Navy than that of John Paul Jones' Bonhomme Richard. Discovery of the shipwreck will shed new light on the horrific battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis, what life was like on board Bonhomme Richard for the officers and crew, ship's armament and weaponry, and the construction of the ship itself,” said Dr. Robert Neyland, head of the NHC Underwater Archaeology Branch.

The Surface Navy Association is also a key supporter of the project.

"This is an initiative that we are proud to be involved in," Capt. Robert D. Jenkins III, member of the Surface Navy Association’s National Board of Directors said. "John Paul Jones and his crew set the standard for the future of surface warfare.”

An important component of the project will involve teachers, students and the public, who can share the search through the Internet. Lesson plans, an online workshop for teachers, and an interactive Web site will help raise awareness in the public and the education community of one of the most fierce and pivotal battles in U.S. naval history.

“Advances in science and technology have made it possible to find any ship that has been lost and buried in the seabed," said Neyland. "However, with the ability to discover comes also the responsibility to manage, preserve, and interpret for all."

http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=20420

Ok, maybe it's because I really like Clive and I think that with all the hard work and money that he puts into his expeditions he should be included in this. I don't see his name mentioned anywhere at all in this article and that is kinda rubbing me the wrong way. If these institutions have all the money and technology to "find" JPJ ship then why haven't they done it before? Ok someone calm me down before I really go on a tangent. <_<

This looks like a press release designed to attract attention to what these groups are about to do, and so not likely to give credit elsewhere.
Somethings I'd like to know:
Did NUMA's work give them the idea?
Are they building on NUMA's research and results?
Are they looking in the same area?
Have they consulted Dr C or NUMA? (or maybe pirated results?)

My guess is they're using whatever they can find without giving a private group like NUMA credit. I'd love to see NUMA slip in and be there already, ala Dirk & Al.

On the positive side, it would be good to see her found by non treasure-hunting types.
-pete

I'm all about getting there first! And by me I mean Dr. C!!!

This ole' pirate would want to find it first and make money without harming the site and Julie, go ahead on your tangent! That's what the forum is here for! p:

You said it sharkluver22. and Yes Julie as Tony says " go ahead with your tangent." I think every one agrees with you. Dr. Cullser should be mentioned and should be the one to find the ship!!!!! p: t:

I can see it now, the NHC and OTF commence their searching and after mowing the lawn for days a deckhand spies a bouy floating off in the distance. They motor over to it and discover the bouy has a flag attached to it with a hand written sign:

"Wreck site of USS Bon Homme Richard. NUMA was here. Have a nice day".

Given the efforts that CC and NUMA has put into the search, they deserve to find the BHR. Hope they do.

Cheers

Andy

:lol: :lol: That would be cool.

Related story ...

Glittering prize beneath the waves
The race to find one of the United States' most famous wrecks steps up a gear this year. Alexandra Wood reports.

THE summer months call them back again – divers who use the brief period of good weather to scour the seabed off the East Coast in the search for a huge prize that has eluded them for years.
Those who finally find the wreck of the Bonhomme Richard will have solved a puzzle that has taxed researchers and defied some of the most sophisticated detection equipment on the market.
For decades leading lights of the diving world, including the likes of the famous novelist and wreckhunter Clive Cussler, have beaten a path to Bridlington in the hunt for the wreck that was captained by the father of the American Navy, John Paul Jones.
The ship and its captain has almost mythical status in the United States, where every schoolchild knows the tale of how Jones, a young Scotsman who migrated to the United States in 1775 and joined the fledgling US Navy, became the first man since the Norman invasion to take on and defeat the British on their own doorstep.
Jones entered the legends of the American military when fighting the 44-gun British ship Serapis off Flamborough Head.
When its captain Richard Pearson asked if Jones had surrendered, Jones famously replied, "Surrender? I have not yet begun to fight!"
Although Jones won the battle and captured the Serapis, the Bonhomme Richard was badly damaged in the three-and-a-half-hour battle on September 23, 1779, and sank about 36 hours later during a storm.
American author Clive Cussler, who spent much time and money in the 1970s searching for the wreck, has had a team in the resort for the past three seasons searching over a 300-square- mile area with a high-tech side scan sonar system, but so far without success. The search featured in a TV programme, Searching for the Bonhomme Richard.
Now the Ocean Technology Foundation (OTF), at the University of Connecticut, backed by a number of bodies in the United States, is taking up the gauntlet and is trying to drum up support from local businesses for a two-month expedition this summer.
Its search team will be based in Bridlington during July and August while they search for the wreck.
Project collaborators include the US Naval Historical Centre, the University of New Hampshire Centre for Coastal Ocean Mapping/ Joint Hydrographic Centre, the College of Exploration, and English Heritage.
OTF has created a computer model of the ship, simulating its drift after the battle, and pinpointed an area where it believe the wreckage lies. But the mystery has defeated the best so far.
A diver from Whitby, Carl Racey, who has himself searched for the wreck and given area search co-ordinates to the more recent Cussler expeditions, said: "It is hard to imagine how they missed it if it is there. There are two possibilities – either it is buried and it will come and go because it is in an area of sand dunes, with great big sand waves on a long rolling frequency. The other possibility is that there is some corruption of the history and it is somewhere entirely different.
"Searches in the past have been very focused on Flamborough Head and Bridlington Bay but it could be a lot nearer Scarborough."
A discovery could have huge implications for Bridlington's tourism trade, not least because of the huge interest in the United States.
Bridlington Integrated Development Plan manager Liz Philpot, said: "There's massive potential. We have seen what can be done through Whitby and Captain Cook."

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Wow!! Some competition for a piece of history that's drawn some interest. Way cool!!! p:

I bet the storm blew it far off course before being sunk and that's why they can't find it. But they've already searched a huge area. :blink:

Nice mention of Clive and his efforts in the search. Hope he is the one to find it. th:

Update ..

Divers track trail of debris in hunt for clues over sunken US raider

Alexandra Wood

DIVERS who think they have found the US Navy's most historic ship are focussing their latest searches on an apparent trail of debris off the Yorkshire coast.
The Bonhomme Richard foundered after a lengthy battle with the British warship Serapis off Flamborough Head in 1779 during the American War of Independence.
In the past three decades there have been repeated searches, some by the well-known novelist and wreckhunter Clive Cussler, for the ship, famously commanded by John Paul Jones, considered the father of the US Navy. Since 1976 John Adams has stuck to his belief that a wreck he found in Filey Bay is the Bonhomme Richard, and has dived to her year after year with his three sons, Gary, Neil and Richard.
Three years ago the wreck – one section is close to 40m in length – was placed under special protection because of threats from rival wreckhunters.
With the 30th anniversary of its discovery this year, the group, the Filey Bay Initiative (FBI), has announced it will be concentrating on a trail of debris, including timber, iron and copper, extending four miles to the south from the wreck site.
If linked to the wreck it could hold vital clues – such as cast iron ballast, or even the cannons which John Paul Jones is known to have dumped overboard in the ship's last desperate hours. One very large anchor has also been found buried in silt.
FBI secretary Tony Green said they notified the Receiver of Wreck of a piece of blackened timber, they had recovered, with a copper fixing which could supply more information.
And they were now looking for funding to carry out a proper survey of the trail. "We are not saying it is linked – there are a lot of wrecks in Filey Bay – but it appears there is a good possibility it is linked to our site."
Some doubt that the wreck is actually the Bonhomme Richard, as years of research have not yielded conclusive proof. But Mr Green said if the wreck did turn out to be British, it was of huge significance to this country, a possible relic of an earlier naval conflict, and meriting protection and research.
Meanwhile divers from the Ocean Technology Foundation are due in Bridlington for a two-month expedition this summer. Their search area will be further offshore, and Mr Green said they were happy to co-operate.
The Bonhomme Richard was part of a small fleet of ships fighting the British in UK waters during the American Revolution. During the 1779 battle it engaged the Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough. After a long engagement, Jones captured the Serapis, but the Bonhomme Richard sank.


21 January 2006

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I second that! th: b: