The Mighty P3 Orion

So what does the mighty P3 Orion aircraft have to do with searching for the BHR? It has been used for the magnetic detection of submarines, reconnaissance missions, and maritime patrols.  But will it be effective in locating a sizable iron ballast mound belonging to a Revolutionary warship? We are in the midst of finding out.  A P3 flew over our search area to see if it could detect any potential magnetic targets that are not associated with known modern wrecks, pipelines, or other identifiable obstructions.  First, a trial run was flown over the wreck of the  USS Monitor (below) off the east coast of the U.S. to make sure the magnetometer could detect an older wreck with iron content.

The P3 did detect the Monitor site, so this is encouraging.  In any case, this will prove to be more data to add to our collection and will make for an interesting comparison of aerial vs. marine magnetometry in shipwreck searches.  My intent is to publish something on this once we have all of our data analyzed.  Many thanks to the USN and the flight team who carried out this mission!

A Titanic Search Area

I recently saw the new Titanic exhibit at the Mystic Aquarium, which opened for the 100th Anniversary of the sinking.  There is a short movie where Bob Ballard talks about how they searched for the wreck and ultimately found it.  He indicated that they had a search area of 150 square miles.  This really struck me, and I thought, "I could only DREAM of 150 square miles... try 900!" This is actually the size of our area, given that we do not know exactly what was happening for  a 20-hour period right before BHR sank. 

Logistics and Speaking Engagements

We are busy these days trying to work out logistics for the mission, which involves who's going, where ship and personnel transfers are taking place, travel arrangements, equipment checks, and the list goes on and on. Many challenges....how to get US and FR Navy software to "talk" to one another with different equipment, how to bring another 100 or so people up to speed on what the project is about and what we're looking for. And then there are the fundraising aspects! This mission will be our most complex yet, but could easily be our most productive as well. I am anticipating it to be the biggest challenge of my BHR career, and am really excited about it.

Was thinking today about all of the adventures - from Submarine NR1 in 2008, where I lived with 12 men and four bunks for 5 days, to being one of two women on a FR Navy minehunter, and one of two women on USNS GRASP. Members of the BHR team often are invited to present to various groups...I am waiting for the day when someone asks me to talk about BHR, but from the perspective of what it's like to be a woman in a man's world. The stories I could tell...

Mission "Lucky 7"

I should have started this blog in 2006, when the adventure first began....
For those of you unfamiliar with the subject of this blog, please visit www.bonhommerichard.org for background.

I have returned recently from a trip to France to meet with Admiral Bruno Demeocq (FR Navy- pictured right), and accompanied by Admiral Jon White (USN - pictured left). The French Navy is providing tremendous support for the 2012 search for the Bonhomme Richard (BHR), flagship of American Naval hero John Paul Jones. It was from the decks of the BHR that his famous quote was spoken: "I have not yet begun to fight!" during a battle with HMS Serapis during the Revolutionary War. This mission will be the 7th survey in as many years, with some shorter ones in between to investigate targets from year to year. The USN will contribute Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and a team of personnel to the survey.
The project has proven to be a tremendous opportunity for FR-US relations, as well as technology transfer. I never in a million years thought it would be what it is today!