rebelatsea
Captain
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2013
- Location
- Kent ,England.
Yesterday a video came up on my feed about the wreck of the Richmond, by two guys who claimed to be maritime historians. I though this should be interesting but alas no.
Basically it is a pair of talking heads interspersed with scenes of an outboard powered flatboat cruising the James Rive to the Wreck site, and then some meaningless diving scenes as visibility was nil to about two feet and they could have been feeling the remains of anything !
I was turned off early on when one "maritime historian" referred to Merrimack and Monitor AARRGGHH. The second guy then showed a generic 150ftPP Porter gunboat and said " it was about 150ft long and 40ft wide" . This guy had allegedly been studying the vessel for years seemingly unaware that the correct dimensions are known and available from multiple sources.
That's the negatives, but two guys with the right equipment went out with them and produced sonar and side scans which show that the casemate is upside down and the funnel which is double skinned (jacketed?) is still in position. Salvage and Corps of Engineer action means there is nothing left below the knuckle, no hull, zilch and just debris in and around the casemate.
What I found most revealing is that the ship turned turtle as it sank. to me that indicates the the kingston (water intake valves) were smashed or the pipes broken and she was scuttled not burned as received wisdom has it
Basically it is a pair of talking heads interspersed with scenes of an outboard powered flatboat cruising the James Rive to the Wreck site, and then some meaningless diving scenes as visibility was nil to about two feet and they could have been feeling the remains of anything !
I was turned off early on when one "maritime historian" referred to Merrimack and Monitor AARRGGHH. The second guy then showed a generic 150ftPP Porter gunboat and said " it was about 150ft long and 40ft wide" . This guy had allegedly been studying the vessel for years seemingly unaware that the correct dimensions are known and available from multiple sources.
That's the negatives, but two guys with the right equipment went out with them and produced sonar and side scans which show that the casemate is upside down and the funnel which is double skinned (jacketed?) is still in position. Salvage and Corps of Engineer action means there is nothing left below the knuckle, no hull, zilch and just debris in and around the casemate.
What I found most revealing is that the ship turned turtle as it sank. to me that indicates the the kingston (water intake valves) were smashed or the pipes broken and she was scuttled not burned as received wisdom has it
Bringing the