I had hoped by this time to have some amazing news to share with you and am happy that I've now been given permission to share what I have. As life happens, there have been a couple of curve balls thrown and things didn’t work out the way I’d hoped – yet. Even with curve balls, sometimes the guy gets on base. I feel like we're halfway between third and Home. There is an upside to the story and real reason to hope for the happy ending. Let me explain.
A few weeks ago I told you all that David Mearns had introduced me to Paul Mayer, a crew member of the RV PETREL, one of the ships owned by Paul Allen and Vulcan Inc. PETREL has recently been in the news for discovering the USS INDIANAPOLIS, the USS LEXINGTON and most recently the USS JUNEAU. They have been in Papua New Guinea, the Coral Sea and the Solomon Islands. Paul notified me recently that they would be headed toward the Kula Gulf with two targets in mind – USS HELENA and USS STRONG. If there was time, he might even go for the trifecta and try to find the IJN NIIZUKI, the Japanese vessel that threw the torpedo taking down STRONG. Needless to say I was over the moon with excitement about this. These folks have a tremendous history of finding these WW2 wrecks, reporting them in a respectful manner and honoring the families. To finally see the light of day cast on STRONG was very emotional for me, as it would give us as a group the chance to properly memorialize the site in the future. For obvious reasons I had to keep this confidential. No need to excite the families until I had good news, and no desire to disappoint them if things didn’t work out.
So for the first curve ball. The crew hit the Kula Gulf back in 2012 with data provided by David Mearns and did a preliminary sweep, which did not reveal a viable target. When they pulled into the gulf in mid-March, they were informed that they now needed permits to do any type of survey. This was new as of April 2017 for anyone doing any type of survey work, archaeological or otherwise in the Solomon Islands. The problem was that the surveys are only reviewed 4 times a year and the next date for review wasn’t until April 30th. This falls several days after the ship is due back in port for resupply and for the crew to get a break. Paul assured me that they might have a way around the red tape and to keep my fingers crossed. He would keep me informed. It was during this waiting time that they discovered the wreck of USS JUNEAU, which was a bonus for the families and for the memory of the five Sullivan brothers. If you follow them on Facebook (RV PETREL), there are some amazing images and video. You can Google the story to see several versions of the history for this ill fated ship, or also go to www.paulallen.com. ;
Then, I got the news I’d been anticipating. The permits had been approved and they were headed back to the Kula Gulf. Per orders from the boss, they first had to attempt to locate HELENA. Once this was accomplished, they could move on STRONG. Luckily, they located HELENA quickly as they already had a good read on her possible location. Paul emailed me again with news that they were headed to the Kula Gulf, would be there in a couple of hours and he would send me timely updates for when they arrived, when they put the AUV named Remus into the water, how long the survey would take and everything connected. It was a sleepless night for sure. Next curveball, the data Remus pulled in did not show a viable target, just as before in the survey from 2015. Next step was to use the multi-beam echo sounder (MBES), which is affixed to the ship. The MBES sends out a swath of signals bouncing off the sea floor and any objects or geological features present, sending back a 3D image. To see how this works, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fAAxEIFeLU
Unfortunately for us, the MBES also did not produce any viable targets. I was a bit crushed to get the news, but then so was Paul in the delivery. These guys have invested their time, energy and at great cost so the not finding it was a blow to them as well. I can never adequately thank them for their efforts on our behalf. There’s not enough bottles of wine or boxes of Buffalo Trace bourbon balls in the world for that. So, the disappointment set in pretty hard for me and for them.
Next question was, if the ship wasn’t in the areas defined by the Navy reports and witness accounts, where is it? The upside of this effort was the data gathered showing where the ship was not. Paul has indicated to me that they are also not giving up. He cannot at this time guarantee a time period when they will be back in the area to further pursue this, but is willing to continue the working relationship, sharing of information and even to meeting in person when he’s back stateside. He lives just a state away from me and a short drive down I-75, so we plan to make that happen. This indicates to me that this is not over by a long shot. We just have to keep batting until we make it to home plate.
Another option however, is another group that’s expressed an interest in locating the wreck and field testing some new equipment on the wreck site. This seems to be a very definite thing that’s in the planning stages and something I can’t discuss further at this point. Paul Mayer is friends with a person involved in this effort and they have been sharing information. If it turns out that these folks get back to the Kula Gulf before PETREL has a chance to, then I will make the effort to get in touch with them and see that the STRONG families are informed. I prefer that PETREL be the ones, as they have worked so closely with David Mearns in this effort. David also worked with this other group, but not on the same level. It remains to be seen what happens. David’s book The Shipwreck Hunter will be released in the US soon. In the book he lists the top 5 ships he would like to see found, and this past year two of them have been located. He’s moving STRONG to the top of his list and will cover that in any publicity for the book. This is a good thing and could push for further surveys.
So it’s a not so good news, good news situation – not bad. Just have to wait a bit longer for the main event. It will be worth it.
-Tammi
A few weeks ago I told you all that David Mearns had introduced me to Paul Mayer, a crew member of the RV PETREL, one of the ships owned by Paul Allen and Vulcan Inc. PETREL has recently been in the news for discovering the USS INDIANAPOLIS, the USS LEXINGTON and most recently the USS JUNEAU. They have been in Papua New Guinea, the Coral Sea and the Solomon Islands. Paul notified me recently that they would be headed toward the Kula Gulf with two targets in mind – USS HELENA and USS STRONG. If there was time, he might even go for the trifecta and try to find the IJN NIIZUKI, the Japanese vessel that threw the torpedo taking down STRONG. Needless to say I was over the moon with excitement about this. These folks have a tremendous history of finding these WW2 wrecks, reporting them in a respectful manner and honoring the families. To finally see the light of day cast on STRONG was very emotional for me, as it would give us as a group the chance to properly memorialize the site in the future. For obvious reasons I had to keep this confidential. No need to excite the families until I had good news, and no desire to disappoint them if things didn’t work out.
So for the first curve ball. The crew hit the Kula Gulf back in 2012 with data provided by David Mearns and did a preliminary sweep, which did not reveal a viable target. When they pulled into the gulf in mid-March, they were informed that they now needed permits to do any type of survey. This was new as of April 2017 for anyone doing any type of survey work, archaeological or otherwise in the Solomon Islands. The problem was that the surveys are only reviewed 4 times a year and the next date for review wasn’t until April 30th. This falls several days after the ship is due back in port for resupply and for the crew to get a break. Paul assured me that they might have a way around the red tape and to keep my fingers crossed. He would keep me informed. It was during this waiting time that they discovered the wreck of USS JUNEAU, which was a bonus for the families and for the memory of the five Sullivan brothers. If you follow them on Facebook (RV PETREL), there are some amazing images and video. You can Google the story to see several versions of the history for this ill fated ship, or also go to www.paulallen.com. ;
Then, I got the news I’d been anticipating. The permits had been approved and they were headed back to the Kula Gulf. Per orders from the boss, they first had to attempt to locate HELENA. Once this was accomplished, they could move on STRONG. Luckily, they located HELENA quickly as they already had a good read on her possible location. Paul emailed me again with news that they were headed to the Kula Gulf, would be there in a couple of hours and he would send me timely updates for when they arrived, when they put the AUV named Remus into the water, how long the survey would take and everything connected. It was a sleepless night for sure. Next curveball, the data Remus pulled in did not show a viable target, just as before in the survey from 2015. Next step was to use the multi-beam echo sounder (MBES), which is affixed to the ship. The MBES sends out a swath of signals bouncing off the sea floor and any objects or geological features present, sending back a 3D image. To see how this works, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fAAxEIFeLU
Unfortunately for us, the MBES also did not produce any viable targets. I was a bit crushed to get the news, but then so was Paul in the delivery. These guys have invested their time, energy and at great cost so the not finding it was a blow to them as well. I can never adequately thank them for their efforts on our behalf. There’s not enough bottles of wine or boxes of Buffalo Trace bourbon balls in the world for that. So, the disappointment set in pretty hard for me and for them.
Next question was, if the ship wasn’t in the areas defined by the Navy reports and witness accounts, where is it? The upside of this effort was the data gathered showing where the ship was not. Paul has indicated to me that they are also not giving up. He cannot at this time guarantee a time period when they will be back in the area to further pursue this, but is willing to continue the working relationship, sharing of information and even to meeting in person when he’s back stateside. He lives just a state away from me and a short drive down I-75, so we plan to make that happen. This indicates to me that this is not over by a long shot. We just have to keep batting until we make it to home plate.
Another option however, is another group that’s expressed an interest in locating the wreck and field testing some new equipment on the wreck site. This seems to be a very definite thing that’s in the planning stages and something I can’t discuss further at this point. Paul Mayer is friends with a person involved in this effort and they have been sharing information. If it turns out that these folks get back to the Kula Gulf before PETREL has a chance to, then I will make the effort to get in touch with them and see that the STRONG families are informed. I prefer that PETREL be the ones, as they have worked so closely with David Mearns in this effort. David also worked with this other group, but not on the same level. It remains to be seen what happens. David’s book The Shipwreck Hunter will be released in the US soon. In the book he lists the top 5 ships he would like to see found, and this past year two of them have been located. He’s moving STRONG to the top of his list and will cover that in any publicity for the book. This is a good thing and could push for further surveys.
So it’s a not so good news, good news situation – not bad. Just have to wait a bit longer for the main event. It will be worth it.
-Tammi
*Images above added April 24th, 2018 are of the RV PETREL, the control room on board the RV PETREL, the ROV, AUV on the wench arm, an image of the AUV data on screen and a big rock that could have been a ship, but wasn't.
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