R' Mateys', Don't worry; Y'all won't have to walk
thou Plank or gnaw on turkey leg bones; ; R-R-R! But I'll Fleece Y'all a little
while longer with some Pre-Turkey Day banter before getting to the meat 'O
story; Err Dark or White Wee-Wee! Uhm, somebody toss me a biscuit; Hya!
Whilst much Adu was made earlier this year over
the Magnanimous 100th running of this year's Indy 500, my ears are still loudly
ringing from Tacoma Bureau Chief Mary Ellen's constant badgering 'O asking is
I-T over? NO more 100th anniversary dribble from Yuhs, right?
Yet in response, I noted how this was the
100th Anniversary of not only the National Parks System, but a 'lil Aeroplane
company called Boeing being founded here in the Pacific Northwest - which as
typical, is another story awaiting having it's keel laid down here in
Nofendersville.
Whilst I was totally unawares' that some fine Bavarian
Motorcar Company was celebrating its centenary this March, having first
discovered this when querying thou year 1916 upon Zed Internetz...
And on a much more darker note, it was exactly
a century ago today, the HMHS Britannic met her fate during World War I in
Greece. As She was the largest tonnage vehicle lost during the war. - even
larger then her former Stable mate, the RMS Lusitania.
Having also previously chronicled the Astor
Cup, for which ironically also a century ago held its second and final race at
Sheepshead Bay upon one of the countless Boardtracks then populating the
nation.
Along with briefly
reviewing four of the major Steamships plying the Atlantic Ocean Wayback then
in other No Fenders Seafaring tomes...
HMHS Britannic
Launched: Feb 26, 1914
Service Date: Dec 23, 1915 - Nov 21, 1916
Tonnage: 48,158 GRT
(GRT = Gross Registered Tons)
Length: 893ft; Beam: 94ft. (Height: 175ft)
Passenger Decks: 9
Passengers: 675 total
300 wounded with 439 medical staff
Crew: 860
Duty: Hospital Ship
Speed: 23 Knots
His Majesty's Hospital Service Britannic was
the third and largest of the Olympic class ocean liners produced, with its
sister ships being the RMS Titanic and RMS Olympic of which only the Olympic
saw out her service life, being retired in 1934 and then scrapped; whilst we
A-L-L know the fate of the Titanic!
As the HMHS Britannic either collided with an
underwater mine or was torpedoed off the Greek island Kea on November 21, 1916,
albeit only losing 30 civilians of the 1,066 onboard, a much lower casualty
rate vs. sister ships Titanic and Lusitania suffered...
As my Alarm Bells began ringing ALL STOP!
When recently listening to a very enjoyable book titled Pirate Hunters
by Robert Kurson
on CD Audiobook format.
As funny how now I wished I'd watched the
Discovery channel's Deep Sea Detectives TV Show, since it featured the Diver in
Questione, who I'd never heard of before listening to the book. As his name is
John Chatterton, whom some have called the Greatest Deep Sea Diver ever!
And Kurson's
written previously another book I'm now interested in, learning about it during
the beginning of Pirate Hunters, titled Shadow
Divers, about
the discovery of the mystery U-Boat Sub 60-miles off New Jersey, which sat
undiscovered for 46yrs; Not only taking the entire U-Boat's crew, but 3 Diver's
lives & 6yrs to confirm its identity!
As
Pirate Hunters regales the adventures of the "Two John's." One being
the aforementioned Chatterton, joined by John Mattera, both who have quite
colourful backgrounds!
As
Chatterton's been called the Best Wreck Diver ever! Having discovered the
missing German U-Boat U-869 off the coast of New Jersey in '91. Along with
having dove the Andrea Doria, Lusitania, Titanic and the Britannic - where he
was the first diver to ever successfully use a rebreather at 375-400 feet deep
and surviving a 50% failure rate upon six dives!
Whilst
his 12,000+ foot dive to the Titanic was in a Russian mini-Sub, along
with Deep Sea Detectives co-host Richie Kohler, after having first reluctantly
worked with Kohler upon identifying U-869.
as Chatterton's
possibly the only person to have visited all three wrecks? Whilst Kohler, like
many has dove upon the disintegrating SS Andrea Doria for which Chatterton claims
an astounding 160-plus visits to this Italian hulk!
John Mattera's
an interesting fellah' who grew up in the Gambino's neighborhood in the B-I-G'
Apple and is friends with one of the ex-Gang Under lords sons - before becoming
a Cop and later personal security guard to the Rich 'N Famous.
While
Mattera's passion quickly became scuba diving, along with the history of
discovering wrecks via meticulous archive research, having also dove the Andrea
Doria multiple times; claiming over sixty such trips - a mere pittance compared
to his friend and co-diver Chatterton... Which think the book sez' is resting at
230-feet & is plenty happy to take Diver's life's!
As the rapidly decaying wreck, now sixty years old
sees the top of the remaining superstructure wresting at 190-feet, with her
bridge bell having been recovered in 2010 from the bottom's depth of 241-feet!
And the wreck's described as a "Noisy
Wreck" due to the swift ocean currents constantly ravaging her remains, routinely
moving loose metal and shrapnel around. While sadly, sixteen scuba divers have
met their fate during treacherous diving conditions...
AnyHoo,
the two are summoned by a renown treasure hunter named Tracy Bowden just
moments before they're set to embark upon finding a Spanish Galleon in the
Dominion Republic. As Bowden asks, how would you two like to hunt for a Pirate
Ship called the Golden Fleece. Which is of significant history, not to mention
that only one pirate ship has ever been found...
As did
Yuhs know? That pirates never said R', just a Hollywood thingy', which is
explained in the book, for which A-L-L of Yuhs who don't wanna read the book
review above can simply skip to the trailer below, for which I've got NO idea
if it's a teaser for a forthcoming movie, or just the book itself?
VIDEO: Pirate Hunters preview
Shiver Me Timbers...
