Summer Shipwreck Lectures at Anc Museum

June 11, 7 pm The Great Museum of the Sea: Archaeology and Shipwrecks
Speaker: James Delgado, president, Institute of Nautical Archaeology
For archaeologists, the true treasures from the depths are discoveries that illuminate the past, especially the lives of people. Delgado offers a wide-ranging tour of some of historyÃÔ greatest shipwrecks, from the fabled Titanic (a shipwreck expedition he participated in) to the oldest wreck yet studied a ship carrying 3,300 people lost when Tutankhamen was on EgyptÃÔ throne.

6/18/2009 7 pm
The New El Dorado
Salvaging A Gold Rush Shipwreck
Speaker: Mike Burwell, shipwreck historian, U.S. Minerals Management Service
Since the 1901 wreck of the steamer Islander near Juneau, claims of a gold cargo ranging from $250,000 to more than $100 million have fueled imaginations. At least 15 expeditions have attempted to salvage the Islander and find a fortune. The romance and adventure of the gold rush era lives on in present day dreams and schemes.

That sounds really interesting, I wish I lived closer. Thanks for the info

I went to the lecture last night at the Museum. Jim Delgado is a superb story teller and held the interest of the audience as he did a thumbnail overview of the history of marine archaeology from the first dig by George Bass in Turkey to the Titanic and all the ships in between. He did briefly touch on the maritime trading network that is evidence of maritime trading routes from the Med to China. And I did learn a few things about the Chinese trading fleets and their Middle East/Near East connections that I had not previously known. The ships he talked about were the Mary Rose, Vasa, Viking ships, Basque whalers in eastern Canada, Bismark, Titanic, and so on. Quite a roll of lost ships.

I had a brief conversation with him after the talk. We have a couple of common friends and efforts.

Glad to hear it was a good time, thanks for the overview for those of us who couldn't make it.

I went to the presentation on the sinking of the Islander in 1903 with an rumored 14 tons of gold and the attempts at salvage culminating in its salvage in the 1930s of all but 40 feet of the bow after being raised from 300 feet of water. The 40-foot bow section is still on the bottom with various schemes to salvage it. An absolutely fascinating Alaska gold rush tale.

After the presentation, an audience member in his 50s stood up during Q&A and stated “I came here tonight knowing that the talk was about shipwrecks but not knowing the entire presentation would be on the Islander. My great grandfather was a survivor of the sinking, but he fell in with the wrong crowd and never returned home. My grandmother found him decades later living in x here in Alaska. I do have his journal of the events. My best boyhood friend in Fairbanks and I were talking a few years ago and it turned out his great grandfather was also on the Islander. His great-grandfather was on the Islander and did not survive.”

The ship was in 175' when it was raised. The bow is apparently in 365' and is buried in mud and barnacles. The belief is that the bow broke off and the rest of the ship drifted shallower.

It's interesting about that guy!

Great story, what a nice piece of oceanic history right here in Alaska. Thanks for the update