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Re-Creating the Bonhomme Richard

A friend of mine in France just sent me this article that appeared in a French newspaper.  Apparently the mayor of L’Orient, France, who is also Vice-President of the tourism board, would like to build a replica of the Bonhomme Richard to serve as a tourist attraction. What fun that would be! A colleague of mine had originally pitched this idea to the US Naval Academy a few years ago, but I guess it didn’t quite catch on. The BHR was built in L’Orient originally as the Duc de Duras, and then when it was loaned to the U.S., it was renamed Bonhomme Richard.  The French have already built a replica of the vessel Hermione, which will be visiting the U.S. next year. It cost 25 million euros to build it.

Here is an image of the BHR model from the article, courtesy of Ouest-France:

LOrient model

I am going to try to contact the mayor and lend my support.  Vive la France!

 

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Marine Archaeology: The Search for the Bonhomme Richard

The Ocean Technology Foundation’s search for the Bonhomme Richard has been led by Melissa Ryan, President of MMC, since the project’s inception in 2005.

Depiction of the Battle of Flamborough Head, by Dean Mosher.

Depiction of the Battle of Flamborough Head, by Dean Mosher.

 

She manages all aspects of this multi-year, multi-national search for this historic wreck, which was the  flagship of U.S. Naval hero John Paul Jones.  She liaises with U.S., French, and British Navies as well as academia and private industry to establish partnerships and technology transfer opportunities. She also interfaces with U.S. and foreign Embassy staff and other high-level government officials in order to facilitate operations in foreign countries.

Over the years, the search has applied technologies such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Remotely Operated Vehicles, magnetometers, side scan sonars, P3 Orion aircraft, the US Navy’s Submarine NR1, and deep sea divers.  View the blog for more detail on this thrilling maritime quest.  It is likely the most comprehensive marine archaeological survey being conducted, with more than 500 U.S. and French Navy personnel having participated in twelve expeditions, and hundreds more people working shoreside to make it all happen.
For more information, please visit the Bonhomme Richard Project website.  Two recent publications are available here.

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Historic Shipwrecks – Online Course

Clients:  U.S. Naval Academy and Ocean Technology Foundation

Midshipmen aboard the USNS Henson

Midshipmen aboard the USNS Henson

MMC developed and instructed the U.S. Naval Academy’s first and only online course, Historic Shipwrecks, which focuses largely on the methods, technologies, and policies involved in the Ocean Technology Foundation’s Search for the Bonhomme Richard. The course integrated science, history, technology and engineering into a multidisciplinary and interactive learning experience for midshipmen. Under the tutorship of MMC President Melissa Ryan, five midshipmen participated in the 2010 and 2011 expeditions to search for the Bonhomme Richard in the North Sea.

 

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Mighty Ships episode available online

USNS GraspUPDATED:
If you missed the episode of the TV show “Mighty Ships: USNS GRASP” which was about our 2011 Expedition with Navy deep-sea divers, you can download it from iTunes for $2.99 here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/usns-grasp/id588041773?i=596640392&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
I am speaking to an undergraduate Maritime History class at the University of Connecticut this afternoon, and am going to pose some challenges for them to discuss regarding 1) ownership of the BHR and 2) the debate over bringing up artifacts or leaving them untouched on the bottom of the sea.  Students usually come up with some great ideas and interesting perspectives, which inspires and invigorates me every time.  Just one of the things I love about teaching!
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BHR Mission 2011 – on TV!

After a year in the making, and another year airing only in Canada, the 2011 Search for Bonhomme Richard is going global!  It will be featured in an episode of Mighty Ships, called “Mighty Ships: USNS Grasp” which will air on the Smithsonian Channel at:

  • 8:00pm EST Sunday 02/10
  • 11:00pm EST Sunday 02/10
  • 9:00am EST Monday 02/11

If you’re not sure whether you have the Smithsonian Channel, use the “Channel Finder” option at the top of their home page:  http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/

You can watch the trailer for the show here: http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/sn/show.do?episode=3370276

This mission employed Navy deep-sea divers aboard the US Navy Ship GRASP (“the Navy’s Swiss army knife”) to investigate targets that were potentially the Bonhomme Richard.  The divers set records on this trip, having completed dives to 233 feet, and very few of them had ever worked in an extreme environment like the North Sea.  The producers did an excellent job of depicting what one of our BHR missions is like (ship problems, big waves, equipment failure, bad storm, adapt and overcome.)

As one of two women on board with 69 men, it was definitely an experience!  I am deeply indebted to the gallant officer who gave up his room with a private bathroom so that we ladies could live in luxury and privacy (relative terms on a ship). If I were male, I would have been in the 39-man berthing space, which looked like this:

And then there was my secret collection of Navy diver sweatshirt photos, which included this one:

I really wish I had started blogging these missions since the beginning.  Someone should really make a movie out of all this…. James Cameron, where are you?…

Hope you can tune in on Sunday. And for the record, I wasn’t crying at the end of the show, I was watching events on deck and looking into the sun, all the while being filmed and not knowing it!  But what’s TV these days without things taken out of context and made dramatic?

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