noaa
USRC Bear side scan sonar image
US Revenue Cutter Bear, 1916 library of congress
home berth, to be determined. The Wilsons plan on making the ship available for daysails, tours, sail training, private charters, and events. Built in Lahaina, Hawaii, in 1988, Hawaiian Chieftain was designed to represent 19th-century packet ships that called at Hawaiian ports. In 1994 she was sold to Wolverine Motorworks of Fall River, MA, and renamed Spirit of Larinda. GHHS purchased the ship in 2005 and her original name was restored. (GHHS: 500 N. Custer St. Aberdeen, WA; www.historicalseaport.org. Hawaiian Chieftain: sailhawaiianchieftain.com) … An expedition comprising the US Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration, NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program, and several academic research partners announced in October that it has found the shipwreck site of the US Revenue Cutter Bear about 90 miles south of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. The NOAA and USCG teams joined forces in 2019 to survey the 62-square-mile area where the wreck was likely to be found
using side-scan sonar. Working from the USCG medium-endurance cutter Bear, named for the historic ship they were seeking, the team identified two targets of interest to investigate further. In 2021, this time working off the USCG ocean-going buoy tender Sycamore, trained operators from
Marine Imaging Technologies employed an advanced remotely operated vehicle (ROV) carrying high-resolution underwater video cameras to explore the more likely target area, chosen because of its proximity to Bear’s location when she was lost and the wreck’s approximate dimensions. Upon review of the documentation gathered during this expedition, the partner agencies’ historians and archaeologists agreed that they are “reasonably certain” that the wreck is that of the storied US Revenue Cutter Bear. The announcement was made by NOAA’s RADM Nancy Hann at a press event in Boston on 14 October.
Sail Aboard the Liberty Ship
John W. BroWn
Please check our website for 2022 cruise dates. On a cruise you can tour museum spaces, bridge, crew quarters, & much more. Visit the engine room to view the 140-ton triple-expansion steam engine as it powers the ship though the water. Reservations: 410-558-0164, or
www.ssjohnwbrown.org Last day to order tickets is 14 days before the cruise; conditions and penalties apply to cancellations.
SS JOHN W. BROWN
SEA HISTORY 177, WINTER 2021–22
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