- May 20, 2004
- 1,721
- 152
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Excal 1000
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
An operation to locate the wreck of a ship made famous by Solway sailor John Paul Jones has identified what could be part of the vessel on the seabed.
Jones - considered to be the founder of the US navy - captained the Bonhomme Richard which sank in 1779 off Flamborough Head in East Yorkshire.
The survey is being carried out by a joint British and American team.
Leading archaeologist Dr Bob Neyland said the signs were encouraging that they were searching in the right area.
"We have already found a couple of interesting targets from the sonar and magnetometer," he confirmed.
"We can't discern that these are a shipwreck or that they are the shipwreck that we are looking for - the Bonhomme Richard.
"They are certainly worth coming back to investigate on the follow-up season."
The head of the Underwater Archaeological Unit at the US Navy's Historical Centre in Washington DC said he was pleased with the overall progress.
"Things are going very, very well," he added.
"I think what we have seen so far confirms our theories about where the ship is likely to be - but there is still a lot of sea out there to survey."
Jones, originally from Arbigland on the Solway coast, famously engaged the British ship Serapis off Flamborough Head.
He captured Serapis but had to watch his own ship sink into the North Sea.
The battle on 23 September, 1779, is counted as one of the most memorable battles of the American Revolution.
BBC
Jones - considered to be the founder of the US navy - captained the Bonhomme Richard which sank in 1779 off Flamborough Head in East Yorkshire.
The survey is being carried out by a joint British and American team.
Leading archaeologist Dr Bob Neyland said the signs were encouraging that they were searching in the right area.
"We have already found a couple of interesting targets from the sonar and magnetometer," he confirmed.
"We can't discern that these are a shipwreck or that they are the shipwreck that we are looking for - the Bonhomme Richard.
"They are certainly worth coming back to investigate on the follow-up season."
The head of the Underwater Archaeological Unit at the US Navy's Historical Centre in Washington DC said he was pleased with the overall progress.
"Things are going very, very well," he added.
"I think what we have seen so far confirms our theories about where the ship is likely to be - but there is still a lot of sea out there to survey."
Jones, originally from Arbigland on the Solway coast, famously engaged the British ship Serapis off Flamborough Head.
He captured Serapis but had to watch his own ship sink into the North Sea.
The battle on 23 September, 1779, is counted as one of the most memorable battles of the American Revolution.
BBC
