Museums, Shipwrecks, and Projects

Museums

Europe

Naval and Maritime Museums in the UK: For each museum, hours of operation, address, telephone number, and a brief summary of its holdings is included. Entries are listed alphabetically, and a list of historic ships and a bibliography are also given.
The Mary Rose Virtual Maritime Museum: The museum of the Mary Rose (Henry VIII's great ship, which sank in 1545 and was raised in 1982 for conservation at Portsmouth) has recently developed a WWW page. It provides hours of operation, photographs, and a virtual tour of the museum and the salvage and resoration project.
Estonian State Maritime Museum (Meremuuseum): The museum exhibits the general history of shipping and fishing in Estonia. This page is maintained by Per Ekesson. There is an English version, as well.
Vasa Museum Stockholm, Sweden: This museum is devoted to the Vasa, a 1628 warship. The ship was salvaged and restored, and is now one of the world's best preserved 17th-century ships. Hours of operation and directions to the museum are given.
The Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, Turkey: The oldest Shipwreck materials in the world are exhibited here in Bodrum. Details include an extensive history of the Museum which is located in the Castle of the Knights of St. John.

North America

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum: a non-profit organization for preserving and sharing the history of Lake Champlain.
North Carolina Maritime Museum: Links are provided to texts concerning the museum's collections, exhibits, history, mission, programs, and publications.
Mariner's Museum Newport News, Virginia: This page has information on the museum's hours and on its holdings. These include a large collection of books, photographs and artifacts.
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Home Page: This page includes a brief history of the museum and provides links to FAQs, some photographs and descriptions of the collection.
Hart Nautical Collections Cambridge, MA USA: The Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum was founded in1921. The focus of the collection is on the technical history of shipand small craft design, construction, and propulsion.
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic Halifax, NS Canada: The museum's history and hours of operation are given, as are thumbnail images of items in its collection. Links to a few other maritime museums are also provided.

Australia

Australia Maritime Museum: The museum's holdings and hours of operation are provided. Be sure to visit their ambitious database, maritime archaeological excavations of the world.

Shipwrecks & Sites

Global Coverage

Worldwide Sources of Shipwreck Information: This site consists of a list of addresses for museums, libraries, historical societies, and other organizations pertinent to the study of shipwrecks. The list is arranged alphabetically by country.
Northern Maritime Research (NMR) Northern Shipwreck Database Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Information regarding area of coverage and requesting access to the 50,000+ records in their database.

Africa

Bay of Aboukir: Web site for the Franck Goddio Society describes the recent discovery of a sunken city off the coast of Egypt.
Napoleon's Lost Fleet: The article from Athena Review briefly chronicles the discovery of this suken fleet during the Bay of Aboukir excavations.
Port of Alexandria: "Swimming With the Sphinxes," originally published in UNESCO Sources, February 1997, this article discusses the challenges encountered during the discovery of this ancient port.

Australia

HMS Pandora: The Pandora was the Royal Navy warship sent to the South Pacific to capture the 25 men who had "pirated" the Bounty. The site sponsored by the Queensland Museum describes the excavation of the ship and the "mutiny on the Bounty."

Europe

Guide to Historic Wreck Sites (UK): Information on over 40 protected wreck sites in the UK, the name of the vessel, its location, the site history, and information regarding licensing to survey or excavate the site is included here.
Duart point shipwreck: A site dated 1653 near Duart Castle, off the coast of Scotland. A prosaic description of the excavations. You may wish to access the Web site's index.

North America

The La Belle Project: A shipwreck believed to be that of La Belle, one of the ships brought by the French explorer Rene Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, the man who claimed the Mississippi and all its tributaries for France. La Belle was lost in Matagorda Bay in 1686. See also the exhibit schedule for "La Belle: The Mystery of La Salle in the Gulf."
Wreck of a vessel from Phip's Fleet(1690): Biography of Sir William Phips and his expeditions against New France. A history of the shipwreck's discovery, the salvage operation and archaeological expedition. Participating institutions and organizations include, Centre de conservation du Québec (CCQ), Groupe de préservation des vestiges subaquatiques de Manicouagan, Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Quèbec, Municipalité régionale de comté de Manicouagan, Parks Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage. Version française
Titanic Home Page: This page consists of a collection of information on the Titanic, with links to additional resources.
Underwater Shipwreck State Parks and Historic Sites: Descriptions of the San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve, Florida; Benwood Historic Shipwreck, Florida; and Emerald Bay Historic Barges, California.
CSS Hunley: One of the first submarines, it sank on February 17, 1864 off Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. The Web site is maintained by the University of South Carolina
The Friends of the CSS Hunley: Photos, articles and information concerning conservation of recovered artifacts.

Excavations, Expeditions, and Volunteer Projects

The Athenian Trireme Olympias: A reconstruction of an Athenian Trireme of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, Olympias was commissioned into the Hellenic Navy in 1987. This web page provides the latest news, pictures, a glossary of Trireme terms, and information for those who would like to participate in Olympias sea trials.
North Caribbean Research - Simon Spooner: North Caribbean Research and Oxford University MARE in a joint archaeological shipwreck project on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. In recent years a number of wrecks of dating from the 15th century to the 18th century have been found. In 1998 Mensun Bound of Oxford Uinversity MARE will be leading missions to the island to carry out evaluations, surveys and excavations. The purpose of the missions will be to conduct non-disruptive site surveys prior to a partial excavation of one of the following: The "Perfume" wreck, the "Faience" wreck, the "Musket Ball" wreck and the "Cannon" wreck. Any divers interested in joining the team may go to Simon Spooner's page or North Caribbean Research for information.
Poseidon Volunteer Project: The Poseidon Project aims to collect information about Greece and its development as a prominent maritime nation from ancient to modern times. This page describes the project's goals and how to join its team of volunteers.
Little Salt Spring: This website describes archaeological work at Little Salt Spring, a now submerged site in southwestern Florida. It is believed to have been utilized roughly 12,500 - 6,000 years before present.
Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves: A description of a system of five underwater parks in Florida is given here. Each is the site of a shipwreck and can be visited for free by interested divers.
Jason Project Home Page: This page provides information on the JASON Project, its history, descriptions of its past expeditions and its future plans. Links to additional resources are provided.
Combined Caesarea Excavations: Web site concerning the underwater excavations of Sabastos, King Herod's Harbor. It provides descriptions of their research projects and information regarding their Diver Volunteer Program
The Pipe Wreck: A project of the Pan-American Institute of Maritime Archaeology (PIMA), volunteers are invited to join. This page provides information about the project and how to become a volunteer.
Ancient Arabian Wrecks, Ra's al Hadd, Oman.: Earthwatch sponsored teams will examine the skeletons of boat wrecks on the beaches of Oman.