A new search for John Paul Jones' Bonhomme Richard

The Virginian-Pilot ^ | 13 Sep 10 | Earl Kelly

[GATOR NAVY]

ANNAPOLIS, Md.

Four Naval Academy midshipmen and a professor, along with Navy scientists, head to the North Sea on Wednesday to search for the remains of Capt. John Paul Jones' ship, Bonhomme Richard.

This search for one of the most famous ships of the American Revolution will combine oceanography, historical analysis and naval engineering and employ cutting-edge technology. A multibeam sonar, for example, will give researchers three-dimensional pictures of objects on the ocean floor, and a gradiometer, a mine-sweeping tool, can detect objects buried under sediment.

If the researchers on this two-week expedition find the remains of Jones' ship, which sank while taking the fight to Great Britain's shores 231 years ago, they will have solved one of history's great mysteries.

Jones, commonly called the father of the U.S. Navy, was a master at sailing in directions no one expected, which saved him time and again from the British Navy. But his nautical skills have made it difficult for historians to determine where he went after the battle and where his wooden ship sank.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

John Paul Jones? Wasn’t he the bassist for Led Zeppelin? :-D

Maryland “Freak State” PING!

[the scotsman]

A Scotsman, dinna forget laddie.

[SunkenCiv]

This topic was posted 9/14/2010, thanks GATOR NAVY.