The "Dragon Hole", the world's deepest blue hole is 300.89 metres deep

Chinese researchers have confirmed the world's deepest underwater sinkhole, or blue hole, at China's Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.

The blue hole is 300.89 meters deep, surpassing the current record of 202 meters, the researchers confirmed Friday.

The hole, traditionally known as Longdong, or "Dragon Hole," is located at 16.31 degrees north latitude and 111.46 degrees east longitude in Yongle, a major coral reef in the Xisha Islands.

Locals call it the "eye" of the South China Sea. In some local fishermen's interpretations of the 16th-century Chinese Classic "Journey to the West," the sinkhole is the site where the hero's weapon, a golden cudgel, originates.

The latest exploration project, which lasted from August 2015 until June, found the hole is 300.89 meters deep with a 130-meter-diameter-wide entrance, said Fu Liang, head of the Sansha Ship Course Research Institute for Coral Protection, at a conference on Friday.

Supported by the Sansha City Government in south China's island province of Hainan, the institute explored the sinkhole using the "VideoRay Pro 4" underwater robot carrying a depth sensor.

Researchers with the institute have also found more than 20 fish species and other marine organisms at the upper level of the sinkhole. The blue hole is almost oxygen free below 100 meters, meaning life is unlikely.

The findings have been recognized by an expert panel led by Meng Wei, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

A blue hole is a roughly circular sinkhole. The name reflects the color contrast between the dark blue inside the hole compared with the light blue waters surrounding it.

Previously, the 202-meter-deep Dean's Blue Hole on Long Island in the Bahamas was considered the world's deepest known blue hole with an underwater entrance.

Panel leader Meng said blue holes are peculiar marine landforms that are important for marine research and the construction of marine projects.

The panel has advised including protection and exploitation of the blue hole in the five-year plan at the country, provincial or city level.

Xu Zhifei, vice mayor of Sansha City, said the city has drafted measures to protect, study and exploit the blue hole.

"We will strive to protect the natural legacy left by the Earth," he said.

SOURCE

FOUND! The P-47 Thunderbolt lost since April 21st, 1945

Aircraft profile: http://www.gaetanmarie.com/finding-loren/

The final resting place of an American Second World War fighter pilot has been found by Italian amateur archaeologists near Bologna.

An American P-47 Thunderbolt class fighter, was unearthed on Saturday in front of the dead serviceman's emotional children and grandchildren, who had travelled to Italy to be present at the dig.

The plane once belonged to U.S Air Force pilot Loren Hintz but was shot down by a Nazi anti-aircraft gun trying to protect the German Wehrmacht as they fled from towns around the Italian city of Bologna on April 21st, 1945.

Hintz was killed just eight days before the war in Italy ended, leaving behind his five-month-old daughter, Gretchen, and his wife, who was carrying his unborn son, Martin.

Gretchen and her children were present as the resting place of their relative, who they have only ever seen in black-and-white photographs, was finally located.

“I'm deeply touched by the presence of so many people – Italian friends I never knew I had,” Gretchen Hintz said during the dig.

Gretchen and other members of the Hintz family had spent the last four years trying to pinpoint the exact spot the plane fell, after coming across the name of the town 'Bagnarola di Budrio' in the US Air Force's report of Loren Hintz's final mission.

In a bid to find the plane, the family enlisted the help of local historian Giampiero Fabbri, who conducted interviews with the few surviving residents of Bagnarola di Budrio who witnessed it fall 71 years ago.

Once Fabbri discovered where the plane lay, he had to apply to the local council to perform a dig in the area.

“We managed to get the all clear from a court in Bologna a few days ago. It is the first time a private association has asked to perform a dig like this.” 

Hintz's children and grandchildren flew over from California to be present at the excavation and looked on sombrely as the wreck of the plane was found.

Before unearthing the plane, the team excavated four vertical meters of soil, which still smelt richly of petrol after more than seven decades.

The archaeologists found an engine cylinder, the cockpit's seat, a metal name tag belonging to Hintz and one of the plane's Browning machine guns.

Excavations will continue over the coming days in the hope more of the wreckage, or even some human remains can be found and finally put to rest.

SOURCES: 1, 2, 3

New stories out soon! "Velos" and "Georgios Averoff" the floating museums of Greece

Georgios Averof is a modified Pisa-class armored cruiser built in Italy for the Royal Hellenic Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. 

The ship served as the Greek flagship during most of the first half of the century. Although popularly known as a battleship in Greek, she is in fact an armored cruiser,  the only ship of this type still in existence.

"Velos" (Arrow) is a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Lieutenant George Charrette (1867–1938), who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Spanish–American War. 

Entering service during World War II, she spent her career in the Pacific theatre. 

Placed in reserve following the war, Charette was transferred to Greece in 1959 and renamed Velos (D16). 

Velos remained in service until 1991 and was then turned into a museum ship at Palaio Faliro.

Kwajalein Missing in Action Project: “Bringing answers” to the families

Wing section of the PBM-3D which crashed at Kwajalein
on February 16, 1944
PHOTO: Dan Farnham/Kwajalein MIA Project (KMP) 

Dan Farnham, a keen scuba diver, underwater photographer and researcher, speaks to WW2 Wrecks  and pierrekosmidis.blogspot.com 

A fascinating story, photos and videos on Kwajalein Missing in Action Project!

Full story soon at WW2 Wrecks and pierrekosmidis.blogspot.com 

Stay tuned!

A U.S. Navy Martin PBM-5 Mariner in flight
U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 2011.003.137.014

Αρχαία τριήρης "Ολυμπιάς" - Κωπηλατώντας στην Ιστορία, 24 Ιουλίου 2016 (ΒΙΝΤΕΟ και ΦΩΤΟ)

Ancient Athenian Trireme "Olympias" rowing sea trials 24 July 2016 (VIDEO)

It has been a thrilling experience!

Take a sneak peek inside an ancient Greek trireme, while on sea trials on July 24, 2016.

Check the videos and a full photostory will follow soon!

Stay tuned!

Ξαναγεννιέται η "Καλυψώ" του Κουστώ!

Όσοι είμαστε πλέον... μεσήλικες, στα δεύτερα "...άντα", μεγαλώσαμε με τα ντοκιμαντέρ του Γάλλου εξερευνητή και ωκεανογράφου Ζακ-Υβ Κουστώ και της θρυλικής "Καλυψούς" του, του ξύλινου πρώην ναρκαλιευτικού που καθελκύστηκε το 1942.

Στις 8 Ιανουαρίου του 1996, η "Καλυψώ" βυθίστηκε στο λιμάνι της Σιγκαπούρης και λίγες ημέρες αργότερα, στις 16 Ιανουαρίου του 1996 , ανελκύστηκε. 

Ο διάσημος Γάλλος πέθανε στις 25 Ιουνίου του 1997.

Ακολούθησαν μακροχρόνιες δικαστικές περιπέτειες ανάμεσα στους κληρονόμους του Κουστώ, αλλά και του εγγονού του ιδιοκτήτη του θρυλικού σκαριού  την ώρα που η "Καλυψώ" περίμενε υπομονετικά, αρχικά ξεχασμένη στη Μασσαλία και στη συνέχεια στη Λα Ροσέλ.

Τα χρόνια περνούσαν χωρίς να υπάρχει ουσιαστική εξέλιξη στις εργασίες ανακατασκευής της "Καλυψούς", ενώ παράλληλα τα χρέη ανέβαιναν. 

Τελικά, φαίνεται ότι πλέον η "Καλυψώ" θα ξαναπετάξει στα κύματα, καθώς οι εργασίες ανακατασκευής της συνεχίζονται με αμείωτο ρυθμό σε τουρκικό ναυπηγείο, στο οποίο μεταφέρθηκε.

Οι φωτογραφίες είναι από την επίσημη ιστοσελίδα http://www.cousteau.org/

 ΠΗΓΕΣ ΦΩΤΟ: 

http://www.cousteau.org/

1, 2 

WW2 Pacific Treasures: B-25 "stubborn Hellion" ditched in Papua New Guinea, 1944

B25 Stubborn Hellion
PHOTO: Andrew Hamilton

Photo by Andrew Hamilton

On February 15, 1944 took off on a low level strike mission against Kavieng. 

Leading a three plane flight over the main wharf and Chinatown areas, this B-25 was hit by anti-aircraft fire that damaged in one engine and left shrapnel holes down the left side of the fuselage. 

B-25 "Stubborn Hellion" with the nose art of a white mustang that spanned the entire nose.

This B-25 lagged behind the formation and pilot Hochella unsuccessfully attempted to feather the propeller and dove down to sea level.

The damaged engine caught fire forcing this B-25 to ditch roughly 75 yards off Selapiu Island near New Hanover at roughly Lat 2.21° Long 150.37°. 

During the ditching, the B-25 spun 180 degrees before sinking. 

On impact, pilot Hochella was thrown through the cockpit windshield strapped to his seat and armor plate, before inflating his life jacket and releasing his seat belt and briefly passed out. 

Navigator Howard was never seen again and presumed to have gone down with the sinking bomber.

Rescue

On February 16, 1944 a B-25 Mitchell pilot by Captain Dougherty from the 345th Bombardment Group spotted the downed crew. On April 17, 1944 he guided a PBY Catalina to the location. It landed and successfully rescued the surviving crew members.

Memorials

Howard was officially declared dead the day of the mission. He is memorialized on the tablets of the missing at Manila American Cemetery. 

Howard also has a memorial marker at Fairview Cemetery in Pryor, OK.

Hochella attained the rank of Lt. Col. and earned the Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) with oak leaf cluster and the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster. 

Hochella died on September 13, 2005 and is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery (Bethlehem Memorial Park) in Bethlehem, PA in section B.

Wreckage

Wreckage is in excellent condition, but water visibility is poor. Both engines were torn off on impact and rest prop down in the mud about 100 feet from the fuselage.

SOURCES AND ADDITIONAL INFO

Coming soon! Rowing in an ancient Athenian trireme!

New exclusive soon at WW2 Wrecks and pierrekosmidis.blogspot.com

Rowing in an ancient Athenian trireme!

Stay tuned!

The Lenormant Relief, from the Acropolis of Athens, depicting the rowers of an Athenian trireme, ca. 410 BC. Found in 1852, it is one of the main pictorial testaments to the layout of the trireme.

WW2 Pacific Treasures: Mitsubishi F1M "Pete" and Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" by Andrew Hamilton

The Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" in Kavieng, Papua New Guinea 

PHOTO: Andrew Hamilton

Australian underwater photographer Andrew Hamilton recently shot images of the Mitsubishi F1M "Pete" and Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" aircraft wrecks in Kavieng, Papua New Guinea.

Kavieng peninsula and airstrip 

The Mitsubishi F1M "Pete"in Kavieng, Papua New Guinea 

PHOTO: Andrew Hamilton

Andrew Hamilton plans to visit Kwajalein and Majuro later this year to see the aircraft graveyard and other Japanese merchant shipwrecks. 

"I have heard a little about the plane graveyard and seen a few photos and have no idea how many planes were dumped from the aircraft carrier but when I was in Bikini Atoll I spoke to an American there and he said there were more than fifty aircraft if you were prepared to look as they are spread about" Andrew Hamilton said to WW2 Wrecks

Greek and British soldiers on the eve of "Operation Marita"

A propaganda photo, from a WW2 publication in Greek, mentions the following: "British and Greek troops side by side in Greece are waiting  for the battle with the nazi hordes".

Read about "Operation Marita", the German invasion of Greece, in April 1941

Soviet T-34 tank recovered from river in south Russia

A Soviet T-34-76 tank produced at the Stalingrad Tractor Factory has been retrieved from the Don River in south Russia.

The operation to recover the WWII Soviet tank was carried out near the village of Ukrainskaya Builovka in the Voronezh Region by specialists of Patriot Park in the Moscow Region, servicemen of Russia’s Western Military District and divers.

The tank was successfully retrieved by a BREM-1 repair and evacuation vehicle based on a T-72 tank from the 7-meter depth. 

The armored vehicle that had stayed at the river bottom for more than half a century endured the operation well.

All T-34 tanks produced at the Stalingrad Factory had been destroyed in battles during the first years of the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in WWII.

Two versions exist about how the T-34-76 tank got into the river bed. 

The first version has been offered by local residents who say that the Soviet troops sank the tank during their retreat so that it would not get into the enemy’s hands. 

However, as Kalemberg said, the tank’s armament was not removed, which speaks against this version.

According to the second version, the tank was moving along a pontoon bridge when it fell into the river. 

This version appears to hold true as the sunken pontoons, transport vehicles and small-size vessels stayed close to the tank at the river bed. As Kalemberg said, the tank was most likely lost in the summer of 1942.

Patriot Park specialists said earlier the tank weighs about 30 tons.

The unique T-34 tank recovered from the river has remained in a very good condition and can run again, Kalemberg said.

"If it is restored externally, this won’t be difficult and won’t take much time as it has remained in a very good condition. 

If we start restoring it to its running condition, this will take more time," he said, speaking about the time limits of the tank’s restoration.

"I hope we’ll restore it to the running condition," Kalemberg said.

According to preliminary data, there are neither munitions and other dangerous items nor crew remains inside the tank.

Source: Tass.com