Diver Pleads Guilty to Fraud Involving Historic Cannons
A commercial diver has pleaded guilty at Southampton Crown Court to a fraud offence in excess of £46,000 following a two year investigation by the U.K. Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA). The diver, Vincent Woolsgrove of Ramsgate, Kent, reported finding five cannons during the summer 2007, two from the wreck of the warship, London, and three in international waters off the coast of Kent. The cannons recovered from the warship were both very rare bronze Peter Gill and commonwealth cannons.
UK Divers Fined for Undeclared Shipwreck Raids
In a landmark case, two divers today have been made to pay a total of £63,500 in fines and costs for not declaring valuable items from shipwrecks off the U.K. coast. David Knight and Edward Huzzey, both from Sandgate, had previously pleaded guilty to 19 offences between them, contrary to section 236 and section 237 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Knight was fined £7,000 and Huzzey £6,500. They were each ordered to pay £25,000 in costs. Items were taken from shipwrecks off the Kent coast, with the first known objects removed in 2001.
Divers Guilty of Raiding Historic Shipwrecks
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced that two divers from Kent have pleaded guilty to not declaring valuable items from shipwrecks off the U.K. coast. David Knight and Edward Huzzey, both from Sandgate, admitted to 19 offences between them, contrary to section 236 and section 237 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Items were taken from shipwrecks off the Kent coast, with the first known objects removed in 2001. The shipwrecks targeted included German submarines from World War I and an unknown 200 year old wreck carrying English East India Company cargo.
New Director Appointed at NMMC
National Maritime Museum Cornwall (NMMC) has appointed Jonathan Griffin as the new Director. He has held a number of commercial senior management roles during his career including: Marketing Services Director for the British Tourist Authority (BTA) and the English Tourist Board, Marketing Director of English Heritage and Commercial Manager of London Zoo and Whipsnade Park. For the past four years, he has been based in London working on the country’s public presentation overseas. As Director of the Britain Abroad Task Force he drew on his marketing background to help develop and co-ordinate a strategy for the public-facing work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office…
The Search For John Paul Jones' Ship
Official U.S. Navy file photo of father of the U.S. Navy, John Paul Jones' tomb at the U.S. Naval Academy. Jones is forever immortalized by uttering the words, "I have not yet begun to fight", during the battle between his ship Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis, off the coast of England in 1779. The Naval Historical Center and other researchers are planning an expedition to try to find the wreck of Bonhomme Richard in the Summer of 2006. The Naval Historical Center (NHC) announced in October it is joining the Ocean Technology Foundation (OTF) in spearheading an expedition in the summer of 2006 to search for the remains of American Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones’ ship Bonhomme Richard.
