Maritime Heritage Program News

The decades long mystery of a missing U.S. Coast Guard Ship has finally been solved. U.S. Revenue Cutter (USRC) Bear, lost at sea in 1963, has been found on the seafloor about 90 miles south of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, NOAA Rear Adm. Nancy Hann announced Thursday.Widely considered one of the most historically significant ships in American history, Bear was purchased by the U.S. government and first put into service by the U.S. Navy as part of the rescue fleet for the Greely Expedition to the Arctic in 1884, attaining legendary status for the rescue of the expedition's few survivors.

NOAA archaeologists have discovered the battered hulls of two 1800s whaling ships nearly 144 years after they and 31 others sank off the Arctic coast of Alaska in one of the planet's most unexplored ocean regions. The shipwrecks, and parts of other ships, that were found are most likely the remains of 33 ships trapped by pack ice close to the Alaskan Arctic shore in September 1871. The whaling captains had counted on a wind shift from the east to drive the ice out to sea as it had always done in years past.

On Thursday, April 30, 2015, U.S. National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis and U.S. Maritime Administrator Paul N. Jaenichen will host a media conference call to highlight projects receiving grants through the Maritime Heritage Program. In all, the 35 projects in 21 states will receive more than $2.6 million in funds to support a broad range of maritime education and preservation projects nationwide. The National Maritime Heritage Grant Program is administered by the National Park Service in partnership with the Maritime Administration. The grants are supported by revenue from the scrapping of vessels from the Maritime Administration’s National Defense Reserve Fleet.

NOAA and partners released three-dimensional sonar maps and images of an immigrant steamship lost more than 100 years ago in what many consider the worst maritime disaster in San Francisco history. On Feb. 22, 1901, in a dense morning fog, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro struck jagged rocks near the Golden Gate Bridge and sank almost immediately, killing 128 of the 210 passengers and crew aboard the ship. Fishermen in the area, hearing the ship's distress calls, helped rescue 82 survivors, many plucked from makeshift rafts and floating wreckage.

NOAA and its partners released 3D sonar maps and images of an immigrant steamship lost more than 100 years ago in what many consider the worst maritime disaster in San Francisco history. On Feb. 22, 1901, in a dense morning fog, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro struck jagged rocks near the present site of the Golden Gate Bridge and sank almost immediately, killing 128 of the 210 passengers and crew aboard the ship. Fishermen in the area, hearing the ship’s distress calls, helped rescue 82 survivors, many plucked from makeshift rafts and floating wreckage.

The National Park Service, in partnership with the Maritime Administration, informs of the availability of approximately $1.7 million in grant funding through its Maritime Heritage Program for projects that teach about and/or preserve sites and objects related to the nation’s maritime history. The National Maritime Heritage Grant Program is administered by the National Park Service in partnership with the Maritime Administration. The grants are supported by revenue from the scrapping of vessels from the Maritime Administration’s National Defense Reserve Fleet. These ships are purchased for recycling and the revenue provides assistance for a broad range of maritime education and preservation projects without expending tax dollars…

The National Park Service, in partnership with the Maritime Administration, today announced the availability of approximately $1.7 million in grant funding through its Maritime Heritage Program for projects that teach about and/or preserve sites and objects related to our nation’s maritime history. Grant applications will be accepted through September 23, 2014. “From commerce and transportation, to national defense and recreation, America’s maritime resources have always been an important part of our nation’s story,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “Maritime history plays a central role in our national narrative,” said Acting Maritime Administrator Paul N. Jaenichen.

Recreates faces of two sailors found in ill-fated ship’s gun turret, asks public for help to identify. Nearly 150 years after 16 USS Monitor sailors died when their vessel sank in a New Year’s Eve storm, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has released forensic reconstructions of the faces of two crew members. Officials unveiled the reconstructions and dedicated a plaque in memory of the Monitor crew during a ceremony sponsored by the United States Navy Memorial Foundation at the Navy Memorial in Washington today.

Sony and Intel’s Project Shiphunt team of young explorers, scientists and historians has returned to shore with news of its underwater discovery: shipwrecks of the schooner M.F. Merrick and the steel freighter Etruria, in deep water off of Presque Isle in Lake Huron. The project was completed with “much thanks to pings, processing and 3D,” according to one marine archaeologist. Current Media, the Peabody-and Emmy Award-winning independent television and online network founded in 2005, will air their adventure as the hour-long special, “Project Shiphunt,” on August 30th at 10 p.m. ET.