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The tanker Gulfpenn before
America's entry into the war. The funnel colors are black, red and
yellow with a white G for the Gulf Oil Corporation. Most of the
company's ships carried names prefixed with "Gulf." Image courtesy the
Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia.
We have just completed the
archaeological and biological analysis on the
Gulfpenn wreck site and are on our way to the U-166 site.
After the first couple of days of experiencing minor camera problems,
which were soon corrected, we now have the ROV and vessel operations
running like clockwork. We have not experienced any major problems or
setbacks up to this point. The weather has also been good to us during
our journey, which makes work easier for the crewmembers who have not
been to sea and could experience motion sickness.
Aaron Baldwin (center) and Joey Lekovich
(right) prepare the ROV's collection box for sampling.
Morale around the ship has been
great. Everyone has been sharing knowledge, telling stories of past
experiences, sharing jokes and making the best of what little space we
have out here. It’s amazing watching so many team members from different
places come together as a single unit and assist each other in every
task.
All work and no play. . . . Jack Irion
displays his catch of the day, a small tunny.
Prior to the
ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) dive on the
Gulfpenn wreck site, there was an additional tool fabricated for
the microbiologist, Lori Johnston, to assist
in the time allotted for rusticle sample collections. Her “Gucci” (Rustical
Purse), as Lori calls it, was fabricated with scrap parts and pieces by
Lucas Cribley (Sonsub’s McGyver of tooling), Mike Stephens (Sonsub ROV
Supervisor) and with some input from ROV team members. The “Gucci” is an
ROV-friendly, triple tube, storage unit with a lock-down cover that
holds multiple rusticle samples that can be carried with the ROV during
this operation. This tool has proven to be successful and will be
utilized for future operations.
The "Gucci," designed by Sonsub's ROV
team for collecting rusticles.
ROV Specialist Phillip Spearman, "Gucci"
fabricator Lucas Cribley, and microbiologist Lori Johnston.
So far, this has been a very
exciting operation for crew and myself. Diving and seeing a part of
history first hand is not something that many people have the
opportunity to do. The least we can do is share it with the world.
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Will Schroeder examines coral from
the Gulfpenn site. |
Hatchet fish caught in one of the traps at the
Gulfpenn wreck.
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Unloading a hag fish from the
Gulfpenn site. |
A sea robin from the Gulfpenn
wreck site.
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