May 26, 2017

NHHC Recovers Cannon from possible Revenge Wreck Site

The Naval History and Heritage Command's (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) returned to Rhode Island this week in order to recover a cannon from the suspected wreck site of the 14-gun naval schooner Revenge, which struck a reef and sank off Watch Hill in 1811. Captained by then-Lt. Oliver Hazard Perry, on Jan. 9, 1811, she encountered thick

Nov. 18, 2016

NHHC Reviews U.S. Navy Wrecks in South Pacific Waters and Prepares to Bring New Life to Disturbed Artifacts

The following post is about the conservation of artifacts that were removed, without authorization from the U.S. Navy, from the wreck of USS Salute. In partnership with the government of Brunei, U.S. Navy and Royal Brunei Navy divers this week completed a dive on the ship's wreck in which they honored the service of those lost when the ship sank,

Aug. 22, 2016

Underwater Archaeologist Joins Salvage on Dive Training Operations

From the Field: NHHC underwater archaeologist Dr. Alexis Catsambis recently joined Mobile Diving Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 on a dive training operations conducted on multiple U.S. Navy sunken military craft."This is an excellent opportunity for two commands with a shared interest in underwater operations to work collaboratively. MDSU-2 divers are

Aug. 4, 2016

Savage Coating: NHHC Conservators Team With USNA to Solve a History Mystery

The remains of Royal Savage, approximately 50 timbers and 1300 artifacts, were excavated in the 1930s and brought to the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology (UA) Branch in July 2015. Most of the Royal Savage artifacts were removed from Lake Champlain more than 80 years ago and received only minimal treatment which

June 17, 2016

Savage Buttons Reveal Secrets of Revolutionary War Shipwreck

When the Naval History and Heritage Command's Underwater Archaeology and Conservation Laboratory received over 1,000 artifacts from the Revolutionary War shipwreck assemblage of Royal Savage last summer, conservators recognized that a number of these artifacts were personal effects of the sailors and officers who sailed aboard the

March 18, 2016

Navy's Underwater Archaeologists Conduct Survey of the USS Tulip

Earlier this week, Naval History and Heritage Command's (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology (UAB) Branch partnered with Navy's Supervisor of Diving and Salvage (SUPSALV), Phoenix International Holdings, Inc., and the Institute of Maritime History (IMH) to conduct a two day survey of the wreck site of USS Tulip off Ragged Point, VA utilizing a remotely

Jan. 8, 2016

Twenty Years of Navy Shipwrecks: 1996-2016

In 1996, underwater archaeology was officially incorporated into the U.S. Navy with the creation of a dedicated branch at the Naval Historical Center, which in 2008 became the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). The development of NHHC's Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) was influenced by a long list of prominent archaeological projects

Dec. 21, 2015

NHHC Participates in Archaeological Survey of Suspected USS Revenge Site

Naval History and Heritage Command's Underwater Archaeology Branch participated in a follow-up survey on a suspected War of 1812 vessel off the coast of Watch Hill, R.I. Dec. 7-8, 2015. Below are photos and information about the expedition. NHHC archaeologists Blair Atcheson, Heather Brown, and George Schwarz, Ph.D., joined local divers Charlie

Oct. 23, 2015

Recovering History - CSS Georgia Update

As a conservator for NHHC's Underwater Archaeology (UA) Branch, the majority of my work is focused on treatment of archaeological material recovered from U.S. Navy sunken military craft and primarily takes place in the UA Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory located on the Washington Navy Yard. However, I am occasionally afforded the chance to

Sept. 11, 2015

NHHC Archaeologists Get Out On the Water

Did you know there are U.S. Navy craft in the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay? Recently, NHHC's Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) team got a well-deserved break from our desk work and went out into the field to investigate submerged aircraft in the Chesapeake Bay near NAS Patuxent River. To see the craft, we partnered with Phoenix International