Jan. 27, 2022

Once Above, Now Below: Archaeological Investigations of Two Early 1950s Naval Aircraft Wrecks off Pensacola

For northwestern Florida, naval flight training began in 1914 with the arrival of the newly formed aviation unit consisting of nine officers, twenty-three enlisted men, and seven aircraft. Under the direction of Lt. John Towers and Lt. Commander Henry C. Mustin, the unit arrived at the Pensacola Navy Yard in January aboard the battleship

Jan. 27, 2022

Once Above, Now Below: Archaeological Investigations of Two Early 1950s Naval Aircraft Wrecks off Pensacola

For northwestern Florida, naval flight training began in 1914 with the arrival of the newly formed aviation unit consisting of nine officers, twenty-three enlisted men, and seven aircraft. Under the direction of Lt. John Towers and Lt. Commander Henry C. Mustin, the unit arrived at the Pensacola Navy Yard in January aboard the battleship

Nov. 2, 2021

Bearcat in the Chesapeake: Navy’s underwater investigation of a prototype fighter aircraft

Grumman’s F8F Bearcat was lightweight fighter designed to operate from smaller naval aircraft carriers and had a higher rate of climb than its predecessor, the F6F Hellcat. Prototypes were tested starting in 1944, but they were not ready in time to see action in World War II. Noted for their speed and agility, postwar Bearcats became a significant

June 11, 2021

Perry's Revenge — A Continued Look at the Wreck of an Early 19th-Century Naval Schooner off the Coast of Rhode Island

Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) archaeologists collaborated with Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) engineers during the second half of May 2021 to continue documenting the remains of Oliver Hazard Perry's schooner Revenge, which wrecked off of Watch Hill, Rhode Island in 1811. The team, along with local site discoverers, Charles Buffum

April 26, 2021

NHHC Archaeology by Land and By Sea (and Now by Air)

Naval History and Heritage Command's Underwater Archaeology Branch (UA) collaborated with NAVAIR UX-24 last week to complete an aerial magnetometer survey over a marshy section of the Patuxent River, where it is thought remains of naval vessels from the War of 1812 are buried.

June 17, 2020

Twenty Years of Fostering Research on Naval Heritage: The NHHC Permitting Program

Caption: Blair Atcheson and George Schwarz, underwater archaeologists with NHHC, prepare a magnetometer to survey the potential USS Revenge wreck on Dec. 7, 2015. (U.S. Navy photo by Heather Brown/Released)...

Oct. 9, 2018

Perry's Revenge Revisited

Last week, the U.S. Navy returned to Rhode Island to continue the archaeological investigation of the site believed to be the remains of Oliver Hazard Perry's schooner Revenge. The 2018 fieldwork builds upon remote sensing surveys conducted in 2012 and 2015 and last year's diver documentation and cannon recovery. Research this year involved

April 11, 2018

Conservators in Action: Uncovering Secrets of the Suspected Revenge Cannon - Part II

Many have been waiting for an update from our last blog post about the ongoing efforts to conserve a cannon recovered from the suspected wreck site of the 14-gun U.S. naval schooner Revenge. Well, the wait is over! Archaeological conservators at the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology (UA) Branch have been carefully

March 9, 2018

Newly Discovered Wreck of USS Lexington Reveals Rare F4F Wildcat

With the discovery of the wreck of Lexington (CV 2) in the depths of the Coral Sea, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his team on board the research vessel Petrel, added another chapter to their recent record of discoveries of U.S. Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy vessels lost during World War II.This particular expedition brought the added bonus

Aug. 2, 2017

Conservators in Action: Uncovering Secrets of the Suspected Revenge Cannon

It's never a dull day at the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology (UA) Conservation Laboratory, especially when a heavily concreted cannon from the suspected wreck site of the 14-gun naval schooner Revenge arrived on May 26, 2017. The cannon, believed to be a six-pounder, was recovered by NHHC archaeologists and divers