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)...

Sept. 13, 2017

Surveying Sunken WWI Ship USS San Diego

"You're holding onto a $500,000 sonar head. Don't drop it."These were the words of encouragement I received from Tim Pilegard, a graduate student at the University of Delaware. At that moment, Tim and I were struggling to bolt the sonar onto the side of the R/V Joanne Daiber, University of Delaware's 46 foot research vessel.After several failed

Aug. 19, 2017

Navy's Role in Finding USS Indianapolis

Editor's Note: It was announced today that the wreckage of the World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA 35) was located by a team of civilian researchers led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul G. Allen. The search was aided by historical and archaeological support from the Naval History and Heritage Command. Just last year, NHHC uncovered

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. 4, 2016

NHHC Surveys for Lost Naval Aircraft

From July 25 to Aug. 3, 2016, Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) underwater archaeologists conducted side-scan sonar operations in the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River to locate U.S. Navy aircraft lost near Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River) as a continuation of research started in 2015.The focus of the survey is to locate

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

March 25, 2013

The Conservation of Enfield Rifle Barrels from USS Tulip

The Naval History and Heritage Command's (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) manages the Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory which is primarily tasked with the documentation, treatment, preservation, and curation of artifacts from US Navy sunken military craft. Artifact conservation is an integral part of any archaeological investigation