My forthcoming book on shipwrecks - Alan G. Jamieson, 'Out of the Depths: A History of Shipwrecks' (Reaktion Books, London) - will be published in the UK on 12 September 2022 and in the USA & Canada on 24 October 2022. It is a general survey of shipwrecks across the centuries and also looks at developments in the last sixty years that have allowed those arch-enemies maritime archaeologists and treasure hunters to find such wrecks.
It is a measure of how much interest there is in shipwrecks that since the book went to the printers new wrecks have come to light and attracted public attention. The wreck of HMS 'Gloucester', lost in 1682, has been found off Great Yarmouth, England, and some maritime archaeologists claim it is the most important historic shipwreck found in English waters since the 'Mary Rose'.
In my book the USS 'Johnston', lost in battle off Samar in the Philippines in 1944, is noted as the deepest shipwreck ever found. However, the team which found the 'Johnston' has recently announced the discovery of the wreck of the USS 'Samuel B. Roberts', lost in the same battle, at an even greater depth - 4.28 miles beneath the surface of the sea.
AGJ, 27 July 2022.
