Sea Hunters: Season 1 - Ep 1 "The Search for Carpathia"

more than 300 kilometers off the coast of England a team of modern adventurers penetrate the ocean's depth using the most sophisticated search equipment to uncover another of the world's famous shipwrecks join the sea hunters as they discover the final resting place of the ship that saved the Titanic survivors RMS Carpathia with over 100 million books in print clive customer is the grand master of shipwreck tales adventure director of the vancouver maritime museum James Delgado is one of the world's foremost marine archaeologists with over 20 years wreck diving experience Mike Fletcher is an internationally renowned professional diver leading the echo Nova dive team John days has coordinated shipwreck searches around the globe together they explore the planets last frontier in search of true adventures famous shipwrecks they are the sea hunters intrigued by shipwrecks that have not had their stories fully told see hunters Clive Cussler and James Delgado have resolved to find the ocean liner famous for rescuing the Titanic survivors RMS Carpathia Carpathia's story is a daring tale of heroism and bravery played out in the face of great tragedy on April 15th 1912 the world received news that the great ship Titanic had sunk with many lives lost of the vessels that answered her cries for help only one arrived in time to rescue survivors the Cunard built passenger liner RMS Carpathia Carpathia's high-speed dashed with the ice-filled North Atlantic and a rescue of hundreds of Titanic survivors was one of the largest open sea rescues ever recorded and remains a testament to the incredible courage of her captain and crew Carpathia's glory was short-lived however just six years later fate would place Carpathia once more the path of tragedy it was during World War one on July 17 1918 rms carpathia had been pressed into convoy service carrying troops and supplies across the atlantic to the raging war along this supply line laying in wait were sea hunters of a different breed the deadly German u-boats one of these you works u55 intercepted Carpathia enroute from Liverpool to New York for Captain very commander of you 55 the passenger cargo liner must have made an enticing target at approximately 9:15 a.m. he took aim and fired at the Greek ship first torpedo struck the engine-room midships three Stoker's and two firemen were killed the second struck just after first captain Verner repositioned yu55 and fired the death blow with three mortal wounds carpathia at last ciccone at 12:40 a.m. she sank to the ocean floor in early 1999 adventurer and author Clive Cussler began to assemble a team to search for Capezio his motive that which is driven explorers throughout the ages curiosity you know because the Titanic story is so fabulous so well known with all this notoriety but nobody ever told me what happened to the Carpathia of the California so I started researching to see and found out coincidentally they were both torpedoed in World War one the California off Greece and the Mediterranean and I thought about looking for that one but that's 13,000 feet deep of course there's not a good position for it so scratch the California so net left the Carpathia which course turns out wasn't too far off the tip of southern island so here I thought we stood a chance the initial research showed that both British Admiralty and French Admiralty charts indicated a wreck site located within six kilometers one of the last reported sites given for Cap'n feel this charted site will become the team's first target shipwreck hunter Graham Geist was enlisted to put a ship and crew together to find this wreck and attempt an identification Graham brings a wealth of experience to the search his father Keith Jazmin is one of the world's most successful shipwreck hunters once the site information was verified the team boarded the ocean venture captained by Gary Goodyear for the sale of Penzance England to reach the search area they must head over 322 kilometres southwest into the open North Atlantic upon arrival at the latitude longitude position indicated on the charts the team began the arduous task of running grid lines over the site using the forward seeking sonar the forward seeking sonar sends signals out in a sweeping arc in front of the ship to detect anything in its path if it detects something it will be displayed on the screen and the captain can then head in the direction of the object another type of search equipment they will use is called side scan sonar the side scan sonar scans the bottom out from the sides of the ship as it travels through the water the signal that it generates is received and printed out allowing the team to see a three-dimensional picture of the bottom by traveling and carefully spaced parallel lines the team can map out the entire search area and have a complete printout of any possible shipwreck sites this is the daily work of sea hunters patience an attentive mind are the skills required the only thing that can shorten the time it takes to work the search grid is good luck and great information after hours of scanning the search grid the sonar has turned up the target it lies in 160 meters of water 11 kilometers east of Carpathia's last reported position the long-range low resolution side scam creates an image that gives a good estimate of the targets dimensions but does not provide much detail after a careful assessment of the image the team realized they have erect similar in size and shape to Carpathia Carpathia's keel was laid in walton shipyard in England near Newcastle upon Tyne in September 1901 work on the ship was finished about a year later and she was launched in August 1902 she wasn't designed for the first-class trade Carpathia's 1500 third-class passengers enjoyed accommodations that set a standard for the day these passengers could dine in a wood paneled saloon which sat 300 in revolving chairs they could mingle in the large smoking room or the ladies sitting-room socialized in the bar or stroll along the covered promenade the 200 or more second-class passengers paid for and received a higher standard of service their dining saloon had a more exclusive 200 it was even a well-stocked library the early nineteen hundred's Carpathia transported passengers mail over several rooms including the run from New York to the Mediterranean it was during one of these runs that she received Titanic's disparate message the message that launched a high-speed race to the scene the unimaginative the assessment of the side-scan image has convinced the team to deploy the remote operating vehicle ROV this submersible robotic vehicle is controlled from the ship and when the wreck is too deep for divers as is this one the ROV becomes the eyes of the search team sending back images but but allow the team to identify the wreck captain Gary Goodyear has positioned the ocean venture directly over the wreck site to minimize the length of cable between the ship and the ROV a tether management system TMS is used this submersible cage is lowered to within 15 meters of the wreck where the ROV is deployed from the cage the cable can be reeled out by the operator thereby reducing the pull of the current on the ROV unless cable means less risk of it being entangled in the wreckage the first images show a vessel which appears to be turned completely upside down the wreck is covered with plant blades and an enemy's areas in the hole are broken exposing the ribbing last fishing net sir and snared in the wreckage creating dangerous traps for the ROV gary is cautious a survey of the site reveals a debris field containing artifacts from the ship large areas ruin with ships china if this is kappa thea these items would show the Cunard Line insignia markings on this dish are inconclusive there is something else boom gruesome indication that this vessel took someone to the bottom with her could this be one of Carpathia's casualties traveling toward the stern team sees dual propellers a feature similar to Carpathia but not uncommon for a ship of this size circling the stern it becomes clear that these are four-bladed propellers the team knows that at the time of her building kappa thea was fitted with three-bladed propellers this looks to be conclusive evidence that this is not capella but there is always the possibility that she had been retrofitted with new props perhaps at the start of the war if this wreck is not the carpathian the question then becomes what vessel has the team discovered because this ship is completely inverted and nothing of the superstructure is visible a positive identification from visual means is nearly impossible in every instance the sea hunters attempt to be non-intrusive in their dealings with shipwrecks their intent is to bring back images and to reveal the fascinating histories of the wrecks they encounter any decision to remove an artifact is carefully considered finally the team decides to attempt to bring up one piece of the ship's China from the debris field the ROV x' shepherd's hook will be used for this operation it will require immense skill on the part of the operator to achieve this rather like threading the eye of a needle using a joystick from a hundred and sixty metres away he's got it by maneuvering the ROV he managed to hook the eye now he must transport the fragile China back through the ocean currents to the tether management system one strong twist of fate and snap the handle and send our hopes of identification to the bottom as the ROV is maneuvered back to the tether management system the currents target the China threatening to snap the fragile handle will it hold just a few more seconds once back to the cage the challenge becomes to gently as possible secure the ROV without losing the China he's done it happy to have the China peace on board they now can inspect it for markings and could possibly identify the wreck well John it's a it's a really nice-looking gravy but I don't know you can see there John but real fine detail in there we've got the letters H al which seems to signify to me their hamburger miracle line we have a we do have a little 28 in here which could signify 1928 I don't know I'm not an expert but we'll certainly find out was to get back on shot the wreck isn't Carpathia the weather is closing in as the season winds too close Oshin venture must return to port where the team can more closely examine the China and determine its origin and how it wound up on the ocean floor when they put the ROV down on his wreck first thing we discovered was that the propeller blades there were four of them instead of three as on the Carpathia and then we we pulled up a soup terrine and when we cleaned it off and read the bottom instead of canard it said Hamburg American lines and so when we researched out this ship we found was called the ISIS and it went down in 1936 in a terrible storm killed all 35 of the crew the only survivor was the cabin boy but it was just a wreck that somehow slipped through the cracks and was swept under the carpet although finding the ISIS is simply a footnote to the team's search for CAPA Thea they can't help but think of that ship's last moments when huge waves crushed the vessels bow sent it to the bottom today our sights are set on Carpathia but we remember the long-forgotten tragedy of the ISIS we remember and confirm a position as a grave marker for the victims of this forgotten tragedy the following spring captain Gary Goodyear has readied his ship for another search eco nove expedition leader john davis and dive coordinator Mike Fletcher join Graham Jessup in Penzance England to resume the search for Kappa Thea with the wreck on the admiralty charts now identified as the isis the team looked to additional information that had been gathered regarding the final resting site of Carpathia the research uncovered three independent reports of Carpathia's location when she was torpedoed one from the u-boat u55 one from the minesweeping sloop HMS snowdrop and thirdly one from the Carpathia Carpathia's navigator calculated in her logbook that the sinking occurred near the position 49 degrees 14 minutes north 10 degrees 27 minutes west when the hms snowdrop arrived to search for survivors of the sinking Carpathia's position was calculated to be near the coordinates 49 degrees 12 minutes north 10 degrees 33 minutes west approximately 12 kilometers from Carpathia's stated position the commander of the german u55 captain van der had used a four by six kilometer grid marking system as was common to the German Navy he reported that the Carpathia had gone down somewhere inside one of these rectangles 11 to 15 kilometers north of the other two reported coordinates boxing the three positions in a search grid gives a 22 by 22 kilometers search area that is 484 square kilometers the work was planned to start in the northern quadrant of the search grid near the new boats reported position although this is a large area it is a workable pattern with the right equipment and the right pool after a 20-hour journey the ocean venture reaches the area marked by the subs coordinates the side scan and magnetometer are dropped and the team begins to run lines around the position reported by the you world ok going over the team mentally prepares themselves for a long search the wreck is much like a needle in their 484 square kilometer haystack it is a large area to search the team is confident with a workable pattern the right equipment and patience they'll find what they're looking for this is this equipment the careful observations of the sea hunter team which are required to uncover history and to reopen a doorway to the past after 72 hours of running gridlines over the northern section of the search area which encompassed the u-boat quadrant the team has not come up with a single promising target at this point the team decided to steam to the southern portion of the search grid the area which contains the Carpathia and snowdrop positions and to work the grid pattern to the north after 12 hours of running lines the sonar x' returned a target finally a hit the magnetometer is indicating a large amount of ferrous metal within 5.5 kilometers of the final position given by hms snowdrop immediately gary goodyear inspects the side scan recorder for a mark could this be Carpathia mag is decreasing out so we've passed the strongest part of the target yeah you're going right beside it see on the sides yeah the target although clearly man-made is not Carpathia the size and shape of this object indicates a broken portion of whistle with a weather forecast of gale force winds captain Gary goonie er decides to postpone the search and head ocean venture to the nearest port Baltimore Ireland Baltimore is a small fishing village 14 hours to the northeast of the search area the time off will provide the team with the opportunity to meet with fishermen and gather more information about possible rec sites it is often the case that fishermen lose fishing gear on Rex and mark them carefully so they can be avoided on future trips first mate John Mayo Evans and gray in Jessup speak with the local dive shop owner he directs them to a fisherman's trawler that had recently been purchased from a Spanish fishing captain who worked trawling in the area of the search grid fisherman's hookups can be important clues for shipwreck hunters fishermen take great pains to carefully mark on chart sites where they tear and lose their expensive trawling gear for fishermen these sites are to be avoided for shipwreck hunters they represent carefully recorded clues which could represent the object of their search in the navigational computer the Spanish captain had programmed the locations of 28 bottom hookups in and around a capacious search area which posed a hazard to the bottom dragging trawler Nets of the 28 locations 17 fall within the search area some are likely to be shipwrecks one of them may be Carpathia so when you're ready you want me to just do starboard and port ok while inshore Mike Fletcher check some of the side scan equipment to ensure it is working properly or an expedition like the search for Carpathia the ocean venture is equipped with the most up-to-date technical equipment Carpathia was also equipped with the most up-to-date equipment of the day she boasted a new Marconi wireless system a recent safety innovation on canard liners wireless operator Harold cotton was a young man fascinated by this amazing new technology the night of April 14 1912 Carpathia was on course for Gibraltar from New York and carrying about 700 passengers although it was after midnight and past the end of his watch Qasim was listening to transmission from Cape Cod and called up the Titanic to inform them of messages waiting at this long-distance radio station the message Titanic eventually returned was a desperate cry for help khatim received a Marconi standardized distress signal C q D popularly interpreted as come quick danger and information about the Titanic's dilemma Titanic also sent out a new signal s oh yes the lone radio man raced to the bridge to deliver his message to unbelieving he then barged into the captain's stateroom what is it the Titanic sir it's sinking Arthur rostrum was the 42 year old captain of the Carpathia he listened in astonishment as caught him reported that Titanic was requesting immediate assistance of the ship's known to be nearest to the sinking Titanic Carpathia was one of the farthest away but faster at a top speed than most of the others another ship the Californian was nearby but did not respond a third ship the schooner Sampson was in the area and may have been seen by Titanic passengers but actually ran from the scene Sampson had no radio and was in the area sealing illegally mistaking the Titanic flares for those of a government patrol boat it fled and didn't find out about the tragedy until almost a month later rostrums decision to come to the aid of Titanic although made quickly was not made lightly in setting a course for Titanic he was placing his ship in grave danger he steered Carpathian North directly into the immense ice floe that had just claimed Titanic once the bad weather had passed ocean venture was restocked with water food and fuel and headed out to resume the search on the way back to the search site the newly acquired Spanish trawler hookups were plotted into the computer over the search box the plan is to start from the northern end of the grid and work south paying particular attention to the reported trawler hazards operating 24 hours a day the ocean venture slowly works its way through the grid as the days pass the team knows that time is running out it is early morning and the Sun is rising on the last possible day the search anxiety as high as ship approaches the seventeenth and final target and the extreme southwest end of the box then a hit you would not believe what one cross on the side we had the full 10 meters bang and it stayed up in there my right back down knows a few practice never SR recognition the magnetometer starts to climb it climbs very high and then goes further right off the page clearly a large magnetic anomaly the sonar paper begins to mark out the profile of a very large obstruction it's clearly a shipwreck gary goodyear takes approximate measurements of the obstruction it's dimensions are close to capacious this newly discovered wreck is about 5.5 kilometers from the capacious coordinates it lies in about a hundred and sixty meters of water too deep for conventional diving but within easy reach the remote operating vehicle the side scan and magnetometer are reeled in after so long at the clockwork routine in the searching the crew are excited thinking this could be Carpathia as Carpathia race to the Titanic anticipation crackled about the officers on the bridge what would they find when they reach Titanic Carpathia was a hundred and seven kilometres from Titanic reported position at a maximum speed of 14 knots rostrum knew that it would take more than four hours to reach the Titanic he needed more speed all three shifts of Stoker's were called up he shoveled coal until the needle on the steam gauge crept into the danger zone the chief engineer hung his hat over the gauge while rostrum dodged icebergs and pray in the end it took just over three and a half hours to reach the Bleak scene the crew fired rockets to signal her arrival but the silent icebergs offered no reply the great liner was gone then in the distance a green flare someone was still alive as kappa thea stood off the flow small boats approached through the ice the rescue was described by Luke Hoyt a passenger on Carpathia and a letter to a friend at first nothing was to be seen and it was supposed to Titanic had gone down with all on board but soon appeared out of the dark of dawn first one boat and the other 18 and all loaded with men women and children and babies most of them scandal II clothed some of the ladies and evening dresses and the night so bitterly cold seven hundred and five survivors huddled in open lifeboats half-frozen dazed and disorientated by the sight of their fellow passengers and loved ones disappearing beneath the waves with the unsinkable titanic by nine o'clock all the boats in sight had been brought on board a passenger who witnessed the rescue reported that the survivors were received by the crew without any fuss or confusion owing to the marvelous discipline always prevailing on a canard er had help not arrived they would have been doomed Carpathia's heroic - to the ice drew north atlantic saved them all after reviewing the side-scan images the team knows they found the most promising site yet the next step is to put the ROV in the water to bring back images that will identify the wreck the ocean venture is positioned over the site and the ROV readied and launched everyone is concerned about whether in time tenshun as high as the ROV begins a slow descent by way of the tether management system then disaster just seconds after the ROV is launched the crew detects a malfunction in the video system it isn't long before the ROV crew confirms that there is a break in the umbilical cable and that cold saltwater is causing electrical shorts in the delicate wiring what's worse is that this problem can't be fixed on board Kable need to be replaced there will be no video images today no fire identification of the wreck not on this voyage the team excited by the fire but disappointed at leaving the job unfinished leaves in sight when the Leyland liner California schemed up to the disaster site Carpathia sat a course from New York with her load of sorrow and misery we steamed 52 miles to get away around the ice floe and it extended in the other direction beyond horizon we were over 1,100 miles out and there were long long days we passed their time being mostly occupied with those poor unfortunates I remarked to mr. Weidman that Englishmen in my room is in bad shape and I'm going to get him a doctor immediately a young woman lying on lounge raised her head and said I wonder if it's my husband just think bird of the hope and despair of that one moment and there were about 150 made widows on board and the fatherless and motherless the mothers without sons to the end of the chapter it took until the fall of 2000 to gather everyone together and return to the site of what the team all hoped of the Carpathian Iraq during the summer an upgraded ROV system was installed in the ocean venture gary goodyear will operate the ROV the team is ready to survey the site as it descends the first images he sees are of the ocean ventures unique vertical propeller blades the video system seems to be working well the ROV dives to a depth of 160 meters through the silt and sediment part of piers these look to be shell casings they could be from snow drop as I was chasing the sub firing its forage gun very close by is a forward could need carpathia spell it's true identity is obscured by vegetation gary sits in frustration knowing that if he could only read a marking on the bell the identification would be complete he inches the ROV up the side of the vessel to a hatchway portholes some with glass still in them are visible of the hollow light from these ports could have been the first signs of rescue seen by Titanic survivors as they huddled in their open lifeboats Guerry maneuvers to the deck of the ship here he sees dozens of trawl nets entangled in the wreckage a big-headed Conger here silently slides past making its way through the wreckage arriving at the stern of the ship Gary sees the outline of a propeller does it have three blades and there's the rudder and sternpost all our distinguishing marks will help James Delgado confirm the Rex identity Guerry feels an obstruction to his movement he turns and follows his cable back to see what is holding him up hooking the ROV cable at a hundred and sixty meters a serious business as there is no way to humanely unhook it he finds the cable snagged wedged on the twisted metal of the deck and guarded by a large Conger you who seems to stand guard against this intrusion somehow he has to unhook it if he is to retrieve the ROV with much skill gary maneuvers the ROV around in an attempt to free the umbilical cable from a snag it seems as if the wreck doesn't want to let go doesn't want to give up these images after more than 80 years of Solitude finally he breaks free the ROV rises to the surface bringing home the images the team hopes will confirm they have seen the Carpathia once more after eight decades of seclusion upon his return John Davis reviews the tape with James Delgado world-renowned author and marine archaeologist the question is where James be able to definitively confirm that this is Carpathia there's the hatch there's as winch's looking for we should see there it is there it is there it is you can see there on one there's the rudder look see the bracing right alongside there absolutely it's the same ABS there it is on the plan there it is on the plan is if there's a fishnet retron it loo that look look it's broken the stern post is broken right there there's the other propeller okay we're on the right wreck well I think we are and I'm glad that we've been able to do it you know archaeologically and not just say up we're in the right spot that's got to be it but doing it piece by piece systematically scientists that works I think we've got we've got an identification that's going to stand up great a ship's Bell half-buried on the bottom a deck torn and rusted one might better imagine this heroic ship is appalled into New York City that fateful day in April of 1912 it took four days for Kappa Thea to reach New York Carpathia brought home the first eyewitness accounts in the only survivors in this tragic drama three victims perished after their rescue after a short service each was returned to the sea one of the survivors was a Marconi operator who sent several of Titanic distress signals mr. Harold bride in the months and years that followed kappa thea and her crew were given all manner of awards and accolades cabinets were set up on Carpathia near the person's office to house the various medals cups and mementos commemorating the ship's gallant role in the rescue of the survivors of the Titanic disaster I'd like to introduce dr. Clive Cussler noted author and also noted C hunter one of his terms who carry on the story dr. Clive I'd like to thank the ladies and gentlemen of the news media for being here today I think we have a story for a really great interest much has been said about the Titanic but the story cannot be fully told without the story of the Carpathia the ship that raced through icebergs to rescue the survivors from the Titanic the efforts of Clive Cussler and his team of sea hunters searching the North Atlantic for CAPA Thea lasted nearly two years and through skill luck and perseverance the search for CAPA Thea was successful the finding of this wreck is in a way another medal another award a remembrance of the daring and valour of Carpathia our captain and her crew knowing this the sea hunters team will now go on to search for other great shipwrecks all of us archaeologists of course do what we do because there's no way human beings can connect with the past that is sublime as finding the traces of the real thing otherwise events are stories they're abstract ideas so a discovery like this one helps bring those stories back into the light and into the forefront and it makes them real in a way that a photograph alone cannot the time and energy taken to bring these conclusive images to the world is dwarfed in comparison to the satisfaction of knowing the sea hunters have recaptured a part of history the heroic efforts the Carpathia and its crew will now be forever remembered now get off that couch go into the mountains go into the deserts go under the lakes under the rivers and the Seas and search for history you'll never find a more rewarding experience join us again as we search the oceans of the world for lost and famous shipwrecks another true adventure with the sea hunters

Channel: FilmRise History

Views: 504,992

Rating: 4.8460541 out of 5

Keywords: filmrise, sea hunters, carpathia, titanic, World War I (Military Conflict), RMS Carpathia (Ship), Boat, Ocean, RMS Titanic (Ship), Ship (Product Category)

Id: sL-6F-63-38

Length: 48min 7sec (2887 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 24 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/SolusEquitem]

I wound up down a Google rabbit hole where I found this article that defends the captain of the Californian, Stanley Lord, as being innocent of any neglect and states that no matter what he had done, at best he might have been able to save a small handful of people (which is still worth doing obviously), and that he had no feasible way of saving any more than that of the 1500 who died.

The article makes some excellent arguments, I may have to revise my position on Lord as I have always thought he could have saved hundreds of lives had he only paid attention and come to Titanic's rescue.

EDIT: The comment thread on the above article is fascinating (as is its date...September 9, 2001) with some very well thought out arguments both for and against the article. Apparently the article was written by three researchers, one of whom is against Lord, one of whom is for, and the other is somewhere in the middle. They tried to merge their viewpoints into a single cohesive whole, and all three authors respond to and engage with the comments left on the article.

Edit 2: Wow...the comments on the article continue for 18 pages spanning from September 9, 2001 all the way up until the last one on September 24, 2019.

[u/CirclingTheDrain-]

Read a great book in this for anyone interested.

‘The other side of the night’

Excellent read on a fascinating subject.

[u/scooterboy1961]

Please correct me if I am wrong but I had heard that crew members on the Californian saw the distress rockets from the Titanic but dismissed them as a fireworks display even though white rockets at sea always mean distress. I don't know if Captain Lord was made aware of the rockets.

The Californian only had one radio operator and he was asleep.

It's debatable whether the Californian could have saved many, or any lives but they should have tried.

There is a book written in the 50s called A Night to Remember. A straight up account of the facts that mostly still holds up.

[u/Fin143]

I haven't read into it yet but I hope the Carpathia site is given a great deal of reverance and respect.