Photos
Mission Preparation
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| Radio enabled Dive Masks – Divers will be able to communicate with each other and topside specialists. | Specialized aerial mosaic mapping of the Silver Banks. | |
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| Another type of hand held underwater magnetometer. | The Crew of The Ocean Lady, flying the Jolly Roger – Ya Har! | |
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| The Ocean Lady Crew making preparations for the mission. | Reef Boat Preparations. | |
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| Greg Erkes with his hands dirty. | Lots of preparation needed for the mission. | |
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| Greg Erkes with his hands dirty. | Cesium Magnetometer – Specially Designed by Burt Webber. | |
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| Another view of the Cesium Magnetometer. | Custom Underwater Diver Worn Jet Propulsion Boots. | |
Operation Phipps II: 1978 discovery of the Spanish Galleon “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion”
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| Burt Webber using the latest in metal detection technology. | Divers working to remove half ton of material. | |
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| Burt Webber holds an extremely rare treasure find, an astrolabe. Used for celestial navigation, this is one of only 36 recovered in last 400 years. | Burt Webber and Crew hold numerous dive bags full of silver and gold coins. | |
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| Wreck site map of the “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion”. | Bags full of millions of dollars worth of silver coins recovered from the wreck. | |
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| Coin Stamp used in creating silver coins. | Burt Webber using the latest in metal detection technology. | |
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| Burt Webber at work. | Another photo of the astrolabe. Used for celestial navigation, this is one of only 36 recovered in last 400 years. | |
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| A fine collection of silver and brass used on board the Spanish Galleon “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion”. | A find map, the “Silver Trench Sector” . | |
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| A close up of the Coin Stamp’s striking face, used to mint silver coins. | Another find map, indicating the location and depths of artifacts found. | |
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| A well preserved silver coin. | More examples of silver found at the wreck of the Spanish Galleon “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion”. | |
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| Silver dining set, probably used by the high ranking officials. | ||
1978 discovery of the Conception
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| Burt Webber and diver Jim Nace hold an extremely rare treasure find, an astrolabe. Used for celestial navigation, this is one of only 36 recovered in last 400 years. Photo from the 1978 discovery of the Spanish Galleon “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion”, located off the coast of the Dominican Republic “Silver Banks” | Burt Webber underwater, holding a gold necklace valued over $1 million in 1978 ($3.4 million in 2008) | |
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| Burt Webber holding another example of the assorted gold chains and other treasures found from the 1978 discovery of the Spanish Galleon “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion”, located off the coast of the Dominican Republic “Silver Banks”. | Silver pieces found on the ocean floor. From the 1978 discovery of the Spanish Galleon “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion”, located off the coast of the Dominican Republic “Silver Banks”. | |
| All photos courtesy of Burt Webber | ||
The OCEAN Lady
EQUIPMENT: Main engines 2 16-149 GM turbo Diesel 1400 HP each. Gears Twin Disc MG540 2.91 to 1. Gen sets 2 75 KW GM powered 3 Phase 208 volts. 2 Racor fuel filters each engine. 7 ton Deck Crane with 29' of reach. Hydraulic Marco Anchor Wench, and Capstan. 2 900 gallon per day water makers. Marine Sanitation Device.
ELECTRONICS: Raymarine 120E GPS, radar, color sounder, plotter. 2 Furuno 1510D radars. Furuno FCV582 color fathometer. Furuno weather fax. Furuno singel side band. 2 Icom VHFs. 4 Icom hand held VHFs. Nera Inmarsat-B. Trimble Inmarsat-C. Sperry Gyro Compass, and Auto Pilot with repeaters at all 4 helm stations. Complete nav, anchor, and work lights. Air Whistle. Magnetic Compass.
SAFETY: 2 24 man life rafts. Life rings with strobe lights or smoke signals. Life Preservers, Survival Suits with lights, whistles. Cat.2 EPIRB. Inmarsat GMDSS emergency alert systems. Fixed CO2 system in engine room. Portable CO2, Dry Chemical fire extinguishers. 2 fire stations on main deck. Portable fire pump. Smoke Detectors in all spaces. Fully equipped Damage Control Locker. Fully Equipped Medical Locker.
DIMENSIONS: 128' LOA, 115' LWL. 23'3" Beam. Draft 8' light 9'6" loaded. 197 tons US Gross. Height 57' from water line.
CERTIFICATES: USCG Stability Letter. USCG uninspected M/V Designation.
CAPACITIES: Fuel 9650 gal. Water 800 gal. Lube oil 300 gal. Hyd. oil 55 gal. Waste oil 600 gal. Sewage 1500 gal.
DESCRIPTION: All aluminum construction with 6 trans. watertight bulkheads. Below deck 5 staterooms with individual climate controls, galley, mess, and laundry. Main deck large foredeck with awning, table, deck chairs, hot tub, shower, captain’s cabin, crew space, lab spaces can be used for living, work, or storage. Bridge deck, storage for bikes, mopeds, kayaks, dive equipment and can be accessed with deck crane.
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THE OCEAN LADY'S EQUIPMENT
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| Avon reef workboats to navigate the dangerous coral cap heads. Equipped with GPS, the divers plan to constantly feed data from the workboats to the Ocean Lady Operations Center using water-proof shock-resistant laptop computers. | State-of-the-art Nitrox Generator. Webber's team is expected to stay underwater longer and be less fatigued using Nitrox. | |||||||||||||||
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| More Nitrox equipment…. | The high-tech Geometrics Cesium Magnetometer - the ONLY one in the entire world!! Custom designed by Webber to be towed behind the Ocean Lady using a specially designed cable reel. Data retrieved from the ocean floor will be transmitted back to the Ocean Lady Operations Center. |
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| Rear deck of the Ocean Lady with divers, Avon reef workboats, and Nitrox generators (blue equipment). | Ocean Lady Crew - Left to right:
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