NARRAGANSETT,
RI. -- A coalition of scientists, historians, and
nations get closer than ever before to locating
the shipwrecked remains of the Bonhomme Richard,
one of the most famous ships in U.S. history using
computer modeling technology provided by Rhode Island
company Applied Science Associates.
The Bonhomme Richard, captained by American
naval hero John Paul Jones, sank in the North Sea
in 1779, after claiming victory over the British
ship HMS Serapis in one of the most pivotal
battles of the Revolutionary War. The shipwreck
search effort is organized by the nonprofit Ocean
Technology Foundation (OTF) in Groton, Connecticut,
and the Naval Historical Center (NHC) in Washington,
D.C. As part of the search efforts, OTF brought
Applied Science Associates (ASA) and JMS Naval Architects
& Salvage Engineers onto the project to help
pinpoint the wreck site.
"What we needed to do existed in two separate
software programs, so ASA built us a hybrid application--combining
their oil spill prediction software and their Coast
Guard search and rescue software," says Rick
Fernandes, a naval graphics expert at JMS aiding
in the project. "The software uses physical
laws, as well as tidal and wind data from the period,
times and locations given by eyewitnesses,"
to plot the most probable resting place of the vessel.
Eric Comerma, a Ph.D. senior researcher at ASA,
led the complex challenge of data integration into
a geographical information systems (GIS) framework
and he insists that "collaborating with this
dedicated team in the search for the Bonhomme
Richard is such fulfilling work because it is
both challenging as well as historically significant."
Assisting ASA's Eric Comerma, was US Coast Guard
Special Operations Search & Rescue expert, Art
Allen, who played a key role in the development
of the object drift modeling methodology that was
integrated into the modeling. This was data integration
never before brought in to models of this purpose
and was used to more accurately represent the effects
of the wind and current on the slowly sinking vessel.
Due to the complexity of the battle circumstances,
which consisted of a large ship taking on water
and damage, sails burning, yet becoming fully disabled
while trying to sail over a period of 36 hours,
new and additional factors were integrated by the
team. With key knowledge and experience from Art
Allen, one of the world's leading experts on disabled
vessels at sea, this modeling software is first
of its kind.
Melissa Ryan, OTF's project manager for the expedition,
said of the modeling techniques used in the search,
"As far as we know, no one has ever attempted
to input as much historical data before." The
data include details given by people who witnessed
the battle from afar and by sailors on both the
U.S. and British sides of the fight. The famous
battle took place off a spit of land named Flamborough
Head and was seen by hundreds on shore.
Fernandes said the ASA modeling tool generates
a "probability matrix" from the huge amounts
of data it processes. Users get a chart and visual
of the search area and the tracks of a drifting
object representing Jones' sinking ship. Based on
the tracks, the survey vessel will be able to sweep
the probable area where the Bonhomme Richard
lies. Summarizing ASA's role in getting so close
to the famous warship, Rick Fernandes claimed, "We
couldn't find a better fit than ASA on this project.
No one else had the combination of tools and talent
for our rather unique problem."
Planned
for summer 2007, the team will conduct more surveys
of the ocean floor using a magnetometer, a sonar
system, and a Remotely Operated Vehicle, a type
of robotic underwater camera. Applying this high-tech
equipment, the OTF survey team will conduct close-up
investigations of five possible wreck sites that
the teams have narrowed the search to. JMS and ASA's
computer modeling work enabled the promising results
from the OTF's 21-day survey during the summer of
2006. "When we started this project, finding
the Bonhomme Richard seemed like the proverbial
needle in the haystack," said Dr. Robert Neyland,
head of the NHC's Underwater Archeology Branch.
"However, after our experience surveying last
summer and looking at the quality of the data collected,
it might be comparable to a needle in a snow ball--one
that is melting away through the application of
science and technology. We have used computerized
drift modeling, state of the art remote sensing
equipment, and Geographic Information Systems to
manipulate all of the data and pinpoint likely search
areas and targets."
The OTF and NHC have set up a Web
site, bonhommerichard.org
that provides more details on the search effort.
In addition to its Narragansett, RI headquarters,
ASA has offices in Australia and Brazil.. The company's
website, www.asascience.com, contains numerous scientific
reports written by its staff and extensive information
about its services.
For more information, contact Lee
Dooley by email, ldooley@asascience.com
or by phone (401) 789-6224.
