Richard Lundgren
04-15-2006, 01:02 PM
As you may know we are searching for the old Swedish battle ship Mars, more info on the main Ocean Discovery site. We have been doing this for 6 years now and we for sure know were the wreck doesn’t rest .
Many hours and days have been spent in the hunt. Many memories and moments of pure joy but also frustration. This is one short story about one of these moments.
Illustration: Last battle of Mars
54
A very early summer morning I was abruptly woken up by a phone call. I looked at the clock, 04.10. I suspected the usual suspects being all drunk chasing girls etc so I hesitated accepting the call. Still, my curiosity took over and I answered the phone. It turned out to be a fisher man, dead drunk, who shouted - I have found her! I replied - good for you, finally found a girl yeh? He replied - noooo (I started to get worried here, he was happy and drunk but it didn’t concern a girl...). - I have found Mars he shouted so loud that I almost dropped the phone. - You found what I replied. No reply but I could here him drinking some substance. Then after a long cliff hanger - No bull, I got her on the dock! he muttered and hung up.
Well, I didn’t know what to think and went to sleep again. As I woke up I remembered the odd call and decided to take the two hour car drive down to the fishing village and the harbor. I tried to call the fisher man but no answer. With little hope we stopped at the harbor and went to the fisher mans house and knocked on his door, no answer but we could clearly hear loud snoring from the inside. Hmm, will this be one of these dead ends again. I was on my way back to my car when I decided to check the dock. To my surprise I found this on the dock
Pictures illustrating the fisherman’s finding:
55
56
57
I immediately got intrigued; to my best knowledge this could be an anchor from the Mars. Old battleships could have up to 13 anchors on board. This one also had burn marks from fire. Mars did burn and explode before sinking. Could this be the lead that we had been waiting for? Could this be the day?
To cut this story short- We did finally got the fisherman sober enough to give us the position and went with high hopes to the site. Using the sidescan we could follow the trawl weights markings on the bottom. Suddenly we say a chain, a anchor chain, that we followed. The computer screens filled up with a long wreck, about 120ich m. Sadly enough we could immediately rule this target out. It was another modern cargo ship.
The anchor still represents a major lead in our search for the Mars but so far it’s been a dead end. Dealing with days like this is part of an explorer every day life and makes any day an adventure!
Take care,
Richard Lundgren
Many hours and days have been spent in the hunt. Many memories and moments of pure joy but also frustration. This is one short story about one of these moments.
Illustration: Last battle of Mars
54
A very early summer morning I was abruptly woken up by a phone call. I looked at the clock, 04.10. I suspected the usual suspects being all drunk chasing girls etc so I hesitated accepting the call. Still, my curiosity took over and I answered the phone. It turned out to be a fisher man, dead drunk, who shouted - I have found her! I replied - good for you, finally found a girl yeh? He replied - noooo (I started to get worried here, he was happy and drunk but it didn’t concern a girl...). - I have found Mars he shouted so loud that I almost dropped the phone. - You found what I replied. No reply but I could here him drinking some substance. Then after a long cliff hanger - No bull, I got her on the dock! he muttered and hung up.
Well, I didn’t know what to think and went to sleep again. As I woke up I remembered the odd call and decided to take the two hour car drive down to the fishing village and the harbor. I tried to call the fisher man but no answer. With little hope we stopped at the harbor and went to the fisher mans house and knocked on his door, no answer but we could clearly hear loud snoring from the inside. Hmm, will this be one of these dead ends again. I was on my way back to my car when I decided to check the dock. To my surprise I found this on the dock
Pictures illustrating the fisherman’s finding:
55
56
57
I immediately got intrigued; to my best knowledge this could be an anchor from the Mars. Old battleships could have up to 13 anchors on board. This one also had burn marks from fire. Mars did burn and explode before sinking. Could this be the lead that we had been waiting for? Could this be the day?
To cut this story short- We did finally got the fisherman sober enough to give us the position and went with high hopes to the site. Using the sidescan we could follow the trawl weights markings on the bottom. Suddenly we say a chain, a anchor chain, that we followed. The computer screens filled up with a long wreck, about 120ich m. Sadly enough we could immediately rule this target out. It was another modern cargo ship.
The anchor still represents a major lead in our search for the Mars but so far it’s been a dead end. Dealing with days like this is part of an explorer every day life and makes any day an adventure!
Take care,
Richard Lundgren