GARRY KOZAK

Garry Kozak grew up in the Great Lakes and began diving in 1962. Shipwrecks became a major fascination and the challenge to dive wrecks that had not been previously located became his main diving interest. In the late 1960's , he left the Great Lakes to pursue a career in the field of commercial diving. This work took him off the coast of Newfoundland providing diving support on oil drilling rigs, to the Gulf of Mexico providing diving support to the offshore oil industry, and salvage operations in the Great Lakes.

In 1975, he returned to the Great Lakes and formed a company, Innerseas Inc., whose purpose was to locate and salvage shipwrecks and cargoes in the Great Lakes. The first ship selected was a ghost ship, the Dean Richmond. The Dean was a steamer that disappeared on the waters of Lake Erie in October of 1893, carrying a cargo of lead and zinc ingots. On July 13, 1983, the Dean Richmond was found, solving a 90 year old mystery.

For the past 24 years, Garry has been employed by Klein Associates of Salem, N.H., the technology leader in Side Scan Sonar systems. He is a recognized expert in undersea search operations and travels the world providing consulting and training expertise to Navies and companies who have a critical underwater search need. His work has taken him to the Canadian Arctic with Dr. Joe MacInnis to locate the H.M.S. Breadalbane, off the coast of England with author Clive Cussler in search of John Paul Jones' vessel, the Bon Homme Richard, and on countless other treasure and historic shipwreck searches.

The Discovery of the HMS Breadalbane,

Lost In The Arctic 1853

Sir John Franklin in 1845, sailed for the Canadian Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage. Franklin and his two ships the Erebus and Terror disappeared, and the longest search ever in naval history, spanning 14 years, began. The HMS Breadalbane, a three masted barque, was one of the support ships participating in the search for the Franklin expedition. On
August 21, 1853, the Breadalbane was trapped in a death grip by ice, crushing and sinking her. The Breadalbane laid undisturbed in it's frigid Arctic grave for 126 years. In 1976 the search for the resting place of the Breadalbane began under the direction of Dr. Joe MacInnis and Emory Kristof of National Geographic Magazine. This presentation chronicles the search, disappointments and finally, the discovery of the world's most northern shipwreck.

Sikorsky's Amphibian S-39, An Alaskan Challenge

Igor Sikorsky is best known for his development of the helicopter. Sikorsky however, was a very accomplished fixed wing aircraft designer long before his name became synonymous with helicopters. Sikorsky designed and built some of aviation's great "Flying Boats" such as the S-42 used by Pan Am for its transoceanic record setting "Clipper" fleet. Sikorsky was a visionary, and in 1930 designed a smaller amphibian plane called the S-39 . This was to be a small single engine plane for the individual business executive. It was the "Lear Jet" of the day. Sikorsky's vision however was ahead of it's time, so only 23 of these aircraft were ever built and sold. With the passing years, all were destroyed except for 2. One, is a non flying rebuild, located in the Hartford CT air museum. The second was lost in a remote lake in Alaska. This presentation describes the search, discovery, and attempts to date at recovering this rare piece of aviation history. This project is still a work in progress. A new attempt to recover the aircraft will be launched during March, 2002. It will be staged on the winter ice and will be a major challenge due to it's remote location. If successful, the plane will be restored to flying condition to once again grace the skies.

Geoff Barker & David Mekker	Bernie Chowdhury
Thomas Easop	Joyce Hayward
Garry Kozak	Jim & Pat Stayer
David Trotter	SW2002 Index

You may register for Shipwrecks/2002 by completing and mailing the REGISTRATION FORM. If you are unable to attend this year but would like your name added to the Shipwrecks Mailing List, please fill in and submit the Mailing List Form or for more information you may contact David Mekker at (905) 644-9389 (Hamilton) or Barbara Marshall (905) 382-2389 (Fort Erie).

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