ebooks Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea: The History and Discovery of the World's Richest Shipwreck by Gary Kinder in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great read on treasure hunting!By Stone DogIn a story that spans more than a century; Gary Kinder gives us the account of the SS Central America's sinking and it's discovery by one of those prototypical eccentric geniuses; Tommy Thompson.The book begins with the historical account of the SS Central America; a ship making the run from Panama to the US east coast; bringing people and gold from the California "Gold Rush" that sank in a hurricane in 1857. It's an extremely well written account that goes beyond the bare facts and is constructed from first-person accounts of the survivors. These chapters set the stage for the recovery of the treasure because it lays out the conflicting evidence on exactly where the ship went down.The book then moves into a biography of Tommy Thompson and how he became drawn into the problem of doing work in the deep ocean as well as how he became interested in the SS Central America. Thompson viewed the enterprise of treasure-hunting as bringing together every aspect of a system; from finance to robotics and Tommy had the rare ability to ask "what next" and "what if that doesn't work" and have ready answers or alternatives. That the ship was found and the treasure recovered - tons of gold in the form of bars; coins and dust - is due almost exclusively to Thompson.I was impressed with the book. It was exciting and I kept reading at a sitting - often longer than I had planned - because of the suspense the author created in each chapter. Really; it is very well written and a good read. The only things I didn't like was that there were no pictures of the treasure and the book ends at the treasure's finding. There's no exposition of the finds outside of a couple items recovered. Thompson was very forward-thinking in that he planned to recover more than just the gold and other artifacts that have historical and cultural significance were also recovered. The book ends without showing the reader all that had been found and the significance of the finds.None the less; this is a very good read for fans of history; suspense; technology or folks just looking for a great read that's a little different. Good book - four stars.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. An amazing story well toldBy Richard C. ReynoldsAuthor Gary Kinder spent over ten years researching and writing this book about the shipwreck of the S. S. Central America about two hundred miles off the coast of North Carolina in a severe hurricane. He devotes the first eighty pages of the book telling how the ship’s passengers were carrying gold which had been found in California during the famous 1857 Gold Rush. The ultimate tally of lives lost came to 565 while 149; mostly women and children; were saved. Kinder takes advantage of the survivors’ stories to give us the harrowing details of their rescue. Fast forward now to the 1970s when we meet Tommy Thompson; Ohio State University graduate in mechanical engineering; who also has a fascination with deep ocean exploration. After several false starts; he launches a project to locate the S. S. Central America and explore the possibility of recovering its artifacts. He encounters many problems along the way; the first of which is money; but he convinces a group of wealthy investors to back him in a limited partnership. Tommy gathers together a ship; a crew; a small group of technicians; and conducts multiple runs along ocean paths calculated according to statistical probabilities of locating the wreck. But Tommy and his intrepid group are not alone out there on the ocean. In spite of his enforcing tight security on the venture; they are badgered by treasure hunters who suspect that Tommy is onto something big. Once he finds something at the sea’s bottom of 8;000 feet below the surface; a new problem arises; he must establish the venture’s legal rights to conduct further undersea work at the site. There are several surprises along the way and they deal with the actual artifacts found and in what condition they are when brought up to the surface. The book actually has a plot and characters; like a novel; but it’s all an exciting true story. The added bonus for me was learning about deep water exploration; the technology of submersibles operating at extreme depths and pressures; and the discovery of biological life previously unknown to scientists and oceanographers. This is an excellent book and I recommend to everyone.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. History; Adventure Science - a great mix!By L. ChesleyI enjoy non-fiction books; especially those that have a story to tell "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea" was definitely one of those.The book begins with a relatively brief overview of the gold rush in California the men women that trekked west to find their fortune. By the time the gold has pretty much played out many of the immigrants from the eastern United States are ready to head home - and a large portion of them decide the trip back home would be easier by ship (San Francisco to Panama - unload the ship cross the isthmus to a waiting ship - then Panama to New York) than to trek across the plains again.Thus the story is set for the experiences of the passengers of the USS Central America - a sidewheel steamer that sets out from Panama in 1857 carrying a massive load of gold. The story of the ship sinking is told in several bites - alternating with the background of the subsequent search for the ship in the 1980s. The description of the process of the sinking was difficult to digest - the passengers valiantly worked several days to save the ship from the hurricane it had steamed into and their efforts were heroic; though doomed. It was a nice break from the narrative of the ship sinking to the search for the wreckage.Tommy Thompson is a marine engineer that was fascinated by the possibility of finding and recovering gold from an extreme depth. His theory suggested that the ship sank in an area 8000 feet deep. Some of the challenges faced in finding recovering anything from the ship were technical and not as interesting (for me); but it was impressive to read about the lengths Thompson those he worked with went to in order to solve specific physics problems.Bottom line - a heartbreaking story of loss the fascinating pursuit of success against almost in insurmountable odds.PS - I read it on my Kindle had to find pictures of the wreck online. I hope the physical book contains pictures!