Deep-Sea Detectives: Maritime Mysteries and Forensic Science [Paperback]

Peter Limburg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2005

An aging American coal carrier goes down in a winter storm off the Virginia coast. Only three of the crew of 34 survive; the rest perish in the ice-cold water. Was the dead captain at fault? Did the mate neglect safety precautions? Or did a penny-pinching management skimp on necessary maintenance?

The giant car-and-passenger ferry Estonia sinks in a gale in the Baltic Sea, carrying over 800 passengers to their deaths and causing national scandals in three countries. Was she sunk by a terrorist bomb? By the CIA or the Russian secret police? Was the Russian mob involved? Was she carrying military secrets, or smuggled narcotics? A massive government cover-up is suspected. What was the truth?

Answers to these and other fascinating cases can be found in Deep-Sea Detectives: Maritime Mysteries and Forensic Science. Author Peter R. Limburg explores the advances that make it possible to bring back evidence from as deep as 20,000 feet below the sea.

“It’s Sherlock Holmes with bubbles! Actually, Holmes had it easy; his mysteries weren’t submerged beneath miles of water. These fascinating tales of scoundrels and submersibles make for terrific adventures in the little-known world of undersea forensics.”
—Dennis Meredith, Director of Research Communications, Duke University

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Deep-Sea Detectives is veteran science writer Peter R. Limburg’s twenty-first book and fifth on marine topics. His first book on undersea exploration was on oceanographic submersibles. He has also written articles on deep-water archaeology and life at the deep-sea vents. He lives in Bedford, New York, with his wife and serves on his community’s Conservation Board.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: ASJA Press (November 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595376045
• ISBN-13: 978-0595376049
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #895,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Could Not Put This Book Down!, March 13, 2005

By 

tgfabthunderbird (York, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deep-Sea Detectives: Maritime Mysteries and Forensic Science (Hardcover)

And that doesn't happen much for me! Limburg's book selects a series of case studies regarding undersea wrecks, including ships and planes.

It is well-researched and also well-written, with a pacing that makes for an absorbing and fast read. Yet you don't miss anything.

I just recently finished a book on the tragedy of the Russian submarine Kursk, "A Time to Die," (see my review), and there is information I didn't know about here.

Among the other well-known wrecks include that of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which goes over the varied beliefs as to how the ore boat went down. Limburg also takes note of the comments of some who seemed to have an axe to grind against her captain, yet those seem to have little in terms of standing power.

I was intrigued by the loss of the Arctic Rose, a trawler that went down in the Bering Sea, and the loss of the "Derbyshire." Very interesting reading, and the technical explanations and the logistics of how the searches and recoveries were made was simplistic, but not terribly so.

Limburg has a bit of venom here and there, subtly placed for politicos -- the Lucona case and the loss of the Challenger are laid at the feet where they should go -- in the former, a politcally connected criminal, and the latter government officials, corporate bigwigs and NASA upper management who wanted a showpiece and put, as Robert Ballard said, a little too much faith in our vaunted technology.

Excellent book, highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fabulous Read!, May 28, 2004

By 

Nancy McKenzie (Danbury, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deep-Sea Detectives: Maritime Mysteries and Forensic Science (Hardcover)

This is a stunning book! I couldn't put it down. One mysterious disaster after another presented moment by moment as the tragedy unfolds, the suspense rises, the spine tingles and the fingernails get shorter and shorter -- and the solution is eventually uncovered by undersea divers and their robotic aids. My eyes just raced across the pages. Limburg is a great storyteller with an easy, readable prose and a gift for explaining nautical details and mechanical equipment so anyone can understand them.

Remember the ferry "Estonia" which sank in the Baltic Sea in 1994? The history of that fiasco will open your eyes. Want to know why the Soviet Sub "Kursk" sank in 2000? Or what happened inside the crew capsule of Challenger in 1986? Or what went on inside the cockpit of EgyptAir Flight 990 in 1999 when the plane headed straight down into the Atlantic? These are only a few of the tragedies Limburg discusses. Thanks to deep sea divers, robots and submersibles, the answers to many long-standing mysteries are now known. You will learn a lot about the logistics of a deep sea dive, how wrecks are raised, what kinds of clues the experts look for, and, most importantly, how these disasters come about.

I'd recommend this book to anyone over 10. Limburg's flawless writing, dry humor and gentle wit are endearing; you feel you're being guided by a friend through a new and amazing world. I promise you, the words will leap off the page, your heart will race and your palms sweat. And you'll hardly notice you're learning a heck of a lot about modern deep sea salvage in the bargain.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Study of How to investigate a deep sea wreck, July 4, 2004

By 

Clarence Hotchkiss "hockyH" (Binghamton, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deep-Sea Detectives: Maritime Mysteries and Forensic Science (Hardcover)

Peter Limburg has done a considerable amount of research on a number of ships and planes that have gone down to the depths. Unlike Shadow Divers, which covers just one wreck, Peter Limburg's book covers the details of the work done to investigate a number of undersea wrecks, such as The Derbyshire, the Gaul, the Flare, the Lucona, the Marine Electric, the Rema, the Estonia, the Edmund Fitzgerald and quite a few others.
It's amazing the amount of time and money that was expended to find out the cause of these disasters. Technical details of the equipment used are included to give as complete report as possible.