Kirjahaku

Triumphs and disasters in the deep sea This is a journey through time and water, to the bottom of the ocean and the future of our planet.

A journey through time and water, to the bottom of the ocean and the future of our planet.

Triumphs and disasters in the deep sea This is a journey through time and water, to the bottom of the ocean and the future of our planet. We do not see the ocean when we look at the water that blankets more than two thirds of our planet. We only see the entrance to it. Beyond that entrance is a world hostile to humans, yet critical to our survival. The first divers to enter that world held their breath and splashed beneath the surface, often clutching rocks to pull them down. Over centuries, they invented wooden diving bells, clumsy diving suits, and unwieldy contraptions in attempts to go deeper and stay longer. But each advance was fraught with danger, as the intruders had to survive the crushing weight of water, or the deadly physiological effects of breathing compressed air. The vertical odyssey continued when explorers squeezed into heavy steel balls dangling on cables, or slung beneath floats filled with flammable gasoline. Plunging into the narrow trenches between the tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust, they eventually reached the bottom of the ocean in the same decade that men first walked on the moon. Today, as nations scramble to exploit the resources of the ocean floor, The Frontier Below recalls a story of human endeavour that took 2,000 years to travel seven miles, then investigates how we will explore the ocean in the future. Meticulously researched and drawing extensively on unpublished sources and personal interviews, The Frontier Below is the untold story of the pioneers who had the right stuff, but were forgotten because they went in the wrong direction.

At the outbreak of World War Two, the Bank of England was shipping gold to America to purchase arms and munitions. In June 1940, RMS Niagara was secretly carrying 8 tons of British gold when it hit a German mine and sank off New Zealand. The Royal Navy declared salvage was impossible because the water was too deep, so the desperate Bank of England offered the job to a retired sea captain, John Williams. Within weeks, Williams hired a deep-sea diver, built an experimental diving bell, employed a team of misfits, and refloated a rusting hulk to use as a salvage ship. Then, against orders, Williams sailed into the minefield to search for the sunken liner. Over the coming months, the crew battled bureaucracy, storms, German mines, and each other, as they dove to record depths. But the closer they got to the gold, the more they realised they would be betrayed by the people who sent them on their mission. With exclusive access to diaries, reports, logbooks, correspondence and interviews, Jeff Maynard tells a story of underdogs overcoming insurmountable odds, and the people of a small coastal community who welcomed them, revealing the truth behind one of the most incredible adventures of the Second World War.