Despatch

Historical records reveal that the Despatch, one of the largest and handsomest yachts afloat when it was built in 1873, was the pleasure craft for presidents Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison. President Harrison and Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Tracy were planning to visit the naval proving grounds on the Potomac River in October, 1891, when the Despatch failed to show up at the dock. Returning from New York with just its officers and crew, the sleek, single-funnel steamer ran into a sudden squall off Virginia. The ship’s lieutenant, mistaking the orange glow from the Assateague lighthouse for the offshore red hue on the Winter Quarter Shoals lightship, steered the yacht off course and on to the shoals. Boxes of cigars, candles and canned hams were gathered by bystanders who watched the ship sink in 20 feet of water. The officers and crew made it safely to shore.

In 1997, Ben Benson, head of Sea Hunt, Inc., a New Hampshire salvage group, made a secondhand discovery while searching for the Spanish galleon, Juno. The Despatch, sunk in the same area as the Juno, was icing on the cake for Benson as he looked for the treasure galleon. He found the presidential yacht, but didn’t have time to survey it. He did a look-see, got a permit, and planned to return at a later date. Meanwhile, he turned his full attention toward his main objective.

Benson eventually found the Juno, sunk in 1802 with a large cache of silver pesos aboard, but ran into a bureaucratic nightmare. Spain promptly claimed the wreck and the U.S. government—egged on by the U.S. Park Service and Justice Department—overruled Benson and the state of Virginia and gave salvage rights to Spain. The Spanish did nothing with the shipwreck.  Benson tried to fight it, but finally packed up and returned to New Hampshire thoroughly disgusted with the legalities and litigation.

I called Tony Watkenson, Chief of the Habitat Division for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, who outlined all the particulars for our search. The wreck rests in shallow water not far from the beach. If we find it, he’ll issue a salvage permit. Any artifacts retrieved will be donated to the state for display in several of its museums.

So that’s it. Shall we do it? Think about it as you hum a few bars of Hail to the Chief! Like the legendary Phoenix that rose from its ashes, the remains of the Despatch–an historical American treasure, might rise from the sands of Assateague Island.

In 1971, Kent Bellrichard, an accomplished Great Lakes diver, was searching for another vessel when he discovered the Rouse Simmons. Located 13 miles off the coast of Kewaunee, the ship was easy to identify by the remains of some Christmas trees still secured to the deck. The ship sits upright with its bow pointing north. Bellrichard believes this might indicate the captain steered in that direction to seek safety along the Kewaunee shoreline.

Although the ship’s wooden deck has collapsed, the hull remains intact. A 140 to 165 foot dive, the Christmas Tree Wreck still holds some of its cargo, but the remaining trees and ship’s artifacts are covered with zebra mussels. Keen eyes can spot the windlass, deadeyes, pans, dishes, chains, broken masts and the rudder post with a centerboard. Some of the trees remain, but most of them washed ashore throughout the years. Visibility averages 50 to 60 feet. Currents usually pose no problem, while water temperatures range around the mid-40s F.

Two of the trees and several other Rouse Simmons artifacts—including the ship’s wheel—were salvaged for exhibit at the Rogers Street Fishing Village Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. The ship’s anchor was retrieved for display at the Milwaukee Yacht Club. The remains of the wreck are protected by the Abandoned Shipwreck Act and the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

I enjoy hearing your stories of how you were introduced to my books, so I hope that you’ll be able to make it to the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona on October 27th at 7 PM. You can find out more information about the event by clicking here.

If you can’t make it to the event, you can:

• Order the autographed edition of Built for Adventure from the Poisoned Pen.
• Order the autographed edition of Built for Adventure from the Cussler Museum.

Get an inside look into the book by viewing many of the autos in my collection at the Cussler Museum website.

True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks

Dust jacket from THE SEA HUNTERS

There aren’t many thrills that parallel that of swimming through a shipwreck. I’ve always compared it to walking through a cemetery. You can sense and sometimes visualize the ghosts of the crew who lived on board and died without anyone to record their passing. The currents, the gloomy visibility, the silence broken only by the hiss of your air regulator, all add to the eeriness.

Thanks to recent advances in deep-sea technology, a very few tantalizing secrets in the deep have finally been unlocked and recorded on film and video tape. We have mapped and photographed almost every square inch of the moon, but we have viewed less than one percent of what is covered by water. To find the bones of ships and aircraft that have lain untouched in the depths is an experience known to a very few. Those who seek and occasionally find go under a variety of titles. Adventurers, oceanographers, marine archaeologists, treasure hunters, all in one form or other search for historic vessels that have disappeared into the unknown. Sometimes they’re successful. More often they fail. The odds are stacked against them. But as long as they are driven by insatiable curiosity, new discoveries will continue to surface.

The lure of shipwrecks is a siren’s song. There are literally millions of sunken ships. I’ve often wondered how many ancient wrecks lie beneath the silt of the Nile River in Egypt. The Mediterranean is strewn with them. The Great Lakes alone have nearly 50,000 recorded shipwrecks, beginning with famed explorer Sieur de La Salle’s ship Griffin launched and vanished during 1679 somewhere in Lake Michigan, and going up to the Edmund Fitzgerald, lost with all hands on Lake Superior in 1975. The seabed between Maine and Florida contains huge fleets of sunken vessels. Well over a thousand steamships rest under the banks and levees of the Mississippi River.

They all have stories to tell.

I actually walked the decks of one ship that vanished into the unknown.

During the spring of 1964, I took a few weeks’ vacation before I was to start as creative director in charge of television production for a large advertising agency. After painting the house, I had ten days left to do nothing. My wife worked and our three children were in school. A friend persuaded me to work as a crew member on a beautiful yacht called the Emerald Sea, which was docked behind a spacious mansion at Newport Beach, California.

It was pleasant work maintaining miles of varnished wood and wiping the engines. I remember being surprised after a trip to Catalina Island off California. I was given a uniform and ordered to look after the passengers while the skipper manned the helm. The guests of the yacht owner never suspected that they were served their drinks and hor d’euvres by an advertising executive instead of a common deckhand. And I didn’t mind at all when they tipped me fifty dollar bills as they stepped onto the dock. I must admit it wasn’t easy trading the teak decks of the Emerald Sea and the salt-water smell for a sterile office on Sunset Boulevard.

The yacht that was tied up next to Emerald Sea was a large two-deck vessel, built in the 1920s. I could look across the dock onto its spacious awning-covered rear deck and visualize a crowd of men in tuxedos doing the Charleston with flappers in fringed dresses and bobbed hair. There were times I could have sworn I heard the strains of a jazz band. I believe she was called Rosewood. She was an elegant lady and oozed style whenever her elderly owner, a wealthy widow, took her out and partied on the bay.

I became friendly with one of her deckhands, Gus Muncher, who swore he doubled in the movies once for Errol Flynn, but looked more like Peter Lorre. Gus would give me a tour of his boat, then we’d sit on the deck and eat lunch, swilling bottles of beer and swapping stories about the different boats and their owners moored about the harbor. The scandals were often juicy.

Gus claimed he was only working on the yacht to save enough money to get him to Tahiti, where he dreamed of operating a small ferryboat between the islands.

I lost track of Gus after I put on my Brooks Brothers suit and went back to work creating hard-sell drivel urging the masses to buy various and sundry products they could live without. Two years later, I ran into my old skipper from the Emerald Sea at a restaurant. I asked him if he’d seen Gus.

“Gus” he said sadly, “is dead.” “No,” I muttered. “How?”

“He went down with the Rosewood.”

“I had no idea it sank.”

The skipper nodded. “The old lady who owned her died and the estate sold it to a car dealer in New Jersey. After passing through the canal, the Rosewood vanished with all hands in deep water west of Bermuda. Gus was one of a crew of three on board.”

“Poor old Gus,” I murmured.” He never saw Tahiti.” My memory of Gus faded over the next fifteen years. After I bade a happy farewell to the advertising agency and could finally make a living as a writer, my wife, Barbara, and I stopped over in Tahiti for a vacation after completing a book tour in Australia. While Barbara was doing some gift shopping in a village on the island of Bora Bora, I walked into a little bar overlooking the island’s famed turquoise lagoon. Out of the corner of my eye I notice a fellow wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, a flowered shirt, and a pair of ragged shorts. He was sitting next to a striking Tahitian lady with flowing black hair and a smile sparkled by gold fillings. A thick red beard covered half his face, but I recognized him in an instant.

I stepped to his table and stared him in the eye. “Is that really you, or am I seeing a ghost?”

“Just to show you I am alive, I’ll buy you a beer,” Gus Muncher said, laughing. “Just forget you ever saw me.” He then introduced me to his wife, Tani.

“So you made it to Tahiti after all,” I said, fighting the desire to pinch his arm and see if he yelled.

“Got me a fifty-foot catamaran, and make a good living carrying goods and passengers around the islands.”

“Your dream come true.”

“You remembered,” he said with a grin showing under his beard.

“I heard you went down on Rosewood.”

“In a matter of speaking, I did.”

“I’d like to hear about it.”

“Not much to tell. We open all the seacocks and she went down like a stone in a thousand fathoms.”

I stared at Gus incredulously. “Doesn’t make any sense to sail a perfectly good yacht nearly five thousand miles and then scuttle her.”

Gus’s eyes beamed like a lighthouse. “Can you think of a better place to sink a boat for the insurance than the Bermuda Triangle?”

I should have voiced an argument about morals and legality, but sitting there in a bar overlooking spectacular scenery with an old friend who I thought had died, it just didn’t seem appropriate. After two beers Barbara found and collected me, and I bade Gus and his lady goodbye.

Ten years later, I met a French official from the Society Islands and asked if he knew Gus Muncher. He nodded and sadly informed me that Gus, his wife, his catamaran, two paying passengers, and a cargo of eighty chickens went missing in a storm off Moorea. A search turned up no trace.

I’ve always wondered if Gus slipped off the earth again or was truly on the bottom of the sea. I supposed a clue might be found if one investigated insurance-company records to see who received the settlement for the loss of Gus and his boat. I was curious, but not knowing the name of his catamaran and which marine casualty company settled any claims and to whom, I turned my back and went on to other projects. I kept his memory but let the mystery die with him.

For some odd reason, I’ve never been big on doing documentaries on NUMA’s expeditions. I almost never take pictures during a search. My publicity lady once insisted on giving me two little automatic Kodak cameras, thinking that by making it easy I’d finally shoot a record of events. My son, Dirk, shot about three frames, which I have yet to develop after four years.

I probably don’t receive all the hoopla I should because I don’t solicit the big photo publications and television programs. I once called the National Geographic to see if there was any interest in my forthcoming expedition to search for the Bonhomme Richard. During a conversation with a lady who said she was in charge of editorial assignments, I was told in no uncertain terms, “We’re not giving out any funds.”

“I don’t need funding,” I replied. “I’m paying for the search out of my book royalties.”

“Don’t expect us to pay for anything,” she announced acidly.

“Won’t cost you a cent.”

“Then why did you call?”

“Just to alert you that a search expedition was being launched to find John Paul Jones’s famous ship. I thought perhaps you might be interested.”

“We don’t fund shipwreck hunts.”

“We’ve been through that,” I said exasperated.

“Call us if you find it.”

“Then what?”

“We’ll assign a writer and a photographer to do the story.”

“I’m a writer.”

“We prefer a professional,” she said matter-of-factly.

End of conversation.

A few years later, I was in Washington, D.C., for my walk-on role in the awful movie based on my book Raise the Titanic! On the way to the hotel where they were shooting a press-conference scene with Jason Robards, I stopped off at the editorial offices of the National Geographic. I walked up to the receptionist and asked to speak to any editor who could spare me a few minutes.

She was gracious enough to call four different editors and say I was in the lobby. After the last call, she look at me sheepishly and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Cussler. None of them wish to talk to you.”

Scorned by the National Geographic.

“If someone should ask,” the receptionist murmured sweetly,” what should I tell them you wish to see them about?”

“Just tell them I ran in here to get away from a mugger and didn’t know when I was well off.”

Shattered and distraught, I went back to my room at the Jefferson Hotel, and except for the two hours I spent repairing a non-operating grandfather clock in the sitting room, I cried in my pillow the rest of the night.

Not content with putting demoralizing and hilarious concerns behind me, I then alienated the Smithsonian magazine.

Nicolas Dean, a truly fine photographer from Edgecomb, Maine, was assigned by the Smithsonian magazine to shoot a photo story on NUMA’s discovery of Cumberland and Florida. He shot rolls of film on the divers and the artifacts recovered from the wrecks. Then, for some reason, the editors of Smithsonian killed the story. Nick received a small kill fee, but not nearly enough to cover his expenses after flying round trip from Maine and spending five days on the expedition.

Several years later, I was called by the secretary of one of Smithsonian magazine’s senior editors and asked if I would check out a story on a shipwreck for any inaccuracies. Since it was a ship I was familiar with, I agreed. The story arrived in the mail, I read it, made a couple of suggestions, and sent it back.

The secretary then notified me by phone that the fee for my editorial expertise was $200. Overwhelmed, but keeping my emotions in check, I told her not to send the check to me, but rather make it out to the editor.

“I don’t understand,” she said confused.

“I insist my compensation go to him,” I reaffirmed.

Unenlightened, she muttered, “It makes no sense for a writer’s fee to go to an editor.”

“It does in this case.”

“May I ask why you are doing this?”

“Yes, Tell your boss that the two hundred bucks is a bribe. I’m paying him never to mention my name in the Smithsonian magazine.”

The secretary came unglued, “You don’t want your name in our publication. This is unheard of.”

“There’s always a first.”

I have no idea what they ever did with the check. I know I never got it.

NUMA has been fortunate in achieving so much with so little. Nearly sixty sunken wrecks in lakes, rivers, and seas have been found and surveyed. I’ve covered only a handful in this book. A few were discovered by luck, most only after long hours of investigation and hard work. Cost is, of course, always a factor with any expedition. But if the hunt is not overly complicated and can be conducted with simplicity, the price remains low.

Despite stories by fiction writers like me, the search for historic treasure is seldom dangerous and all too often is downright tedious, but it is still an adventure that can be enjoyed by dedicated people or families out for a weekend of fun. Discoveries can be made anywhere and may take place within walking distance of your backyard. You’d be amazed at how many famous historical sites remain lost because nobody ever bothered to look for them.

I suppose it would be more practical to sink my book royalties into municipal bonds and real estate, something that would yield a financial return. Lord knows my accountant and broker think I belong under restraint in an institution. But my philosophy has always been that when my time comes, and I’m lying in a hospital bed two breaths away from the great beyond, I’d like my bedside phone to ring. A big, blonde, buxom nurse, taking my pulse for ebbing vital signs, leans over my face, picks up the phone, and holds the receiver to my ear.

The last words I hear before I drift off are those of my banker telling me my account is ten dollars overdrawn.

The bottom line is that when the final curtain drops the only things we truly regret are the things we didn’t do.

Or as an old grizzled treasure hunter put it to me over a beer in a waterfront saloon late one evening,

“If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth doin’.”

To those of you who seek lost objects of history, I wish you the best of luck. They’re out there, and they’re whispering.

Courtesy of M. Sarba Art Gallery, Clinton, Connecticut.

She’s smaller than originally thought, and her bow is curved, not square. These are among the first mysteries solved by the raising of the Civil War submarine H. L. Hunley after 136 years on the bottom of Charleston Harbor. To commemorate the occasion, maritime artist Marek Sarba depicts her final departure, with Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard among the observers. Sarba has produced a limited-edition print of this spectacular painting, the sales of which will benefit the efforts to preserve the Hunley.

Dateline: 17 February 1864, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, 2000-The USS Housatonic rests at anchor, her bow facing west by northwest toward Fort Sumter. Those on deck keep watch for a newfangled contraption that could travel underwater. The night is clear and moonlit, the seas calm. Suddenly, at 2045, Officer of the Deck John Crosby spots an anomaly in the water, “what looked to be a porpoise coming to the surface to blow.”

But it is not a porpoise, it is the H. L. Hunley. Even as bullets ricochet off the hull of this iron fish, she moves forward quickly-straight for the Housatonic.

Minutes later, an explosion rocks the Housatonic, and she begins to sink fast. Men clamber over the side, into the water and into launches that have been cleared from the ship. One is sent to the nearby Canandaigua to summon assistance.

Later, Federal Seaman Robert Fleming testifies: “When the Canandaigua got astern, and was lying athwart of the Housatonic, about four ship lengths off, while I was in the fore rigging, I saw a blue light on the water just ahead of the Canandaigua, and on the starboard quarter of the Housatonic.” This was the pre-arranged signal the submarine’s crewmen were to give to let those on shore know she was safe.

But the Hunley never made it back to port.

6 August 2000, Conservation Laboratory, Charleston, South Carolina

Underwater explorer and best-selling author Clive Cussler and his companions stand in front of what looks like just another nondescript warehouse at the old Charleston Naval Shipyard. They are met outside by Paul Mardikian, Senior Conservator, and Dr. Robert Neyland, Project Manager. This is the lab where the Hunley will be brought for conservation and restoration.
As they are led inside and up a flight of metal stairs painted yellow, they face a large, green holding tank-the future home of the Hunley, possibly for the next ten years.

Mardikian patiently explains what will happen after the Hunley arrives at the lab:

The first step is to fill the tank with chilly water, once the submarine is put in. When everything inside the submarine has been excavated [estimated time 6-12 months], remains and artifacts will be properly stored, then conservation of the sub itself begins. As it’s made entirely out of iron, we have concretions on the outside to deal with, possibly some rust, maybe some organic creatures, which makes it a very complex project, and can take anywhere from five to ten years, and that’s a general timeline. You cannot reverse 136 years of corrosion quickly.I’ve worked on the Titanic, the Alabama, and ancient shipwrecks, and I can tell you it is very rare to have a complete shipwreck with no oxygen, like the Hunley. Once we get inside the submarine, we will be able to tell how much, if any, oxygen has been in there and if it affected any of the artifacts. So we need to be ready for every option. There is no room for guessing at this point if there are any significant remains of the crew, if there is any organic material, like textiles. Some people will say everything will be gone, but we just don’t know.

The group is led to a computer work station, waterproofed because of its proximity to the tank. A program on the computer allows the scientists and archaeologists to monitor everything involved with the tank, including the rate of oxygen, conductivity of the water, and Ph levels. Each of the three water tanks outside the building can be opened or closed, or the computer can regulate water moving in and out of the inside tank.

A refrigerated morgue on the ground level has nine steel trays, each the length of a human body, waiting for whatever is found inside the submarine. Another computer is set up just outside the morgue, connected to a large X-ray machine that will be used not only for any human remains found, but also on various parts of the submarine. The spar, which held the explosive that destroyed the Housatonic, still was attached to the bottom of the bow of the Hunley. It had to be removed for proper recovery of the submarine and was one of the first artifacts brought to the lab. Mardikian shows the group an X-ray of the spar, pointing out the layer of concretion on the outside and how the computer software can show the spar without the concretion, which will help them during restoration. “We’ve found in ancient shipwrecks that iron disappears, but the concretions become like molds. So some parts of the spar might be completely empty, even though the corrosion rate is not very high,” Mardikian explains.

The group walks upstairs to the offices and stops in front of a model of the Hunley, strapped into a metal truss and covered with what looks like yellow pillows. Neyland steps forward and points at the model.

We went through a number of ideas to raise the submarine when we began planning this three years ago. We looked at a coffer dam, which would have been very expensive. We looked at going down and scooping up the whole wreck in a great big clamshell, but found the soil around the Hunley wouldn’t support that. Finally, we looked at a space frame, what we call a truss. Then we figured that the Hunley, filled with sand, weighs about 30 tons. So if we just put the truss down, then transferred the weight of the Hunley to the truss, it would have sunk into the mud. So we came up with a method that was used in the Gulf of Mexico, these great big suction piles, which are essentially inverted cans that go in the bottom, then pump out the water so they suck down. These acted as an excellent stable foundation, 18 feet in diameter, 12 feet high and weigh about 45 tons.We originally thought we could put a couple of slings here and there [on each end of the sub], but last year we looked at the rivets on the sub and found they were highly corroded. In fact, one of the rivets just punched right through. If we took the sediment away, the sub could basically unzip and come apart. So we found we had to leave it in the sediment, then replace the sediment gradually, one sling at a time, until we had all the slings on board.

“You didn’t take my suggestion to wrap it all in duct tape,” Cussler says dryly, and everyone laughs. Neyland continues:

We found three holes in the hull, the first in the conning tower, which may have been from gun shots or small arms’ fire. We found the second on the starboard side, up by the bow and a hole back in the stern area. So we attached bags to the slings and injected them with hard foam around the hull to protect it. We looked at using hard rubber, but some folks at a division of Dow Chemical said they had this foam, although they’d never used it under water. We took it to a facility in Louisiana that has a 30-foot tank and tested it. It’s incredible stuff. After this is over, it’s possible the Navy will begin using it-they’ve been looking for something like this for years for salvage. As the foam was injected in, the water in the bags ejected through the seams.

Later, Cussler relates, “I think what I like best about the lab is that they’re going to make it a world-class lab, not just for the Hunley. So many times you bring up artifacts and there’s no way to conserve them, so you throw them back. Now they can have all sorts of artifacts coming in from all over the United States to be conserved.”

8 August 2000, Charleston Harbor, 0430

The Land Rover speeds into a dirt parking lot and Clive Cussler climbs out. It is still pitch dark. Cheerfully, he walks toward the dock, where a charter boat waits for him and the media. He is to spend the day on the press boat. Wearing a NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) t-shirt and hat, Cussler and his companions climb to the second deck and settle in. None of the media takes notice. This amuses Cussler to a degree; he could go just about anywhere unnoticed, but today of all days, surely someone will know who he is and why he is there.

A little bit after 0500, the boat heads out, passing the aircraft carrier Yorktown (CVS-10) and Fort Sumter. Lights twinkle in the distance and as the boat gets closer, the platform of the Karlissa-B comes into view. A 51.7-meter by 24.4-meter, six-leg barge, equipped with DeLong jacks and a 318-metric-ton Manitowoc platform ringer crane, the Karlissa-B will be bringing up the Hunley later in the morning.

As the press boat floats into place near the Karlissa-B, Cussler watches the scene with tired but excited eyes. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would see the Hunley raised in his lifetime. Yet in five short years, after his NUMA team discovered the submarine on 3 May 1995, the dream was now becoming a reality.

8 August 2000, Charleston Harbor, 0830

The water around the Karlissa-B, the recovery barge, and the press boat swarm with vessels of all descriptions, hundreds of them, some circling the area, others waiting patiently. The Hunley should have been raised a half-hour earlier, but strong winds forced the recovery team to bring in a large barge to settle the area.

At 0839, the Hunley breaks the surface of the water. It is still silent. As the Hunley is lowered gently to the recovery barge, boat horns toot and blast. People cheer wildly. Cannon are fired from shore in celebration.

“I’m numb-just numb,” says Cussler, as his eyes watch the Hunley. “Everybody assured me this would go like clockwork, and it did!”

At that moment, it seems the media finally realize who Cussler is. He is surrounded with microphones. Says the well-known novelist:

It’s much smaller than I thought it was. Everyone thought it would be much larger. And there were so many misconceptions about what we thought the sub looked like. We thought it had a big, square bow, and it doesn’t. It actually curves. We thought it was 36-feet long, and 3 by 5 feet. It’s only 32-feet long and 3 by 4 feet. Now they’re saying the guys in it couldn’t have been more than five-foot-two. The technology at that time was incredibly advanced. This set the foundation for all future submarines. What made me keep looking for it? I was convinced it was here, and by God, it was here!

The press boat keeps pace with the recovery barge as it is towed to the conservation lab by two tugboats. Hundreds of other boats follow, horns blasting every once in a while. As they pass Fort Sumter, the fort’s flag is at half mast and cannon are fired. They pass Fort Moultrie, and men in Civil War uniform render a 21-gun salute. They pass the Yorktown, and military men and women stand at attention. Church bells begin ringing on shore, one after another.

After 136 years, the Hunley and her crew of nine finally have come home.

Replicated with the author’s permission; this article appeared on the Time2watch Web site.

Over the years I have been very fortunate to have reviewed some of the finest wristwatches in the world, but nothing has given me as much pleasure as the opportunity to interview one of my favorite authors. At the time of this interview, I had only read one of his books, six months later I’m almost half way through his collection and I’m starting to wonder what I am going to read once I’m finished.

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

T2W: Dr. Cussler, could you please tell us how Dirk Pitt’s world all got started?

CC: When I first started writing, I was in advertising at the time, I was doing most of my writing on weekends. I had studied most of the other series heroes and I figured it would be fun for mine to be different and put him in and around water. So I dreamed up Dirk Pitt. In the first novel, Admiral Sandecker invites Dirk Pitt to leave the Air Force and come with him in order to start the National Underwater Marine Agency in Washington, DC, which Pitt does. All of the other books deal with Pitt’s involvement with NUMA, his adventures and the mischief he gets into.

That was in 1965. Then in 1979 during an expedition, where I was searching for John Paul Jones’ ship, the Bonhomme Richard an Austin attorney who was a volunteer suggested that I should incorporate as a non-profit organization rather than just write the checks out of my own bank account. So that is what I did and that is how NUMA became a non-profit organization in Texas. Therefore, yes Virginia, there really is a NUMA! (laughing) And that was the basis for the non-fiction NUMA, which has been the umbrella for all the expeditions and all of the shipwrecks we’ve found.

As for the DOXA watch, when I was beginning my second book, I was the creative director for a big ad agency in L.A. My wife said jokingly, why don ‘t you apply for this job? It was a $400/month job as a clerk in a Dive shop, perfect for writing underwater books. Well, I was just considering switching agencies and I thought what the hell! She had a nifty job working nights at the local police department, which worked out very well. She had the kids during the day and I would have them at night. That way they were never alone. I would put the kids to bed, and then I had nothing to do and nobody to talk to, so I would write.

I applied for the job. They had three stores and they were shocked! They said that I was a little over qualified, but they hired me anyway. (laughing) And after two weeks, the guy said that there was nothing they could teach me. Hell I’ve been diving since 1952 in Hawaii while I was in the service. So I ran the store in Santa Ana, California. I’d come up in the morning with my portable typewriter and when business was slow, I would write.

U.S. Diver then was the distributor for the DOXA Dive watch, the 300T. The “in” color was Orange, but they also had silver and black, but you were “big-time” if you had an Orange watch. So, when I left the store I had finished my book, I shook hands with the guys and as a present they gave me the Orange DOXA dive watch. When I continued writing, I just had Dirk wear one too.

T2W: What are the qualities that attract you to this watch?

CC: At the time, this watch had a huge steel band, which most watches didn’t have in those days. We’re going back, boy; I’ve had that piece since ’69, 32 years. (laughing) It was a heavy watch, very massive and masculine looking. People would always remark about the thing. It was one of those you had to shake to keep it running. I’ve worn it many times diving in the past and it has never corroded or had any problems. There was a place called House of Clocks in L.A. where every ten years I would send my watch and they would rebuild it.

T2W: So I understand you still have that watch?

CC: Oh, sure.

T2W: Is this the same watch you are wearing on the rear cover of your latest book?

CC: That¹s it!

T2W: Do you feel at all responsible for the excitement the re-issue is generating?

CC: I guess indirectly I am (laughing), with Dirk Pitt, NUMA and all wearing a DOXA watch. I guess if it weren’t for that, they probably wouldn’t be re-issuing. I couldn’t believe it when I was told they were going to manufacture 1000 and that they were practically all sold already. Ever since Pitt was wearing one, collectors were dumbfounded; they were saying that it wasn’t an expensive watch, what’s all the fuss about. I understand the prices have been driven up since then; people are even paying $1000 for them. I’ve met people that tell me that they spent two years looking for one.

T2W: You stated that you used this watch while diving. In your opinion, what makes it a good dive watch?

CC: The bezel is very useful to time your dives and the orange face, surprisingly enough is VERY easy to read 30-40-50 down. It was just a good solid dive watch. I even have a US Diver’s logo on mine, the distributors at the time.

T2W: I have noticed that product description plays a large part in your books. I understand that Production of the movie Sahara will begin sometime in 2002. Will Dirk be wearing an Orange DOXA Diver in the movie?

CC: I don¹t know why not, he should.

T2W: I know that Omega has a lot to do with which watch James Bond has been wearing lately. Will DOXA be doing any product placement?

CC: Funny you should talk about product placement and advertising. My agent once had lunch with the advertising manager for Rolex; they had gone to school together. He asked him, how come you’ve used all these other people in the dive industry in your ads, but never thought of using Cussler? The advertising manager turned and said, who’s Cussler and what’s he ever done? (laughing) In this other book I had a guy with a Rolex that didn’t work so he smashed it on a rock. Every time I tell that story, I laugh. I find that Rolex watches are vastly overrated compared to the some of the more exotic watches that are available today. It’s still the “in” watch, because of the advertising or whatever.

T2W: Any additional comments on your upcoming movie?

CC: Not much to comment on, because they made a botch of Raise the Titanic 20 years ago. I wouldn’t sell to Hollywood. Finally they gave me script, director and casting approval, that’s when I sold.

T2W: Any idea who will be cast to play Dirk, Al and the others?

CC: Dirk is supposed top be played by Hugh Jackman*. He’s a real comer, he fits Pitt’s image perfectly. The rest of the casting will not start until January 2002. Right now everything is just status quo. The director is going to be Rob Bowman of X-Files fame.

T2W: You are considered one of the premier action/adventure writers. One of the keys to your writing is your incredible suspenseful timing. What can you say about timing and how does it play a role in your writing?

CC: I guess the books are kind of like the old Saturday afternoon matinee serials. Most of them were westerns in those days. Where the hero is going off the cliff in a car filled with dynamite and that’s were it would end, until you came back the following Saturday to find out what happened. The books are laid out that way, you would end a chapter on some kind cliffhanger and then “oh my god” what happens next? So you turn the page and start the next chapter.

T2W: I have to admit your books have been the cause of quite a number of sleepless nights. I just had to keep reading.

CC: (laughing) Sometimes my plot lines are so convoluted, I get calls from friends at 3 am saying; you SOB, you’ll never pull this one off.

T2W: As a matter of fact, yesterday evening while reading Atlantis Found, I noticed you had written yourself into your book! I must admit I got quite a laugh out of it. How did it come about?

CC: It was a couple of books back, where Pitt was at a classic car club meet. He parked his old car next to this guy, an older man with gray hair and a gray beard. Pitt walks up and says hi my name is Dirk Pitt and before I knew it I had typed in hello my name is Clive Cussler. I stopped and looked around and said, gee, why did I do that. Then I got to joking around and had them look at each other. Then Pitt says, you know the name sounds familiar, but I just can’t place the face. (laughing) So I just left it in as a joke, figured the readers would get a laugh out of it. I thought that was going to be the end of it, but then I got 300-400 letters saying how everybody liked it. So now I have to do a Hitchcock walk on and people are waiting to see where I come in.

T2W: On that note, can we expect to see you in the motion picture?

CC: Yes, I will be in SAHARA. In the book I was a prospector, but in the movie, I will be driving an old beat-up truck and rescuing Pitt and Giordino out in the Sahara.

T2W: In your opinion, what do you find most exciting about deep sea diving and exploration?

CC: It’s always the thrill of the unknown. Everybody dives in the Grand Cayman or Bermuda. I don’t dive in those places anymore, after 50 years the thrill just isn’t there. I always tell everybody, go where nobody goes! Go up into Canada or Alaska, sure it’s cold water, but you’ll be seeing things nobody has seen before! Go into the colder waters, from Vancouver up to Anchorage, my gosh, all the sounds and all that. Nobody ever dove there before. It’s colder than hell, but if you get a dry suit, it isn’t so bad.

T2W: You have found many shipwrecks, can you tell us which one the most important/impressive?

CC: Oh. There have been so many. Right now the one that is the big deal is the confederate submarine, the Hunley, which we found in Charleston. The first submarine to sink a warship, but never came back. We found it, raised and brought it to a laboratory where we will be excavating it. They will be preserving it so that someday it can go on display.

This year was pretty good, we found the Carpathia, Which of course rescued the Titanic survivors only to be torpedoed 6 years later off the coast of Ireland. And the Marie Celeste, Which was the famous ghost ship they found floating with nobody on board.

T2W: You have been writing Dirk Pitt novels for nearly 30 years now, is it getting more difficult as you go along or has it become easier as the character develops?

CC: I’ve used so many plots in my books that it’s getting hard to be original. That’s the trouble with a series, I’m writing away when I realize I used that same line of dialog six books back. It’s become very difficult to be original.

T2W: Are there any plans for another novel after this latest one?

CC: I have to write at least one more, because of the wild ending on Valhalla Rising, so I have to continue that one.

T2W: You recently published your first non-fiction work, could you tell us why you decided to take that direction?

CC: So many people use to tell me that I should write about all the shipwrecks I’ve found. At the time I was busy with the Pitt books, so I worked with a fellow named Craig Dirgo. He did a lot of the easy stuff for me, I would write the historical part, and then he would go through it and write some more for me. Then I would write in where NUMA came in the picture to look for the shipwreck and what have you.

It was an interesting story on The Sea Hunters. When my agent went to “pitch” it to my publisher, they just weren’t interested. They literally said that nobody reads shipwreck books. My agent insisted, well Cussler’s got a name and a following. When he came back to me, he was quite upset; he asked what should we do? So I said, let’s go to another publisher! Well obviously my publisher said that they couldn’t have that, me going to another publisher. So they gave in and said OK, we’ll print it, but only 50,000 copies. The sales department said no way; we know we can sell at least 250,000. Well the hardcover went #2 on the New York Time’s bestsellers list and the paperback went #1! We must have sold over 1 million some odd copies! (laughing) We always laugh and called it the book that nobody wanted.

T2W: It is my understanding that it is going to become a televised series?

CC: Yes, it’s going to be called The Sea Hunters and it will be filmed up in Nova Scotia. It will run internationally, but I’m not certain if it will run domestically. I will be like Arthur C. Clark; I will open and close each episode.

T2W: Of all of your books, which is your favorite so far?

CC: I like them all for different reasons. Night Probe was one of my better plots, Raise the Titanic was probably my best concept. People often ask me which car do you like in your collection? I like them all for different reasons.

T2W: How about explorers? Who is your favorite?

CC: The one that always intrigued me was Magellan, who circled around the world and Drake who did it the second time. I’m a history buff, I have a PHD in maritime history, so for me it’s just fun to follow. History is just not being taught in schools like it used to be. Kids today have no grasp. It is really unfortunate.

T2W: Thank you very much for this opportunity Dr. Cussler. This interview has been the highlight of my career so far.

CC: (Laughing)You’re welcome, Mr. Levesque. I’m sure you will have much bigger highlights in the future.

All in all, it was a very charming and warm interview. I could have gone on for hours and I got the impression that he would have gone along with me. What an incredibly humble and sincere person. As I told him, this definitely was the highlight of my writing career. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Carole Bartholomeaux for all of her help with this interview. Her firm is responsible for all of Clive Cussler’s and NUMA’s public relations as well as maintaining and editing the NUMA.net website.

Thanks for reading,

Marc Levesque
Time2watch

* Hugh Jackman was originally cast for the role of Dirk Pitt, unfortunately due to a scheduling conflict M. Jackman cannot play the part.

DOXA has just announced that they will be donating ten percent of the purchase price of each DOXA SEAHUNTER watch to NUMA. For more information please visit www.doxawatches.com.

There is a touch of Dirk Pitt in the soul of every man who longs for adventure.

I could search through the whole book and not find a better quote to reflect this novel. I’d change one thing though. I wouldn’t say man. It works for a woman, too.

In the Trojan Odyssey, the 20th in a series of Dirk Pitt novels, Clive Cussler grabs you and takes you on another thrilling adventure. The whole gang is back, after three novels with a new hero and two non-fiction books, Clive Cussler returns to his roots.

Dirk Pitt, Al Giordino, Admiral Sandecker, Rudi Gunn and the rest of the gang are all as brave and daring as ever in Trojan Odyssey.

Cussler, as always, manages the difficult task of creating a bad guy who has a plan to rule (or destroy) the earth. He puts the world in peril, always by way of the sea, then lets Dirk Pitt snatch the planet from the jaws of disaster.

Cussler has a style that is uniquely his. He begins his novels with a long ago myth. Then he jumps to some other, seemingly unrelated scene. He drags you into one of his stories, takes you to a moment of climax and jumps to another story.

I always think, “No don’t leave them there, hanging by a thread!” Then, before you know, you’re completely hooked by the new situation. The writing style keeps you on the edge of your seat until all Cussler’s stories collide.

Cussler’s fearless master of the sea is Dirk Pitt. He appears in Trojan Odyssey, but he doesn’t appear until Chapter 9. Of course, he shows up right in the nick of time. Cussler has such sure disaster heading your way that you’re going to think the catastrophe is the basis of the story. Then Dirk shows up.

Oh, my gosh, Cussler’s going to let them live. BUT HOW?

A little side note: at first, if you’re not a Cussler fan, you think… “Dirk Pitt? What kind of dumb name is that?” By the end, I promise, you’ll be wanting to name your first child Dirk. Pitt is the bravest, strongest, smartest hero that has ever wise-cracked his way through the pages of literature.

If you’ve never read Cussler before, you have a real treat in store for you because a body of work this rich is still out there waiting for you. If you’re a fan, then you can’t miss Trojan Odyssey because big things are in store for Dirk.

Between his bold characters and fast-paced writing, there’s no escape from a Cussler novel. In the end, you snap the book closed and think, “I’ve got to learn to SCUBA dive, or join the Navy, or at least go ice skating.” You need an adventure. You need the water. Cussler makes you long for adventure.

The rating Sleep Robber doesn’t go far enough for Cussler. Because I laid awake a couple of nights AFTER I’d finished the book, trying to figure out how to arrange a SCUBA diving adventure along some coral reef. I’ve heard the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is nice! Brace yourself. And don’t plan a winter vacation until after you’re read Trojan Odyssey. You’re going to want an adventure under the sea.

Nobody does it better than Cussler. I rate Trojan Odyssey an A+ Sleep Robber.

Remainder of article removed by author as the nature of the content was not relevant to the NUMA Web site. This article originally appeared in the Lyons Mirror-Sun newspaper.

ON BOARD THE SHIP OF WAR SERAPIS, AT ANCHOR WITHOUT THE TEXAL, IN HOLLAND, Octr. 3, 1779.

HONORED & DEAR SIR, When I had the honor of writing to you on the 11 August, previous to my departure from the Road of Groa, I had before me the most flattering prospect of rendering essential Service to the Common Cause of France and America. I had a full confidence in the Voluntary inclination & Ability of every Captain under my Command, to assist & Support me in my duty With cheerful Emulation ; & I Was persuaded that Every one of them Would pursue Glory in preference to intrest.

Whether I Was, or Was not deceived, Will best appear by a relation of Circumstances.

"I intend to go in harm's way." - John Paul Jones

The Little Squadron under my orders, Consisting of the B. H. R., [Bonhomme Richard] of 40 guns ; the Alliance, of 36 guns ; the Pallas, of 32 guns ; the Cerf, of 18 guns ; and the Vengeance, of 12 guns ; joyned by two privateers, the Monsieur and the Granville, Sailed from the Road of Groa at Daybreak on the 14. of August ; the Same day We Spoke With a Large Convoy bound from the Southward to Brest.

On the 18 we retook a large Ship belonging to Holland, Laden Chiefly With brandy & Wine that had been destined from Barcelona for Dunkirk, and taken Eight days before by an English privateer. The Captain of the privateer, Monsieur, took out of this prize Such Articles as he pleased in the Night ; and the Next day being astern of the Squadron and to Windward, he actually wrote orders in his proper name, and Sent away the prize under one of his own officers. This, however, I Superseded by Sending her for L’Orient under my orders, in the Character of Commander in Chief. The Evening of the day following, the Monsieur Separated from the Squadron.

On the 20 We Saw and chaced a Large Ship, but could not overtake her, She being to Windward.

On the 21 We Saw and Chaced another Ship that Was also to Windward, & thereby Eluded our pursuit: The Same afternoon, We took a brigantine Called the Mayflower, Laden With butter and Salt provision, bound from Limerick in Ireland for London: this Vessel I immediately expedited for L’Orient.

"It's Jones! Jones the Pirate coming to murder us all!"

On the 23d, We Saw Cap Clear and the S. W. part of Ireland. That afternoon, it being Calm, I sent Some armed boats to take a brigantine that appeared in the N. W. quarter. Soon after, in the Evening, it became necessary to have a boat ahead of the Ship to tow, as the helm Could not prevent her from Laying across the tide of flood, Which Would have driven us into a deep and dangerous bay, Situated between the Rocks on the South called the Skallocks, and on the North Called the Blaskats; the Ship’s boats being absent, I Sent my own barge ahead to tow the Ship. The boats took the brigantine; She being Called the Fortune and bound with a Cargo of oil, blubber & staves, from Newfoundland for Bristol. This Vessel I ordered to proceed immediately for Nantes or St. Malo. Soon after Sun Set the villain who towed the Ship, cut the tow rope and decamped with my barge. Sundry Shot, Were fired to bring them too Without effect; in the mean time the master of the B. H. R., without orders, manned one of the Ship’s boats, and With four Soldiers pursued the barge in order to stop the deserters. The Evenin Was then Clear and Serene, but the Zeal of that officer, [Mr. Cutting Lunt,] induced him to pursue too far, and a fog Which came on Soon afterwards prevented the boats from rejoyning the Ship, altho’ I Caused Signal guns to be frequently fired. The fog and Calm Continued the next day till towards the Evening. In the afternoon Captain Landais came on board the B. H. R. and beheaved towards me with great disrespect, affirming in the most indelicate manner and Language, that I had lost my boats and people thro’ my imprudence in Sending boats to take a prize! He persisted in his reproaches, though he Was assured by MM. de Weibert and de Chamillard, that the barge Was towing the Ship at the [time of] Elopement, and that she had not been Sent in pursuit of the prize. He was affronted, because I Would not the day before Suffer him to chace without my orders, and to approach the dangerous Shore I have already mentioned, Where he Was an entire Stranger, and When there Was [not] sufficient wind to govern a Ship. He told me that he Was the only American in the Squadron, and Was determined to follow his own opinion in chacing Where and When he thought proper, and in every other matter that Concerned the Service, and that if I continued in that Situation three days longer, the Squadron Would be taken, &c. By the advice of Captain de Cottineau, and With the free Consent and approbation of M. De Varage, I sent the Cerf in to reconnoitre the Coast, and Endeavour to take the boats and people, the next day, While the Squadron Stood off and on in the S. W. quarter, in the best possible Situation to intercept the Enemie’s merchant Ships, whether outward or homeward bound. The Cerf had on board a pilot Well acquainted With the Coast, and Was ordered to Joyn me again before Night. I approached the Shore in the afternoon, but the Cerf did not appear; this induced me to Stand off again in the night in order to return and be rejoined by the Cerf the Next day ; but to my great Concern and disapointment, tho’ I ranged the Coast along and hoisted our private Signal, neither the boats nor the Cerf joined me. The Evening of that day, the 26, brought with it Stormy Weather, With an appearance of a Severe gale from the S. W., yet I must declare I did not follow my own judgment, but Was led by the assertion Which had fallen from Captain Landais, When I in the evening made a Signal to Steer to the Northward and Leave that Station, Which I Wished to have occupied at Least a Week longer. The gale increased in the Night With thick Weather; to Prevent Separation, I carried a top Light and fired a gun Every quarter of an hour. I Carried, also, a Very moderate sail, and the Course had been Clearly pointed [out] by a Signal before night, yet With all this precaution, I found myself accompanied only by the Brigantine Vengeance in the morning, the Granville having remained astern with a prize. As I have since understood the tiller of the Pallas broke after midnight Which disenabled her from Keeping up, but no apology has yet been made in behalf of the Alliance.

On the 31, we saw the Flamie Islands situated near the Lewis, on the N. W. coast of Scotland; and the next morning, off Cap Wrath, We gave Chace to a Ship to Windward. at the Same time two Ships appearing in the N. W. quarter, Which proved to be the Alliance and a prize Ship Which she had taken, bound, as I understood, from Liverpool for Jamaica. The Ship Which I Chaced brought too at noon. She proved the Union letter of Marque, bound from London for Quebeck, With a Cargo of naval Stores on account of government, adapted for the service of the British armed Vessels on the lakes. The public despatches Were lost, as the Alliance Very imprudently hoisted American Colours, though English colours were then flying on board the B. H. R. Captain Landais Sent a Small boat to ask Whether I Would man the Ship or [he] Should, as in the Latter Case he Would Suffer nor boat nor person from the B. H. R. to go near the prize. Ridiculous as this appeared to me, I yielded to it for the Sake of pease, and received the prisoners on board the B. H. R., While the prize was manned from the Alliance. In the afternoon another sail appeared, and I immediately made the Signal for the Alliance to chace, but instead of obeying, he Wore and Laid the Ship’s head the other Way. The next morning I made a Signal to Speak with the Alliance, to Which no attention Was Shown. I then made Sail With the Ships in Company, for the second rendezvous, Which Was not far distant, and Where I fully Expected to be Joined by the Pallas and the Cerf.

The 2 of September We Saw a Sail at daybreak, and gave Chace ; that Ship proved to be the Pallas, and had met With no Success While Separated from the B. H. R.

"The fire of their cannon was incessant."

On the 3 the Vengeance brought too a Small Irish brigantine, bound homewards from Norway. The Same Evening I Sent the Vengeance in the N. E. quarter to bring up the two prize Ships that appeared to me to be too near the Islands of Shetland, While with the Alliance and the Pallas, I Endeavoured to Weather Fair Isle, and to get into my Second rendezvous, Where I directed the Vengeance to join me With the three prizes. The Next morning, having Weathered Fair Isle, and not Seeing the Vengeance nor the prizes, I spoke the Alliance and ordered her to Steer to the Northward and bring them up to the rendezvous.

On the Morning of the 5 the Alliance appeared again, and had brought too two Very Small Coasting Sloops in ballast, but Without having attended properly to my orders of yesterday. The Vengeance Joined me Soon after, and informed me that in Consequence of Captain Landais’ orders to the commanders of the two prize Ships, they had refused to follow him to the rendezvous. I am to this moment ignorant what orders these men received from Captain Landais, Nor Know I by Virtue of What authority he Ventured to give his orders to prizes in my presence and Without Either my Knowledge or approbation. Captain Ricot further informed me that he had burnt the prize brigantine, becasue that Vessel proved Leaky ; and I Was Sorry to understand afterward that though the Vessel Was Irish property, the cargo Was Property of the Subjects of Norway.

In the Evening I Sent for all the Captains [to] Come on board the B. H. R., to Consult on future plans of operation. Captains Cottineau and Ricot obeyed me, but Captain Landais obstinately refused, and after sending me Various uncivil messages, Wrote me a Very Extraordinary Letter in answer to a Written Order, Which I had Sent him, on finding that he had trifled With my Verbal orders. The Next day a pilot boat came on board from Shetland, by Which means I received Such advices as induced me to change a plan Which I otherwise meant to have pursued, and as the Cerf did not appear at my Second rendezvous I determined to Steer towards the third in hopes of meeting her there.

In the afternoon a gale of Wind came on, which Continued four days Without intermission. In the Second night of that gale, the Alliance, With her two Little prizes, again Separated from the B. H. R. I had now with me only the Pallas and the Vengeance, yet I did not abandon the hopes of performing Some essential Service. The Winds Continued Contrary, So that We did not see the land till the Evening of the 13, When the hills of the Cheviot in the S. E. of Scotland appeared. The next day We Chased Sundry Vessels and took a Ship and a brigantine, both from the Firth of Edinburgh, Laden with coal. Knowing that there lay at anchor in Leith Road an armed ship of 20 guns, With two or three fine cutters, I formed an Expedition against Leith, Which I purposed to Lay under a Large contribution, or otherwise to reduce it to ashes. Had I been alone, the Wind being favorable, I Would have proceeded directly up the Firth, and must have Succeeded; as they lay there in a State of perfect indolence and Security, Which Would have proved their ruin. Unfortunatley for me, the Pallas and Vengeance Were both at a considerable distance in the offing; they having chaced to the Southward ; this obliged me to Steer out of the Firth again to meet them. The Captains of the Pallas and Vengeance being Come on board the B. H. R., I Communicated to them my project, to Which many difficulties and objections Were made by them : At Last, however, they appeared to think better of the design after I had assured [them] that I hoped to raise a contribution of 200,000 pounds sterling on Leith, and that there was no battery of Cannon there to oppose our Landing. So much time, however, was unavoidably Spent in pointed remarks and Sage deliberation that Night, [that] the Wind became Contrary in the morning.

We continued Working to Windward up the Firth Without being able to reach the Road of Leith, till on the morning of the 17, When being almost Within Cannon Shot of the town, having Every thing in readiness for a descent, a Very Severe gale of Wind came on, and being directly Contrary, obliged us to bear away, after having in Vain Endeavoured for Some time to Withstand its Violence. The Gale Was so Severe, that one of the prizes that had been taken the 14 Sunk to the bottom, the Crew being With difficulty Saved. As the alarm had by this time reached Leith by means of a cutter that had Watched our motions that morning, and as the Wind Continued Contrary, (tho’ more moderate in the evening) I thought it impossible to pursue the Enterprise With a good prospect of Success, Especially as Edinbourgh Where there is always a number of troops, is only a mile distant from Leith, therefore I gave up the project.

On the 19, having taken a Sloop and a brigantine in ballast, With a Sloop laden With building timber, I proposed another project to Mr. Cottineau, Which Would have been highly honorable tho’ not profitable; many difficulties Were made, and our Situation Was represented as being the most perilous. The Enemy, he Said, Would Send against us a Superior force, and that if I obstinately Continued on the Coast of England two days longer, We Should all be taken. The Vengeance having chaced along Shore to the Southward, Captain Cottineau Said he Would follow her With the prizes, as I Was unable to make much Sail, having that day been obliged to Strike the main-top-mast to repair its damages; and as I afterward understood, he told M. De Chamillard that unless I joined them the next day both the Pallas and the Vengeance Would Leave the Coast. I had thoughts of attempting the Enterprise alone after the Pallas had made sail to join the Vengeance. I am persuaded even now, that I Would have Succeeded, and to the honor of my young officers, I found them as ardently disposed to the business as I could desire: nothing prevented me from pursuing my design but the reproach that Would have been Cast upon my Character, as a man of prudence, had the Enterprise miscarried, It Would have been Said, Was he not forewarned by Captain Cottineau and others?

I made Sail along Shore to the Southward, and next morning took a coasting Sloop in ballast, Which With another that I had taken the night before, I ordered to be Sunk. In the Evening, I again met With the Pallas and Vengeance off Whitby. Captain Cottineau told me he had Sunk the brigantine, and ransomed the Sloop, laden With building timber that had been taken the day before. I had told Captain Cottineau the day before, that I had no authority to ransom prizes.

On the 21 we saw and chaced two sail, of Flamborough Head, the Pallas chaced in the N. E. quarter, while the B. H. R. followed by the Vengeance chaced in the S. W. The one I chaced, a brigantine collier in ballast belonging to Scarborough, Was Soon taken, and Sunk immediately afterwards, as a fleet then appeared to the Southward. This was so late in the day that I Could not Come up With the fleet before Night; at Length, however, I got so near one of them, as to force her to run ashore, between Flamborought Head and the Spurn. Soon after I took another, a brigantine from holland belonging to Sunderland; and at DayLight the next morning, Seeing a fleet Steering towards me from the Spurn, I imagined them to be a convoy, bound from London for Leith, which had been for some time Expected, one of them had a pendant hoisted, and appeared to be a ship of force, they had not, however, Courage to Come on, but keept Back all Except the one Which Seemed to be armed, and that one also keept to Windward very near the land, and on the Edge of dangerous Shoals Where I could not With Safety approach.

This induced me to make a Signal for a pilot, and Soon afterward two pilot boats Came off; they informed me that the Ship that Wore a pendant Was an armed merchant Ship, and that a King’s frigate lay there in Sight, at anchor Within the Humber, waiting to take under Convoy a number of merchant Ships bound to the northward. The pilots imagined the B. H. R. to be an English Ship of War, and consequently Communicated to me the private Signal Which they had been required to make. I Endeavoured by this means to decoy the Ships out of the port, but the Wind then changing, and With the tide becoming unfavourable for them, the deception had not the desired effect, and they Wisely put back. The Entrance of the Humber is Exceedingly difficult and dangerous, and as the Pallas was not in sight, I thought it not prudent to remain off the Entrance; i therefore Steered out again to join the Pallas off Flamborough Head. In the night We Saw and chaced two Ships, until 3 o’clock in the morning, When being at a Very Small distance from them, I made the private Signal of reconnoisance, Which I had given to Each captain before I Sailed from Groa. One half of the answer only Was returned. In this position both Sides lay too till dayLight, When the Ships proved to be the Alliance and the Pallas.

On the morning of that day, the 23, the brig from Holland not being in Sight, we chaced a brigantine that appeared Laying too to Winward. About noon We Saw and chaced a large ship that appeared Coming round Flamborough Head, from the Northward, and at the same time I manned and armed one of the pilot boats to send in pursuit of the brigantine, Which now appeared to be the Vessel that I had forced ashore. Soon after this a fleet of 41 Sail appeared of Flamborough Head, bearing N. N. E.; this induced me to abandon the Singl Ship Which had then anchored in Burlington Bay; I also Called back the pilot boat and hoisted a Signal for a general chace. When the fleet discovered us bearing down, all the merchant ships Crowded Sail towards the Shore. The two Ships of War that protected the fleet, at the Same time Steered from the land, and made the disposition for the battle. In approaching the Enemy I crowded Every possible Sail, and made the Signal for the line of battle, to Which the Alliance Showed no attention. Earnest as I Was for the action, I Could not reach the Commodore’s Ship until Seven in the evening, being then within pistol shot. When he hailed the B. H. R., we answered him by firing a Whole broadside.

The battle being thus begun, Was Continued With unremitting fury. Every method was practised on both Sides to gain an advantage, and rake Each other ; and I must Confess that the Enemie’s Ship being much more manageable than the B. H. R., gained thereby several times an advantageous situation, in spite of my best endeavours to prevent it. As I had to deal With an Enemy of greatly Superior force, I was under the necessity of Closing with him, to prevent the advantage Which he had over me in point of manoeuvre.

It was my intention to lay the B. H. R. athwart the enemie’s bow, but as that operation required great dexterity in the management of both Sails and helm, and Some of our braces being Shot away, it did not exactly succeed to my Wishes, the Enemie’s bowsprit, however, came over the B. H. R.’s poop by the mizen mast, and I made both Ships fast together in that Situation, Which by the action of the Wind on the Enemie’s Sails, forcer her Stern close to the B. H. R.’s bow, so that the Ships lay Square along side of each other, the yards being all entagled, and the cannon of Each Ship touching the opponent’s Side. When this position took place it Was 8 o’clock, previous to which the B. H. R. had received sundry eighteen pounds Shot below the water, and Leaked Very much. My battery of 12 pounders, on Which I had placed my chief dependance, being Commanded by Lieut. Deal and Col. Weibert, and manned principally with American seamen, and French Volunteers, Were entirely silenced and abandoned. As to the six old eighteen pounders that formed the Battery of the Lower gun-deck, they did no Service Whatever: two out of three of them burst at the first fire, and killed almost all the men Who Were stationed to manage them. before this time too, Col. de Chamillard, Who Commanded a party of 20 soldiers on the poop had abandoned that Station, after having lost some of his men. I had now only two pieces of Cannon, nine pounders, on the Quarter deck that Were not silenced, and not one of the heavyer Cannon Was fired during the rest of the action. The purser, Mr. Mease, Who Commanded the guns on the Quarter deck, being dangerously Wounded in the head, I was obliged to fill his place, and With great difficulty rallied a few men, and Shifter over one of the Lee quarter-deck guns, So that We afterward played three pieces of 9 pounders upon the Enemy. The tops alone Seconded the fire of this little battery, and held out bravely during the Whole of the action; Especially the main top, Where Lieut. Stack commanded. I directed the fire of one of the three Cannon against the main-mast, With double-headed Shot, While the other two Were exceedingly Well Served With Grape and Cannister Shot to Silence the Enemie’s musquetry, and clear her decks, Which Was at last Effected. The Enemy Were, as I have Since understood, on the instant of Calling for quarters, When the Cowardice or treachery of three of my under officers induced them to Call to the Enemy. The English Commodore asked me if I demanded quarters, and I having answered him in the most determined negative, they renewed the battle with Double fury ; they Were unable to Stand the deck, but the fire of their Cannon, especially the lower battery, Which Was Entirely formed of 18 pounders, Was incessant, both Ships Were Set on fire in Various places, and the Scene was dreadful beyond the reach of Language. To account for the timidity of my three under officers, I mean the gunner, the carpenter, and the master-at-arms, I must observe that the two first Were Slightly Wounded, and as the Ship had received Various Shots under Water, and on of the pumps being Shot away, the Carpenter Expressed his fear that she Should Sin, and the other two concluded that She Was Sinking; Which occasioned the gunner to run aft on the poop without my Knowledge, to Strike the Colours. fortunately for me, a Cannon ball had done that before, by carrying away the ensign staff: he was therefore reduced to the necessity of Sinking, as he Supposed, or of Calling for quarter, and he preferred the Latter.

All this time the B. H. R. has Sustained the action alone, and the Enemy, though much Superior in force, Would have been Very glad to have got clear, as appears by their own acknowledgements, and by their having let go an anchor the instant that I laid them on board, by Which means they Would have escaped had I not made them well fast to the B. H. R.

At last, at half past 9 o’clock, the Alliance appeared, and I now thought the battle was at an End; but, to my utter astonishment, he discharged a broadside full into the stern of the B. H. R. We called to him for God’s Sake to forbear firing into the B. H. R.; yet he passed along the off Side of the Ship and continued firing. There was no possibility of his mistaking the Enemie’s Ship for the B. H. R., there being the most essential difference in their appearance and Construction; besides, it Was then full moon Light, and the Sides of the B. H. R. Were all black, while the Sides of the prizes Were yellow. yet, for the greater Security, I Shewed the Signal of our reconnoissance, by putting out three Lanthorns, one at the head, (Bow,) another at the Stern, (Quarter,) and the third in the middle, in a horizontal line. Every tongue Cried that he Was firing into the Wrong Ship, but nothing availed; he passed round, firing into the B. H. R.’s head, stern, and broadside, and by one of his Vollies Killed several of my best men, and mortally wounded a good officer on the forecastle. My Situation Was really deplorable. The B. H. R. received various Shot under Water from the Alliance; the Leack gained on the pump, and the fire increased much on board both Ships. Some officers persuaded me to strike, of Whose Courage and good sense I entertain an high opinion. My treacherous master-at-arms let Loose all my prisoners Without my Knowledge, and my prospect became gloomy indeed. I Would not, however, give up the point. The Enemie’s main-mast begain to shake, their firing decreased, our Rather increased, and the British colours Were Struck at half an hour past 10 o’clock.

This prize proved to be the British Ship of War the Serapis, a New Ship of 44 guns, built on their most approved Construction, With two compleat batteries, one of them of 18 pounders, and Commanded by the brave Commodore Richard Pearson. I had yet two enemies to encounter far more formidable than the britons; I mean fire and Water. The Serapis Was attacked only by the first, but the B. H. R. Was assailed by both: there Was five feet Water in the hould, and Tho it Was moderate from the Explosion of so much gunpowder, yet the three pumps that remained Could With difficulty only Keep the Water from gaining. The fire broke out in Various parts of the Ship, in spite of all the Water that could be thrown to quench it, and at length broke out as low as the powder magazine, and Within a few inches of the powder. in that dilema, I took out the powder upon the deck, ready to be thrown overboard at the Last Extremity, and it was 10 o’clock the next day, the 24, before the fire Was entirely Extinguished. With respect to the situation of the B. H. R., the rudder Was Cut entirely off, the stern frame, and the transoms Were almost Entirely Cut away, the timbers, by the lower Deck especially, from the mainmast to the Stern, being greatly decayed with age, Were mangled beyond my power of description, and a person must have been an Eye-Witness to form a just idea of the tremendous scene of Carnage, Wreck, and ruin, that Every Where appeared. Humanity Cannot but recoil from the prospect of Such finished horror, and Lament that War Should produce Such fatal consequences.

After the Carpenters, as well as Capt. de Cottineau, and other men of Sense, had Well Examined and Surveyed the Ship, (Which Was not finished before five in the Evening,) I found every person to be Convinced that it Was impossible to keep the B.H.R. afloat so as to reach a port if the Wind Should increase, it being then only a Very moderate breeze. I had but Little time to remove my Wounded, which now became unavoidable, and Which Was effected in the Course of the night and the next morning. I Was determined to Keep the B. H. R. afloat, and, if possible, to bring her into port. For that purpose, the first lieutenant of the Pallas continued on board, With a party of men to attend the pumps, With boats in Waiting ready to take them on board, in Case the Water Should gain on them too fast. The Wind augmented in the Night and the next day, on the 25, So that it Was impossible to prevent the good old Ship from Sinking. They did not abandon her till after 9 o’clock: the Water Was then up to the Lower deck; and a little after ten, I Saw With inexpressible grief the last glimpse of the B. H. R. No Lives were lost With the Ship, but it Was imppossible to save the stores of any sort Whatever, I Lost even the best part of my Cloaths, books, and papers; and Several of my officers lost all their Cloaths and Effects.

Having thus Endeavoured to give a Clear and Simple relation of the Circumstances and Events that have attended the little armament under my com, I Shall freely Submit my Conduct therein to the Censure of my Superiors and the impartial public. I beg leave, however, to observe, that the force that Was put under my command Was far from being Well composed, and as the great majority of the actors in it have appeared bent on the pursuit of intrest only, I am Exceedingly sorry that they and I have been at all concerned. I am in the highest degree Sensible of the Singular attentions Which I have Experienced from the Court of France, Which I Shall remember With perfect gratitude until the End of my Life ; and Will always Endeavour to merit, while I Can, Consistent With my honour, Continue in the public Service. I must speak plainly. As I have been always honored With the full Confidence of Congress, and as I also flattered myself With Enjoying in Some measure the Confidence of the Court of France, I Could not but be astonished at the Conduct of M. de Chaumont, When, in the moment of my departure from Groa, he produced a paper, a Concordat, for me to Sign, in Common with the officers Whom I had Commissioned but a few days before. Had that paper, or Even a less dishonorable one, been proposed to me at the beginning, I would have rejected it With Just Contempt ; and the Word deplacement among others should have been necessary. I Cannot, however, Even now Suppose that he Was authorized by the Court to make Such a Bargain With me; Nor Can I Suppose that the minister of the marine meant that M. de Chaumont should Consider me merely as a Colleague With teh Commanders of the other Ships, and Communicate to them not only all he Knew, but all he thought, respecting our destination and operations. M. de Chaumont has made me Various reproaches on account of the Expence of the B. H. R. wherewith I cannot think I have been justly chargeable. M. de Chamillard can attest that the B. H. R. Was at Last far from being well fitted or armed for War. If any person or persons Who have been charged With the Expense of that armament have acted Wrong, the fault must not be Laid to my charge. I had no authority to Superintend that armament, and the persons Who had authority Were So far from giving me What I thought necessary, that M. de Chaumont Even refused, among other things, to allow me Irons for securing the prisoners of War.

In Short, While my Life remains, if I have any Capacity to render good and acceptable Services to the Common Cause, no man Will Step Forth with greater cheerfulness and alacrity than myself, but I am not made to be dishonoured, nor can I accept of the half Confidence of any man living ; of Course I Cannot, Consistent With my honor and a prospect of Success, undertake future Expeditions, unless When the object and destination is communicated to me alone, and to no other person in the marine Line. In Cases Where troops are Embarked, a like confidence is due alone to their Commander in Chief. On no other Condition Will I ever undertake the Chief Command of a private Expedition; and when I do not Command in Chief, I have no desire to be in the secret.

Captain Cottineau Engaged the Countess of Scarborough and took her after an hour’s action, while the B. H. R. Engaged the Serapis. The Countess of Scarborough is an armed ship of 20 six pounders, and Was Commanded by a King’s officer. In the action, the Countess of Scarborough and the Serapis Were at a Considerable distance asunder ; and the Alliance, as I am informed, fired into the Pallas and Killed some men. If it Should be asked Why the Convoy Was Suffered to Escape, I must answer, that I Was myself in no condition to pursue, and that none of the rest Shewed any inclination, not even Mr. Ricot, who had held off at a distance to Windward during the Whole Action, and Witheld by force the pilot boat With my Lieutenant and 15 men. The Alliance too, Was in a State to pursue the fleet, not having had a Single man wounded, or a Single Shot fired at her from the Serapis, and only three that did execution from the Countess of Scarborough, at such a distance that one Stuck in the Side, and the other two just touched and then dropped into the Water. The Alliance killed one man only on board the Serapis. As Captain de Cottineau charged himself with manning and securing the prisoners of the Countess of Scarborough ; I think the escape of the Baltic fleet Cannot So Well be Charged to his account.

I should have mentioned, that the main-mast and mizen-top-mast of the Serapis fell overboard soon after the captain had come on board the B. H. R.

Upon the Whole, the captain of the Alliance has beheaved so Very Ill in Every respect, that I must complain loudly of his Conduct. He pretends that he is authorized to act independent of my command: I have been taught the Contrary ; but Supposing it to be so, his Conduct has been base and unpardonable. M. de Chamillard Will Explain the particulars. Either Captain Landais or myself is highly Criminal, and one or the other must be punished. I forbear to take any steps With him until I have the advice and approbation of your Excellency. I have been advised by all the officers of the Squadron to put M. Landais under arrest; but as I have postponed it So long, I Will bear With him a Little Longer until the return of my Express.

We this Day anchored here having, Since the action been tossed to and from by Contrary Winds. I Wished to have gained the Road of Dunkirk on account of our prisoners, but Was Overruled by the majority of my Colleagues. I Shall heasten up to Amsterdam, and there if I meet With no orders for my government, I Will take the advice of the French Ambassador. It is my present intention to have the Countess of Scarborough ready to transport the prisoners from hence to Dunkirk, unless it should be found more Expedient to deliver them to the English ambassador, taking his obligation to Send to Dunkirk, &c. immediately an Equal number of American prisoners. I am under Strong apprehensions that our object here will fail, and that thro’ the imprudence of M. de Chaumont, who has Communicated Every thing he Knew or thought on the matter to persons Who Cannot help talking of it at a full table. This is the way he keeps State Secrets, tho’ he never mentioned the affair to me.

I am ever, &c.
JNO. P. JONES.
His Excellency BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQUIRE, &c. &c.

[This manuscript bears the contemporaneous endorsement: "An exact copy."-COMPILER.]

BY JAMES PRICHARD
Associated Press Writer
April 01. 2007
Click Here for Original Article

HOLLAND, Mich. — Capt. Robert Lind struggled to keep the DC-4 aloft during the raging thunderstorm as the airliner approached southern Lake Michigan from the east.

Strong winds and frequent lightning had knocked out the power that evening along much of the lake’s southeastern coast, from Holland down to Benton Harbor.

Three pilots who had taken off from Detroit turned around because of the turbulence they encountered at the edge of the fierce storm.
Lind had taken off a few hours earlier from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Northwest Airlines Flight 2501, carrying 55 passengers and three crew members, was scheduled to arrive the next morning in Seattle after making stops in Minneapolis and Spokane, Wash.

It never made it.

Flight 2501 crashed into Lake Michigan late on June 23, 1950, killing Lind and the 57 others on board. At the time, it was the deadliest airliner accident in the nation’s history.

While a Coast Guard cutter found most of the debris in the water about 18 miles north-northwest of Benton Harbor, no one is certain exactly where the plane went down.

Within a couple weeks of the crash, some partial human remains washed ashore near South Haven, Mich., which is about midway between Holland and Benton Harbor.

Next month, Valerie and Jack van Heest and their nonprofit group, Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates, will resume their nearly 3-year-old search for the crash site. They hope to find at least one of the plane’s four engines intact.

“We have a much greater chance of narrowing down the area this year than we ever have in the past,” said Valerie van Heest, 46, who has put her marketing and graphic design career on hold to focus on the search. She’s also trying to contact victims’ relatives to make them aware of her group’s efforts.

The hunt will take place about 15 to 20 miles off the coast of South Haven, in the same general area of the lake where the van Heests’ group previously located the well-preserved remains of a historic, 208-foot-long steamer, the Hennepin, upright in 230 feet of water.

The Holland-area couple has the financial backing of best-selling adventure novelist Clive Cussler, who learned through a 2004 newspaper article about their interest in locating the plane crash site and called to offer his support, van Heest said.

Cussler founded a nonprofit group in 1979 called the National Underwater Marine Agency to aid in the discovery of historically significant shipwrecks and the preservation of their artifacts. Its most significant discovery probably was the Confederate submarine Hunley, found in 1995 buried in silt and sand near Charleston, S.C.

The van Heests started searching for Flight 2501 in the fall of 2004, aided by sonar expert Ralph Wilbanks, whom Cussler provided. They conducted additional searches in May 2005 and again last May.

“It is a good mystery. Nobody’s quite sure exactly what happened and it certainly was a significant tragedy in its day,” said Dirk Cussler, who has co-authored a couple of books with his father and runs their shipwreck group.

The accident-investigation report released Jan. 18, 1951, by the Civil Aeronautics Board said “there is not sufficient evidence upon which to make a determination of probable cause.” Investigators found only small pieces of debris — seat cushions and arm rests, clothing, blankets, pillows, pieces of luggage, plywood flooring and the aircraft’s log book — and concluded that the DC-4 “struck the water with considerable force.”

Van Heest said she has found the representatives of 20 of the families who lost loved ones. It’s important to her that she reach as many as she can.

“I don’t want anything out of this except the satisfaction of helping them come to grips or closure or whatever you would call it with this accident,” she said.

Bill Kaufmann was 6 years old when his mother, Jean, was killed in the crash. Now 63 and an attorney with a law practice in Oakland, Calif., Kaufmann said he doesn’t expect much to come from the latest search but he hopes that they will find something — anything — that would provide him with some answers.

“I’d like to know what happened,” Kaufmann said.

He and the relatives of another crash victim took part in a memorial ceremony last May that the van Heests organized on the water near where they believe the crash happened.

Mary Fenimore, 39, of Wilmington, Del., who works in public relations for a nonprofit agency, said the crash killed her maternal grandparents, William and Rosa Freng, and her mother’s sister, Barbara Freng. William Freng, whose family lived in Rye, N.Y., was vice president and chief counsel of International Telephone and Telegraph.

Fenimore said she was skeptical of van Heest’s motives at first, but quickly grew to understand her intentions and appreciate her efforts.

“I’m eternally grateful for people like her who are willing to put their own time and resources in to give the rest of us a little piece of mind,” she said.

by Di Freeze

“Dirk Pitt enjoyed working with his hands on things mechanical, especially on the old classic automobiles in his collection in Washington. Adventure was his narcotic. He was in paradise when flying antique aircraft or diving on historic shipwrecks.”

Excerpted from “Sahara”

The mere mention of bestselling author Clive Cussler, “the grand master of adventure,” and Dirk Pitt, his famous protagonist, prompts a list of similarities, especially since both collect classic automobiles and love looking for shipwrecks. The fact that the author, who has always considered himself an “entertainer” more than a writer, has endowed Pitt with his passions has undoubtedly fueled Cussler’s popularity.

“I try very hard to make my books fun and different by introducing the elements of old cars, shipwrecks and, yes, even an old derelict like me,” said Cussler, whose fans have looked forward to his “Hitchcock-like walk-ons over the years.

As far as other similarities, they both quit smoking years ago, and when Cussler went from drinking Cutty Sark scotch to Bombay Gin, Pitt did too. They also both developed a taste for Don Julio anejo tequila at about the same time.

But there is one big difference between Cussler and Pitt. Pitt, a major in the Air Force, is a pilot; although Cussler also served in the Air Force, he isn’t a pilot.

Since he isn’t, it’s intriguing that his character lives in an aircraft hangar in Washington, D.C., at Washington International Airport. No hangar would be complete without aircraft, and Pitt has two: a Ford Trimotor “Tin Goose” and a Messerschmitt 262 “Swallow” jet fighter.

Since he’s not a pilot, it’s not surprising that Cussler doesn’t own any planes himself, but he actually did try to buy an old Trimotor once.

“The elderly fellow who owned the aircraft wanted $2 million dollars for it, and I barely had enough to buy the landing wheels,” he reflected.

Pitt’s hangar houses his transportation collection, including a Pullman Railroad car and nearly 50 cars. Cussler, who splits his time between Colorado and Arizona, houses a vast collection of automobiles in Colorado. But don’t go looking for them at your local airport.

“Mine are stored in a warehouse near Denver,” he said.

The beginning

Clive Cussler was born in Aurora, Ill., on July 15, 1931, but spent his early childhood growing up across the upper Midwest in Minneapolis, Minn.; Terre Haute, Ind.; and Louisville, Ky. As he was about to start kindergarten, his family moved back to Minneapolis.

When Clive almost died from a severe case of pneumonia, his father decided to accept a position in Los Angeles in the winter of 1937. They settled in Alhambra, Calif. where they remained for the next 23 years.

After a year at Pasadena City College, during the summer of 1950, Cussler and an old school friend took off in a 1939 Ford convertible and toured the country. They were so caught up in their adventure that they paid little attention to the news. When they returned, they were shocked to discover that all their friends had enlisted in the military, due to the Korean conflict.

The two rushed to sign up for flight training, in the Air Force or Navy, but discovered that flight schools had a nine-month backlog, due to the many college students that had enlisted that summer. Although they wouldn’t be flying, they did sign up with the Air Force.

Cussler completed basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Already a “car nut,” he requested the motor pool, but the job classification sergeant assigned him to aircraft maintenance instead.

Cussler said the Air Force had the irrational notion that because he loved rebuilding old automobiles, he’d “simply adore” maintaining C-97 Boeing Stratocruisers. But that wasn’t the case.

“I guess I worked on them for almost two years and then they needed some flight engineers,” Cussler said. “I already knew how to run up engines and the whole bit, so then it was just a short course on actually flying over long distances.”

Cussler made a number of trips to Japan, Hawaii and San Francisco.

“We would carry critical (medical) supplies over,” he said. “Then we’d fly the wounded back to the West Coast.”

After graduating from mechanic school, Cussler’s first duty assignment was Hickham Field, Hawaii. Although he had already learned to love the sea in California, he said that hours spent skin diving off the island of Oahu with friends “enhanced it.”

He also continued to work on cars. He bought old ones, fixed them up and sold them to the troops arriving for service in the islands, as a supplement to the $130 a month he made as a buck sergeant.

At one point, he and two other friends decided to learn to fly and bought an aircraft.

“It was a little, light plane called a Luscombe,” Cussler said. “We repaired it and then we hired an instructor. It was a lot cheaper that way.”

But Cussler’s desire to learn to fly was quickly extinguished.

“I had about three hour’s solo time,” he said. “One day, I was just practicing a little bit. Then the engine quit. I managed to dead-stick, because it was a very easy plane to fly, down into a road in the middle of a pineapple field. Just as the tail came down, the left gear hit a pothole and the plane made a perfect 90-degree left turn. The wheels ran over about three or four of the pineapple irrigation ditches before they caught.”

The plane slowly nosed over, but Cussler said all it did was break the wooden prop.

“I remember just sitting in there, cursing,” he recalled. “All the workers came over and pulled the plane back up. I went and got my car and towed it back to the little airport where we kept it. I sold my interest, and that was it.”

Cussler said that like school, he and the Air Force “never really hit it off.” So he was thrilled when after three years, nine months and 16 days, he was discharged and could return to California. He celebrated the occasion by buying an XK120. But he would end up selling the classy modified Jaguar when he became engaged to Barbara Knight. He opted for a Nash Rambler station wagon instead, deciding it was the practical thing to do.

Cussler and Knight met in October 1951, and corresponded while he was overseas. They married in 1955, and moved into a small duplex in Alhambra. Barbara worked in the personnel department of the Southern California Gas Company. Clive pumped gas in a Union station in Los Angeles.

Six months later, he became partners with longtime friend, Dick Klein, in Clive & Dick’s Petrol Emporium, a Mobil Oil Station they leased on Ramona Boulevard and Garvey Avenue in Alhambra. Cussler said he and his partner were promoters, and came up with various schemes to get people to frequent their establishment. Those schemes worked, and the station was soon pumping 40,000 gallons a month.

Cussler celebrated by buying a triplex, and he and Klein talked about either buying or leasing a fleet of service stations, but when Mobil said no, they ended up selling out. The timing couldn’t have been better, because six months after they did, Garvey Boulevard was closed off to build the Long Beach Freeway, and the gallonage at the station soon plummeted to 11,000 a month.

After that, Cussler “drifted” for a while, selling the Encyclopedia Britannica, Lincoln-Mercury automobiles and a newspaper cartoon service to retail merchants, but he didn’t think he was good at sales. He soon found his niche, however, when Richard’s Lido Market, a plush supermarket in Newport Beach, Calif., hired him as advertising manager. He said all the necessary ingredients were there: “A devious mind combined with an industrious talent for innuendo, duplicity and hokum.”

Within six months, he was winning awards for creative advertising. The Cusslers, which now included a daughter, Teri, moved from their triplex in Alhambra to a rented apartment on the beach in Newport. The location made it easy for Cussler to body-surf in the morning before bicycling to his office at the supermarket.

Eighteen months later, they bought a small tract home in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Bestgen & Cussler

When he felt it was time for a change, Cussler left Richard’s to form a small advertising agency, Bestgen & Cussler, with Leo Bestgen. With Barbara home with their daughter and a new addition to the family, Dirk, who was born in 1961, Cussler made ends meet by working evenings in a liquor store in Laguna Beach.

Although the advertising agency had prospered, the two men decided to sell their accounts and close the doors after just three years. Cussler said Bestgen had a great artistic talent and preferred doing illustrations over “laying out mundane ads.” His dream, which he fulfilled, was to become involved in design and illustration. Cussler had decided he wanted to become a copywriter at a big-time advertising agency.

During the next several years, Cussler went to work at three national advertising agencies on Wilshire and Sunset boulevards, gradually working up to creative director. He worked on several accounts for well-known products including Budweiser, Ajax detergent, Royal Crown cola and Bank of America.

Eventually, he produced award-winning radio and television commercials, but his enthusiasm began to fade, and he once again began thinking about other ways to earn a living. In the meantime, Barbara, who had worked off and on since having their children—which now included another daughter, Dayna, born in 1964—began working nights for the local police department as a clerk, dispatcher and matron for female prisoners.

A lack of companionship after dinner and putting the children to bed prompted Cussler to decide to write a “little paperback series.” But he knew he’d have stiff competition from already famous authors and their established protagonists. That meant he’d have to come up with something different.

He researched popular series heroes beginning with Edgar Allan Poe’s Inspector Dumas, including Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, Bulldog Drummond, Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, Mike Hammer, Matt Helm and James Bond. His findings led him to rule out the possibility of writing about a secret agent, undercover investigator or detective. He also decided not to write murder mysteries.

Dirk Pitt

When his hero began to take shape in his mind, Cussler was inspired to name him after his son, who was often soundly sleeping while he banged away at an old typewriter. As far as a theme, Major Dirk Pitt’s adventures would be based on and under water.

Thirty-six when he was introduced to the world, Pitt was “a consummate man of action, courage and honor,” living by the moment and for the moment, “without regret.” Ruthless when necessary, he was the son of a United States senator who had graduated from the Air Force Academy.

His life of adventure began when Admiral James Sandecker, retired from the Navy, became the chief director of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency and persuaded Pitt to leave the Air Force and help him form NUMA. The Washington, D.C.-based organization would eventually grow to include 5,000 scientists and employees.

Pitt, a marine engineer, is given the title of special projects director. Capt. Al Giordino, a friend since childhood who also attended the Air Force Academy and flight school with Pitt, and joined NUMA at the same time, can be counted on to always share his adventures.

Cussler began his first action/adventure novel, “Pacific Vortex,” in 1965 and wrapped it up in 1969. Then, a large advertising agency offered him the position of creative director on a major account, with the tempting salary of $2,500 a month.

Luckily, his wife had run across a job that was a better fit for Dirk Pitt’s creator. Despite the fact that it only paid $400 a month, she called his attention to an ad in a help-wanted column for a clerk in a dive shop.

The owners of the Aquatic Center in Newport Beach had three stores. Although Cussler was overqualified, they hired him to work as a behind-the-counter salesman in their Santa Ana store.

Within weeks, besides being in charge of the store, Cussler was also acting as dive master on expeditions to Santa Catalina. When business was slow, he’d write on a portable typewriter he kept hidden on a card table behind the counter.

A little over a year later, he completed “The Mediterranean Caper,” returned to advertising, and began searching for an agent. He now had two books to sell, and had already received several rejection letters on the first.

Cussler didn’t know a single literary agent, but he came up with a cheeky scheme. He collected names of 25 agents in New York. Then, he had a logo made and printed stationery bearing the name of “The Charles Winthrop Agency.” He borrowed his parents’ address in a “ritzier neighborhood” to add credibility.

The first letter went out to Peter Lampack with the William Morris Agency in Manhattan. It read: “Dear Peter: As you know, I primarily handle motion picture and television screenplays; however, I’ve run across a pair of book-length manuscripts I think have a great deal of potential. I would pursue them, but I am retiring soon. Would you like to take a look at them?” Signed Charlie Winthrop.

Cussler was surprised to get a reply a week later saying Lampack would take a look at the manuscripts. It would be years before the author, with great trepidation, would admit the ruse. When he did, Lampack laughed uncontrollably and confessed he had always thought Winthrop was someone he met when he was drunk at a cocktail party.

After reading the manuscripts, Lampack replied that the first was “only fair,” but the second looked good, and asked where he could sign the author. With Lampack as his agent, Cussler once again left the advertising world. He also felt it was time to escape the smog and traffic of Southern California.

“I just wanted to write,” Cussler recalled. “I knew I could live anywhere, basically. So we sold the house, stored the furniture and bought a new car and a tent trailer and off we went.”

Cussler recalled that his family looked at their “escape” in the summer of 1970 in the Mercury Monterey four-door sedan as a “big adventure.” Their destination was “a nice little resort area off the beaten path.” After an enjoyable summer, they settled in Estes Park, Colo., a small, beautiful community at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

There, he began writing “Iceberg” in a leased alpine house with a spectacular view. By the time he had finished it, he was still an unpublished author. While Lampack tried to find a publisher for his second two books, Cussler began looking for a temporary job.

He applied at three Denver advertising agencies that had openings for a copywriter. Both of the first two agencies said he was overqualified. He decided to play down his achievements when he visited the last agency. It worked, and Hull/Mefford hired him.

His first assignments took minimal creative effort, so he spent the majority of his days clandestinely working on his next book. When he tired of the 65-mile drive to work, he moved the family to the suburban community of Arvada.

“We bought a house on Lookout Mountain,” he said. “We lived in that house about 17 years.”

Jerry Lips, our publisher, recognized Cussler’s genius when Lips, working for Executive West Magazine, sold advertising space to Hull/Mefford, and Cussler was assigned the task of creating the four-part campaign, in 1973. One in particular stands out.

“Clive had placed himself in several ads,” Lips recalled. “In one, he’s standing over a television he’s taken a sledgehammer to. The headline read, ‘Do you ever feel that your ad bombed in Broomfield?’”

Cussler’s star began to rise at Hull/Mefford after he was given a shot at an advertising campaign for one of their largest accounts, a savings and loan. With the theme of going out of the way to call the customers by name, his story board focused on a mean old lady who everyone avoids, except when she comes into the savings and loan, where she is treated like royalty.

Cussler was able to convince Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch in “The Wizard of Oz,” to play the little old lady. Following that, he produced a series of commercials featuring various other well-known character actors.

“I did some fun stuff,” he said.

While he was producing the TV commercials, he was also creating radio campaigns, resulting in several Cleos and International Broadcast Awards for the agency. When Hull/Mefford merged with another agency, Cussler benefited from the changes at first, receiving a raise and a new position as vice president of the creative department. However, his luck started to change when he turned down a promotion to executive vice president, and found that the first response between him and the man who took the role was “instant dislike.” A few months after that, he was told his “two-hour martini lunches” weren’t acceptable and he needed to clean out his desk.

It might’ve stung at the moment, but Cussler has never regretted being fired.

“Raise the Titanic!”

Perhaps his own boat being sunk might have caused him to look closely at the “Titanic” for the theme of his next book. He immediately began work on “Raise the Titanic!” in his “office,” which was a corner of his unfinished basement. For the book, he used a prelude based in the past for the first time. That would become common in future Pitt adventures.

In the meantime, Lampack’s persistence finally paid off. In 1973, “The Mediterranean Caper” was published by Pyramid Books, a small third-level paperback publisher, and the firm of Sphere Books in London, where it was titled “Mayday!” Pyramid paid Cussler $5,000 for the book, which sold for 75 cents retail.

Shortly after that, the Mystery Writers of America nominated the book as one of the five best paperback mysteries of 1973. He didn’t win, but Cussler was buoyed by the fact that his peers thought he could write. Less than a year later, Dodd Mead bought “Iceberg,” also for $5,000, for hard-cover publication.

However, Dodd Mead wasn’t as impressed with “Raise the Titanic!” They rejected it, and although Putnam was interested, Cussler refused the massive rewrite they wanted. That opened the door for Viking Press to acquire it. Cussler’s payment was $7,500.

What happened next brought Cussler another $22,000. While visiting a friend at Viking, an editor from Macmillan, in London, heard about “Raise the Titanic!” and asked for a copy of the manuscript to read. Although he liked it and wanted to buy it, Sphere, which had bought “Iceberg,” had the first paperback option. Sphere would end up owning “Raise the Titanic!” but only after a bidding war with Macmillan.

About that same time, Cussler did something unheard of in the industry. He succeeded in getting back the rights to “The Mediterranean Caper,” which had gone out of print, from Pyramid. As a result, Sphere and Bantam Books reintroduced that book simultaneously in 1977, after the success of “Raise the Titanic!”

Next, after being told Playboy Publications had offered $4,000 for the paperback rights to “Iceberg,” of which he’d get half, he asked if instead he could pay Dodd Mead $5,000 for those rights. Cussler laughingly recalled that when the check reached Dodd Mead, rushed deposits from loans hadn’t yet cleared the bank, and it initially bounced.

In the meantime, British interest in “Raise the Titanic!” “boomeranged back to America,” and Lampack officiated over an auction among American paperback publishers. That morning, Cussler jokingly told his wife to quit her job when the bidding reached $250,000. They were incredulous when Bantam Books placed the winning bid of $840,000.

Bantam paid Cussler an additional $40,000 apiece for “The Mediterranean Caper” and “Iceberg,” fearing he might sell them to another publisher. Soon after that, Lampack concluded negotiations to sell “Raise the Titanic!” to Marble Arch Productions to be made into a motion picture. By then, Cussler was his biggest client; that’s when the author chose to tell Lampack about the non-existent Charles Winthrop.

“Screw You”

Cussler completed “Vixen 03,” which was published in hardcover by Viking Press, in 1978. The book, which deals with governmental corruption and biological weapons, begins at Buckley Field, in Colorado.

When Viking Press was sold to Penguin, a foreign publisher that overturned the old management, several established authors left. Cussler was also soon searching for an out. But first, per his last book contract, he had to fulfill his obligation of offering the publisher an option on his next book.

Cussler did that by offering them “I Went to Denver but It Was Closed,” a “silly manuscript” on the Denver advertising follies he had written “as a catharsis to being fired.” The manuscript was rejected, and Cussler was free. Bantam, wanting to get into the hardcover market, published “Nightprobe!” in 1981.

With Cussler’s books all now high on the bestseller list, when his new editor at Bantam discovered that “Pacific Vortex” had never been published, Cussler did as requested and got it off the closet shelf. Although he thought it was a pretty good story, he did spend three months rewriting it.

His editor received it enthusiastically, but when it was about to hit the shelves, Lampack, convinced the book would bomb, chose to hide away in Jamaica. He couldn’t have been more surprised when a week later he received a telegram from Cussler that read: “Screw you; ‘Pacific Vortex’ just went number two on the New York Times paperback list.”

Simon & Schuster published Cussler’s next book, “Deep Six,” in 1984, when they offered a much higher amount than Bantam. The paperback edition followed the next year, published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.

Cussler followed “Deep Six” with “Cyclops,” “Treasure” and “Dragon.” In that book, Pitt attends a classic car concours, where he races an older gentleman named Clive Cussler. Although Cussler wrote it in as a joke, he began including himself in other scenes after hundreds of readers wrote in that they enjoyed seeing the author “inside” the novel.

The next Pitt adventure was “Sahara,” published in 1992. The novel begins in the past, near the end of the Civil War, when a Confederate ironclad named the “Texas” leaves Richmond carrying part of the Confederate treasury and the kidnapped Union president, Abraham Lincoln. Next, we are introduced to Kitty Mannock, a pioneer female aviator, who crashes her plane in Africa; her disappearance remains one of aviation’s great mysteries.

Jumping to the present, we’re shocked to find villagers attacking a tourist safari in Africa. It’s later discovered that the attackers have been exposed to chemicals in their water that made them go mad. Enter the beautiful Eva Rojas, a scientist with the World Health Organization, and Dirk Pitt, who comes to her rescue when she is targeted for assassination while searching for the source of toxic poison in Africa.

Pitt is soon smack in the middle of the intrigue, as well as Giordino and NUMA scientist Rudi Gunn, who race to save the day in a high-tech yacht named the “Calliope.”

“Sea Hunters”

Pitt had further adventures in “Inca Gold” and “Shock Wave,” before Cussler branched out into nonfiction with “The Sea Hunters; True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks,” in 1996. Co-written with Craig Dirgo, the book details the exploits of Cussler’s “real life” nonprofit foundation, the National Underwater and Marine Agency.

“Yes, Virginia, there really is a NUMA!” Cussler grins.

In 1979, Cussler, whose hobbies included searching for historic shipwrecks, was part of an expedition to find John Paul Jones’ ship, the “Bonhomme Richard.”

“I formed the foundation that year,” he said. “An attorney from Texas suggested that if I’m going to keep looking for historic shipwrecks, I should incorporate a nonprofit foundation. We did, and the trustees insisted on calling it NUMA. We’re dedicated to finding shipwrecks of historic significance, so they can be studied before they’re lost and gone forever.”

With his crew of volunteers, Cussler has discovered more than 60 lost ships. After verifying their finds, NUMA turns the rights to the artifacts over to nonprofits, universities or government entities all over the world.

“Sea Hunter” featured nine of the searches NUMA had undertaken by that time. Fourteen more were featured in “Sea Hunters II,” published in 2002.

“Sea Hunters” reached number five on the New York Times hardcover bestsellers list, and the introduction of the paperback edition gave Cussler his first number one bestseller. Because of that work, the board of governors of the Maritime College, State University of New York considered “The Sea Hunters” in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis and awarded Cussler a doctor of letters degree in May 1997.

“The most exciting discovery has been the Confederate submarine “Hunley,” which they raised,” Dr. Cussler said. “It’s being conserved there in Charleston.”

In the “Sea Hunters,” Cussler tells about meeting an old wharf rat in a waterfront saloon who told him, “If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth doing.”

“My sentiments exactly,” he said.

Cussler says that he was turned on to “the challenge of the search” back when he was co-owner of Clive and Dick’s Petrol Emporium. At that time, he used a stripped down 1948 Mercury convertible to go out into the Southern California desert and look for gold mines, ghost towns and anything that early prospectors or Spanish explorers might’ve left behind.

Cussler is also a fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. He has been honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration.

Creator and protagonist “revealed”

In 1997, “Flood Tide” opened on the New York Times hardcover bestseller fiction list at number three. In a first for a Dirk Pitt novel, it moved to number one the following week.

To satisfy the curiosity of millions of fans, Pocket Books published “Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed” in 1998. The book is a “complete look” into the author, including his famous car collection, and “the universe of Dirk Pitt.”

The book creatively begins with Cussler attending a party at Pitt’s hangar/home. As he wanders through the hangar, he admires the rows of cars, and takes in the antique metal signs—advertising gasoline brands, car manufacturers and soft drinks—as well as an ornate iron circular staircase that winds up to Pitt’s nautical-themed apartment. During his stay, Cussler meets Admiral Sandecker, Albert Giordino and Rudi Gunn, as well as an assortment of love interests and villains that his readers have come to know over the years, and finally Pitt.

The book answers many questions about Cussler and Pitt, including why, up to that point, the author had only ever sold one book to Hollywood.

“Not after the way they botched ‘Raise the Titanic!’” is the answer.

The 1980 movie starred Richard Jordan as Dirk Pitt, Jason Robards as Admiral James Sandecker, and M. Emmett Walsh as Al Giordino. Cussler described the screenwriting as “simply awful,” the direction as “amateurish,” and the editing as “pathetic.”

“Only John Barry’s musical score and the special effects were first-rate,” he lamented.

Cussler said he hadn’t been looking for a blockbuster motion picture, but he was hoping for a “production of quality, more of a classic than a run-of-the-mill car chase with special-effects explosions every five minutes.”

A year after “Raise the Titanic!” came out in the theaters, Cussler saw “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

“I almost cried,” the passionate author frankly admitted. “The manner in which Spielberg produced a fast-paced, nail-biting adventure was how I had envisioned the Pitt movie I never got.”

In the book, the author revealed that since “Raise the Titanic!” he and Lampack had received a multitude of offers, but had figured out that the producers in Hollywood were more interested in “the art of the deal than the art of creating a movie with scope and depth.”

“We’ve turned down many millions of dollars because I refuse to cheat my readers with another sloppy production,” he said at the time.

Cussler made it known that if he was to deal with Hollywood again, he wanted to have script and casting approval. One of his biggest concerns was that whoever played Dirk Pitt really fit the image he envisioned and had created for the readers. He was also convinced that whoever did play Pitt shouldn’t be a big box-office star, because the audience would only see the star, and not Pitt.

He believed that someday, someone would come along and sell him on the idea of adapting another one of his books, especially by giving him script, director and casting approval. Fans were thrilled when then found out in mid-2001 that Cussler had optioned the sought-after film rights to three books in the Dirk Pitt series, beginning with “Sahara.”

Finally, that movie hits the big screen April 8. It’s presented by Paramount Pictures and Bristol Bay Productions, the reorganized Crusader Entertainment, which was formed in 2000. The production firm is under the umbrella of the Anschutz Film Group, which was behind “Ray,” the award-winning movie that tells the life story of music legend Ray Charles. Walden Media is also under that umbrella.

But Cussler isn’t looking forward to the release.

“I don’t know whose book they were adapting, but I don’t think it was mine!” he said.

It’s hard not to feel heartbroken along with the author.

“They didn’t come anywhere near it!” he says of the adaptation. “Well, there are some similarities, but for the most part, they rewrote the whole story.”

Early last year, Cussler sued the production company, saying they ignored certain wishes he had for the movie. In his suit, Cussler said Crusader’s purchase of the motion picture rights gave him an unqualified right of approval over screenplays.

He told the “Denver Post” in 2004 that he approved a screenplay in 2001, but Crusader later changed the script without his approval. Cussler had asked the court to block the movie, saying Crusader violated his contract by making the film before he approved the script. The latest news is that a trial will take place this spring after the film’s release.

However, the script problem was just one disappointment. The project was originally scheduled to start in the fall of 2001, but it was postponed following Sept. 11. It was then rescheduled for the summer of 2002, then October 2002 and then January 2003. Production actually started in early February 2004.

The postponements resulted in Cussler losing out on his number one choice for who would play his beloved Dirk Pitt. That man was Hugh Jackman, who captured audiences as Logan/Wolverine in “X-Men” in 2000. Cussler thought he fit the image of the dark-haired, green-eyed Pitt perfectly.

But Jackman won’t be seen on the big screen as Dirk Pitt. When it finally came time to get down to business, he was unavailable.

“He was going to Broadway to do a play,” Cussler said.

By the time production actually began, Jackman had wrapped up “Someone Like You,” “Swordfish,” “Kate & Leopold,” and “X2.” Then, he began his run in “The Boy from Oz” on Broadway,” which officially opened in October 2003, and closed the following September.

However, several actors thought Jackman’s unavailability was great news. One of them was Matthew McConaughey, who ended up with the role. McConaughey has been seen in over 30 feature films, including starring roles in “A Time to Kill,” “Edtv,” “U-571,” “The Wedding Planner,” “Reign of Fire,” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.”

Most likely, knowing he wasn’t the author’s first pick, McConaughey did his best to change his mind. Since he was cast, Cussler has said the actor “could come off as a good Pitt.”

Cussler’s first choice for siren Eva Rojas, a scientist with the World Health Organization who becomes a target for assassination while searching for the source of toxic poison in Africa, was sultry Salma Hayek, but she won’t be seen in the movie either. Recent Tom Cruise love interest Penelope Cruz was cast as the beautiful doctor. Cruz’ past work includes “Vanilla Sky” and “Head in the Clouds.” Steve Zahn (“Employee of the Month” and “Daddy Day Care”) is Pitt’s sidekick Al Giordino, and William Macy (“Seabiscuit” and “Fargo”) plays Admiral James Sandecker.

“Sahara,” directed by Breck Eisner, was shot over five months in Morocco, Spain and Cameroon. Last month, Cussler couldn’t say if the movie was going to be a huge disappointment, since he hadn’t seen it. However, he has definitely given his stamp of approval to one cast member. His daughter, Dayna Cussler, plays aviatrix Kitty Mannock. And hopefully he’ll be pleasantly surprised regarding the other casting.

This article originally appeared in April 2005 within periodicals distributed by Airport Journals. Reprinted by permission of Di Freeze.