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Ocean Observation: Gliders, Buoys & Sub-Surface Networks
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Dr. James
Delgado (Credit: James Delgado Collection)
NOAA’s Director of Maritime Heritage
By Kathy A. Smith early a century ago, Lieutenant Er- Just a week earlier, arriving at the house of a woman whose nest Larkin Jones was lost at sea. For grandfather had perished in the tragedy, Delgado prepared decades, his surviving descendants, himself. He knew the meeting would be very emotional on and the families of the other 55 sea- both sides.
men aboard the USS Conestoga had As he and his NOAA colleagues were greeted warmly by no idea what had happened to their Diane Gollnitz, granddaughter of Lieutenant Jones, Delgado’s loved ones. The ship that had left mind ? ashed back to the moment he knew for sure the elusive
Mare Island, near San Francisco Bay wreck’s identity – the encrusted barrel of a 3-inch/50-caliber
N on March 25, 1921 bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii had van- single-? re naval ri? e served as the proverbial “smoking gun” ished without a trace. that solidi? ed the sunken vessel’s place in U.S. naval history.
Fast forward to March 23, 2016. NOAA (National Oceanic Jones was the commanding of? cer of the ill-fated civilian
Atmospheric Administration) revealed to worldwide media coal-barge-towing tug, turned World War I supply transporta- that the wreck had ? nally been found – almost by accident – in tion and convoy escort. Delgado soon learned from Gollnitz the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in Califor- how the loss of Jones had taken a huge emotional toll on her nia. The announcement was made after several family mem- mother.
bers of the captain and crew had been personally noti? ed – a It was a special career-de? ning moment for Delgado, who, job Dr. James Delgado, NOAA’s director of maritime heritage very early on, had ambitions to become an astronaut. But that and his colleagues, take very seriously. all changed when he was introduced to archaeology and his-
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