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 History Meets Technology in Computerized Drift Simulations
Press Release from Applied Science Associates.
It is a common misconception that the BHR
sank at the site of the battle with HMS Serapis. In fact,
the ship drifted for 36 hours afterward, with Jones' crew trying
to save her, which makes the search particularly challenging.
Prior to the Summer 2006 survey, OTF conducted extensive
archival research, created a Geographic Information System map
containing charts, wreck lists and geological data, and designed
the first computer hydrodynamic drift model created to find this
ancient shipwreck lost over 227 years ago. The end product was a
comprehensive GIS map and database of potentially significant
cultural resources and surface geologic features in the project
area where the BHR is believed to have sunk. Rhode Island-based
Applied Science Associates
created the software necessary to do the drift simulations.
 The
drift simulations incorporated intensive archival research
conducted by Peter Reaveley, an expert on the Battle of
Flamborough Head. It integrated all available eyewitness and
crew accounts of the battle waged between Serapis and BHR
into one chronological sequence and identified the most probable
positions of Jones’s fleet and BHR prior to its sinking.
Reaveley also extracted and analyzed all weather information
(e.g. winds, visibility, tides, sea state, etc.) for the period
Thursday, 23 September 1779, to Saturday, 25 September 1779
using eyewitness accounts. In addition, the Climatic Research
Unit at the University of East Anglia (UK) prepared a historical
weather analysis for these dates, including daily synoptic
weather charts, using historical data and copies of the weath er
data from the eyewitness reports. Reaveley, working with the
U.K. Hydrographic Office, also prepared a historical tidal
current analysis for these dates. All of this information was
integrated into the drift model and a series of models for the
ship were run using the expected variables of sail, wind and
current. This resulted in a predictive model (see image at
right), which included BHR’s course and identified three search
areas (not shown) for the location of the sinking. The drift
model was merged into the GIS in order to interpret all data
simultaneously during the survey.
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