The Search for USS Mississinewa - 7     

V. Acknowledgements:

The team wishes to acknowledge and thank the many individuals who helped make our discovery of the USS Mississinewa possible. Mike Mair, Ron Fulleman, and Sid Harris (with his incredible photographs) and all members of the USS Mississinewa Reunion Group made the expedition possible through their willingness to share historical facts and photos, critical to identifying our "cone of opportunity." Mike was in particular an enormous source of information and opened many doors.

Senator Tony Tareg and Chief Pisente not only listened to our story and gave their permission to look for the site, but also provided support in ways we may never fully appreciate. During our search, the islands in Ulithi actually ran low on gasoline (the standing shipment had been delayed). Mr. John Rulmal and the people of Ulithi agreed to release for our boat the islands' reserve fuel to permit us to continue the search - we would have run out of time without such cooperation. Mr. Rulmal also shared many stories about Ulithian history, which enriched our stay there greatly.

Ms. Lorry Leframour made sure we were well-stocked with food on the boat and educated us every night about Ulithian customs. We cannot thank our boat and dive crew enough. Faustino Yalomai, Mario Suk and Kenneth Wur Faustino, as well as a number of other Ulithians helped us every day haul our scuba gear to and from the boat - all unused till the last day - and spent days, in sun and rain, driving or riding in the boat with us in rough seas generated by the northeasterly trade winds, enduring countless east-west and north-south grid patterns, guided by our GPS and sonar readings. At one point Mario suggested that we really came to Ulithi to give their scuba tanks boat rides around the lagoon - happily, that did not prove to be true.

When we had a sense that we might be getting close on the sixth day (that is a whole other story), we again would have run out of diving time had not Peter Reichert from Pacific Missionary Airlines changed their schedule to pick us up a day later (imagine that!) - that extra day made it possible for us to find the ship.

Many other people helped us in ways that are hard to describe but deeply appreciated. Pat once again thanks his wife, Susan, and family for their incredibly ongoing support for his work. Chip and Pat thank XOMA Ltd. for putting up with our antics as we prepared for the trip - we especially thank Ken Wait for his help with the graphics. Finally we thank the Explorers Club for their ongoing interest in our efforts.