Innes McCartney

McCartney is a nautical archaeologist specializing in the interaction of shipwreck archaeology with the historical record.{{cite web |url=http://www.routledge.com/articles/author_innes_mccartney_on_how_shipwrecks_reveal_history/ |last=McCartney |first=Innes |title=Author Innes McCartney on how shipwrecks reveal history |publisher=Routledge |access-date=8 May 2024 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227033542/http://www.routledge.com/articles/author_innes_mccartney_on_how_shipwrecks_reveal_history/ |url-status=dead}}

In 1999, he discovered the 12-inch-gunned submarine {{HMS|M1|1917|6}} off Start Point in the English Channel.{{cite web |url=http://www.rnsubs.co.uk/Boats/BoatDB2/index.php?BoatID=186 |title=Submariners' Association Boat Database |access-date=15 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526191528/http://www.rnsubs.co.uk/Boats/BoatDB2/index.php?BoatID=186 |archive-date=26 May 2012 |url-status=dead}}

In 2001, he discovered the wreck of {{HMS|Indefatigable|1909|6}}, sunk at the Battle of Jutland.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.divernetxtra.com/news/items/ships290601.htm |title=Warships found |date=29 June 2001 |magazine=DIVER |access-date=12 December 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710134510/http://www.divernetxtra.com/news/items/ships290601.htm |archive-date=10 July 2011 |df=dmy-all}} In the same year he led expeditions to identify some of the U-boats sunk during Operation Deadlight. Fourteen U-boats were surveyed and several new sites discovered.{{cite web |url=http://www.uboat.net/gallery/DivingE/ |title=Operation Deadlight Expedition phase 1 |website=uboat.net}}{{cite web |url=http://www.uboat.net/gallery/DivingF |title=Operation Deadlight Expedition phase 2 |website=uboat.net}}

In 2003 he identified the mystery World War I U-boat off Trevose Head, Cornwall, as {{SMU|UB-65||2}}{{cite Uboat.net|id=UB+65|name=UB 65|type=1sub}} by scraping the propellers to reveal the shipyard stamp. This proved that even at a depth of {{convert|60|m}}, war graves of this type can be identified by divers without the need to scavenge parts from them. This featured in the Channel 4 series Wreck Detectives.

In 2006 he featured in the documentary U-boat Death-Trap which followed his search for the identity of three mystery U-boats off the north coast of Cornwall. In the same year he discovered the German auxiliary raider HSK Komet in the English Channel.{{cite magazine |title=Komet that turned fireball |magazine=Divernet – Diver Magazine Online |url=http://www.divernet.com/Wrecks/wrecks_general/159386/komet_that_turned_fireball.html |access-date=14 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017175131/http://divernet.com/Wrecks/wrecks_general/159386/komet_that_turned_fireball.html |archive-date=17 October 2011 |df=dmy-all}} At the time, it was the only known example of this type of warship anywhere in the world.

In 2008 he found the White Star Line transport {{SS|Armenian}} off the Scilly Isles.{{cite web |url=http://www.history.co.uk/shows/deep-wreck-mysteries/deep-wreck-mysteries/episodes.html |title=History Channel: Deep Wreck Mysteries episode guide |access-date=15 December 2011 |archive-date=16 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216010007/http://www.history.co.uk/shows/deep-wreck-mysteries/deep-wreck-mysteries/episodes.html |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://www.deepwreckmysteries.co.uk/home2/home2.html |title=Deep Wreck Mysteries home |access-date=15 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221155107/http://www.deepwreckmysteries.co.uk/home2/home2.html |archive-date=21 December 2014 |url-status=dead}}

In 2012 McCartney worked alongside wreck hunter David Mearns on an archaeological investigation of the wreck of {{HMS|Hood|51}}, sunk in 1941. This project was supported by philanthropist Paul Allen aboard his yacht Octopus. The expedition findings were featured in the Channel Four documentary, How the Bismarck sank HMS Hood.{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-the-bismarck-sank-hms-hood/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1 |title=How the Bismark sank HMS Hood |website=Channel Four}}

2015 saw publication of The Maritime Archaeology of a Modern Conflict: comparing the archaeology of German submarine wrecks to the historical text.{{cite journal |journal=The International Journal of Maritime Archaeology |publisher=Nautical Archaeology Society |volume=46 |issue=1 |date=March 2017 |pages=212–214 |title=The Maritime Archaeology of a Modern Conflict: comparing the archaeology of German submarine wrecks to the historical text INNES MCCARTNEY 328pp., numerous maps and illustrations, Routledge, 2015, £90, ISBN 978-1138814356 |last=Grove |first=Eric |department=Reviews |doi=10.1111/1095-9270.12219 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2017IJNAr..46..212G }} It shows the extent to which historical sources relating U-boat losses in UK waters in both world wars differ from the actual distribution of the known and identified wrecks. Over 40% of those investigated had no historical precedent. The accuracy of the historic text fell as low as 36% during 1945.

In 2015 and 2016 McCartney worked as archaeological advisor to the Sea War Museum Jutland on detailed archaeological shipwreck surveys to locate all of the heretofore undiscovered wrecks of the Battle of Jutland. This was published in Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield,{{cite book |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23r_CwAAQBAJ&q=jutland+1916+the+archaeology&pg=PA27 |title=Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield |first=Innes |last=McCartney |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2016 |isbn=978-1844864164}} for which he was awarded the 2016 Anderson Medal by the Society for Nautical Research.

The British submarine {{HMS|Tarpon|N17}} was also located during the North Sea surveys in 2016.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/05/wreck-second-world-war-british-submarine-hms-tarpon-denmark?CMP=share_btn_link |title=Wreck of second world war British submarine found off Denmark |newspaper=The Guardian}}

In 2016, McCartney helped Scottish Power identify a World War I UB-III Class U-boat off the Wigtownshire coast which was found during the seabed survey for an undersea power cable between England and Scotland.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-37691283 |title=Wreck of German U-boat found off coast of Stranraer |work=BBC News |date=19 October 2016}} McCartney has suggested the wreck is {{SMU|UB-82||2}}, or possibly {{SMU|UB-85||2}}, which were both sunk after attacks by British patrol boats in April 1918.{{cite news |url=http://news.sky.com/story/german-world-war-one-u-boat-wreck-found-off-scottish-coast-10623321 |title=German World War One U-boat wreck found off Scottish coast}}

In 2017 he assisted the Sea War Museum Jutland in a detailed survey of the Scapa Flow naval anchorages.{{cite news |first=Craig |last=Taylor |date=9 February 2017 |title=A day that changed the face of Orkney |newspaper=The Orcadian |location=Kirkwall}} The results were published in May 2019 in SCAPA 1919: The Archaeology of a Scuttled Fleet.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxXMuAEACAAJ |title=SCAPA 1919: The Archaeology of a Scuttled Fleet |first=Innes |last=McCartney |publisher=Osprey |year=2019 |isbn=978-1472828903 |via=Google Books}}

In May 2020 it was announced that the wreck of the landing craft LCT 326 had been found off Bardsey Island during surveys by Bangor University, in collaboration with McCartney. The wreck is located over {{convert|100|nmi}} from its supposed loss position.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/06/wreck-of-second-world-war-landing-craft-found-off-wales-after-77-years |title=Wreck of second world war landing craft found off Wales after 77 years |newspaper=The Guardian |date=6 May 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-52561209 |title=World War Two mystery solved after Wales wreck discovery |publisher=BBC Wales |date=6 May 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bangor.ac.uk/oceansciences/news/discovery-of-a-ww2-landing-craft-off-wales-ends-77-year-old-mystery-43610 |title=Discovery of a WW2 Landing Craft off Wales ends 77 year old mystery |publisher=Bangor University}} In September 2021 as part of the same project, it was announced that the minesweeper HMS Mercury had been found in the Irish Sea. It sank in 1940 during sweeping operations.{{cite web |url=https://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/discovery-of-the-minesweeper-hms-mercury |title=Discovery of the minesweeper HMS MERCURY |publisher=Bangor University}}

In September 2022 it was announced that the wreck of the liner SS Mesaba had been identified by McCartney in the Irish Sea during surveys by Bangor University. The ship is famous for having radioed an ice warning, picked up by {{RMS|Titanic}} which later struck an iceberg and sank with high loss of life in the North Atlantic Ocean.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-63039737 |title=Titanic: Ship that sent iceberg warning found in Irish Sea |publisher=BBC Wales |date=27 September 2022}} SS Mesaba was sunk by German submarine {{SMU|UB-118||2}} on 1 September 1918. SS Mesaba, LCT 326 and HMS Mercury are examples of the 273 shipwrecks surveyed by Bangor University and assessed by McCartney in a Leverhulme Trust-funded research project, published as a single-authored monograph, Echoes from the Deep.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wpYqzwEACAAJ |title=Echoes from the Deep: Inventorising Shipwrecks at the National Scale by the Application of Marine Geophysics and the Historical Text |first=Innes |last=McCartney |publisher=Sidestone |year=2016 |isbn=978-9464261172 |via=Google Books}} The project led to the naming of 87% of the wrecks surveyed.

• The Anderson Medal of the Society for Nautical Research (UK, 2016) awarded for {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23r_CwAAQBAJ&q=jutland+1916+the+archaeology&pg=PA27|title=Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield|isbn=9781844864171|last1=McCartney|first1=Innes|date=19 May 2016|publisher=Bloomsbury }}
• D.K. Brown Memorial Lecture of the World Ship Society (UK, 2016)
• Reg Vallintine Achievement Award of the Historical Diving Society (UK, 2014) awarded for {{cite web | url = https://www.academia.edu/7684909 | title = The "Tin Openers" Myth and Reality }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

• {{cite book| url=https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep|title=ECHOES FROM THE DEEP: Inventorising shipwrecks at the national scale by the application of marine geophysics and the historical text| author=Innes McCartney| publisher=Sidestone| year=2022| isbn=978-9464261165}}
• {{cite journal|last=McCartney|first=Innes|title=The Archaeology of Second World War U-boat Losses in the English Channel and its Impact on the Historical Record |journal=Mariner's Mirror|volume=106|issue=1|pages=62–81|date=2020| doi=10.1080/00253359.2020.1692578|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxXMuAEACAAJ|title=SCAPA 1919: The Archaeology of a Scuttled Fleet| author=Innes McCartney| publisher=Osprey| year=2019| isbn=978-1472828903}}
• {{cite journal|last=McCartney|first=Innes|title=The Archaeology of First World War U-boat Losses in the English Channel and its Impact on the Historical Record |journal=Mariner's Mirror|volume=105|issue=2|pages=183–201|date=2019| doi=10.1080/00253359.2019.1589114|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal|last=McCartney|first=Innes|title=Scuttled in the Morning: the discoveries and surveys of HMS Warrior and HMS Sparrowhawk, the Battle of Jutland's last missing shipwrecks.|journal=The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology|volume=47|issue=2|pages=253–266|date=2018| doi=10.1111/1095-9270.12302|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018IJNAr..47..253M }}
• {{cite journal|last=McCartney|first=Innes|title=Paying the Prize for the German Submarine War: U-boats destroyed and the Admiralty Prize Fund, 1919–1932 |journal=Mariner's Mirror|volume=104|pages=40–57|date=2018| doi=10.1080/00253359.2018.1411100|s2cid=165637258|url=http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/30304/3/Paying%20the%20Prize%20for%20the%20U-boat%20War%20FINAL.pdf}}
• {{cite journal|last=McCartney|first=Innes|title=The Opening and Closing Sequences of the Battle of Jutland 1916 Re-examined: archaeological investigations of the wrecks of HMS Indefatigable and SMS V4.|journal=The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology|volume=46|issue=2|pages=317–329|date=2017| doi=10.1111/1095-9270.12236|bibcode=2017IJNAr..46..317M |s2cid=164686388|url=http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/29391/5/ACCEPTED%20VERSION%20IJNA%20IJM%202017.pdf}}
• {{cite journal|last=McCartney|first=Innes|title=The Battle of Jutland's Heritage under Threat: The extent of commercial salvage on the shipwrecks as observed 2000-2016.|journal=Mariner's Mirror|date=2017| doi=10.1080/00253359.2017.1304701|s2cid=165003480|url=http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/29306/3/Battle%20of%20Jutland%20Heritage%20Under%20Threat.pdf}}
• {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23r_CwAAQBAJ&q=jutland+1916+the+archaeology&pg=PA27|title=Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield| author=Innes McCartney| publisher=Bloomsbury| year=2016| isbn=978-1844864164}}
• {{cite journal|last=McCartney|first=Innes|title=The "Tin Openers" Myth and Reality: Intelligence from U-boat Wrecks During WW1|journal=Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the Historical Diving Society|date=2015}}
• {{cite book| title=The Maritime Archaeology of a Modern Conflict: comparing the archaeology of German submarine wrecks to the historical text |author=Innes McCartney| publisher=Routledge| year=2015| isbn=978-1138814356| doi=10.1111/1095-9270.12219 |bibcode=2017IJNAr..46..212G |s2cid=233374599}}

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Category:1964 births

Category:Alumni of Bournemouth University

Category:Alumni of Keele University

Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter

Category:English television personalities

Category:English underwater divers

Category:Living people

Category:Underwater archaeologists

Category:Underwater photographers