- Frank Pope
Frank Pope is a maritime archaeologist and author. He was born Francis Pope in
Oxford , England on 13 May, 1973.From 1992 onwards Pope worked under the auspices of
Oxford University 's MARE (Maritime Archeological Research and Excavation). MARE was founded in 1982 byMensun Bound in order to undertake the excavation of the then-oldest shipwreck ever to have been discovered, theGiglio Island shipwreck.Graduating with a degree in
Zoology from theUniversity of Edinburgh , Frank began working withCoral Cay Conservation inBelize , Central America, but soon became absorbed by the world of shipwreck investigation. It was a fascination sparked by his father Maurice Pope, a classicist and decipherer of ancient texts, who had taken part in the first ever academic underwater investigation in 1953 offChios (reported by Richard Garnett andJohn Boardman (archaeologist) in "The Annual of the British School at Athens" in 1956).He subsequently worked on maritime archaeological projects in
Uruguay , theCape Verde Islands ,Greece ,Italy ,Vietnam andMozambique on wrecks including the "San Salvador", "Graf Spee" offMontevideo andLord Nelson 's flagship HMS Agamemnon in Uruguay, "Princess Louisa" in Cabo Verde and the "San Sebastian Wreck" in Mozambique.In 2006 he married wildlife film-maker
Saba Douglas-Hamilton , and in 2007 published a book on the excavation of theHoi An Wreck off Vietnam called "Dragon Sea: A True Tale of Adventure, Archeology & Greed Off The Coast of Vietnam".In 2008 Pope presented the BBC2 Series 'Thames Wrecks: A Race Against Time', revealing the work of
Wessex Archaeology in the investigation of seven shipwrecks that lay in the path of a new deep-water channel in the Thames Estuary. Among them were HMS London wreck in theRiver Thames , accidentally blown up in 1665, the Dovenby (1914), HMS Aisha (1940), and the Letchworth (1944).ee also
*
List of shipwrecks External links
* [http://www.dragon-sea.com Dragon Sea home page - information on the Hoi An excavation]
* [http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article4066732.ece Sunday Times Magazine feature on Frank Pope: Best of Times, Worst of Times]
* [http://http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article4606700.ece Times Feature: Old Father Thames Gives Up His Secrets - a description of wrecks in the Thames]
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