RICK AYRTON

2026 Title: Photographing the Shipwrecks of the Battle of Jutland

Rick Ayrton has been diving for over 25 years, he took up rebreather diving in 2002. At the same time he acquired a video camera to record underwater images and progressed to being involved as one of the cameramen on the “Deep Wreck Mysteries” series of historical underwater documentaries, in particular being involved in the filming of U1021, U480, HMS Patia & SS Armenian, Hospital Ships, Glenart Castle & Rewa and Australian submarine AE2 in the Sea of Marmara, Turkey. More recently he has developed a passion for still photography which he combines with his interest in wrecks and the history behind them, happily admitting that getting good images on deep UK wrecks is a process that he is still mastering. Rick is a current member of the British Society of Underwater Photographers.

Henry Clack

Title: Salvaged Silver and State Immunity: the SS TILAWA

Abstract: The talk will discuss the cargo of silver bars carried on board the S.S. “TILAWA” at the time of its sinking by a Japanese submarine during WW2 and the subsequent salvage claim which was brought before the English Courts. Ultimately, the U.K. Supreme Court held that the silver, which was owned by the Government of the Republic of South Africa, was subject to state immunity under the State Immunity Act 1978 and the International Salvage Convention 1989.

Bio: Henry is a Senior Associate at the leading shipping law firm, HFW. Henry specialises in international commercial dispute resolution, with a particular focus on “wet” or Admiralty issues. Henry has worked on a number of complex technical disputes relating to the salvage and wreck removal of both modern commercial vessels and historic wrecks, including “MAERSK HONAM”, “EVER GIVEN” and the cargo ex. “TILAWA”.

Emile Solanki

Title: Salvaged Silver and State Immunity: the SS TILAWA

Abstract: The talk will discuss the cargo of silver bars carried on board the S.S. “TILAWA” at the time of its sinking by a Japanese submarine during WW2 and the subsequent salvage claim which was brought before the English Courts. Ultimately, the U.K. Supreme Court held that the silver, which was owned by the Government of the Republic of South Africa, was subject to state immunity under the State Immunity Act 1978 and the International Salvage Convention 1989.

https://emilesolanki.com/home-page

Alex Hildred

Bio: Dr Alex Hildred is Head of Research and Curator of Ordnance and Human Remains at the Mary Rose Trust. As a new archaeology graduate, she joined the project as a volunteer diver in 1979. One of the archaeological supervisors before the raising, she directed the site monitoring, survey and recovery projects on the Mary Rose since 1983; including the excavations resulting in the finding and recovery of the stem between 2003 and 2005.

She was responsible for researching and publishing the armaments of the ship as a volume within the five-part series ‘The Archaeology of the Mary Rose. Since 1982, she has been part of a small team responsible for evolving and delivering displays within the Mary Rose Museums.

Alex has extensive experience on other underwater sites and has directed multi-season projects in England, Malta and Holland. She has held posts as Chairman of the Institute of Field Archaeologists Maritime Affairs Group, ordnance advisor on the Government Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites, and nominated archaeologist for 7 of the 54 protected wreck sites in England. Affiliations include the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists and the Society of Antiquaries of London

2025  – Introducing our new IMASS President, presidential handover

2026 – Seabed to Showcase – 40 years on from raising to the evolution of the new museum 

DAVID MEARNS

Abstract: Sir Ernest Shackleton’s last polar expedition in 1922 was struck by tragedy when the great man suffered a fatal heart attack in his cabin on board his ship QUEST whilst anchored at Grytviken, South Georgia Island.  Shackleton’s death, and the final truncated expedition made by QUEST, marked the end of the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration.  QUEST however continued working for another 40 years, mainly as a sealer, before she was holed by an ice floe and sank off the coast of Labrador, Canada.  A search expedition organised by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society located the wreck of QUEST based on the navigational analysis by a team that also accurately predicted the location of Shackleton’s ENDURANCE lost in 1915 in the Weddell Sea.

Bio: David L. Mearns OBE, OAM is a chartered marine scientist, historical researcher, awardwinning author, and expedition leader of deep ocean projects. He is one of the world’s most experienced and successful deep-sea shipwreck hunters having located 29 major shipwrecks with an overall success rate of 91%. His formidable reputation has been built on a career finding notoriously difficult wrecks that others predicted would never be found or their mysteries solved. David’s most important discoveries include MV Lucona, MV Derbyshire, HMS Hood, the Portuguese East Indiaman Esmeralda, HMAS Sydney, HSK Kormoran, AHS Centaur and Rio Grande – formerly a Guinness World Record for the deepest shipwreck ever found at 5,762 metres. David was also a key member of Paul Allen’s team that located and filmed the iconic Japanese battleship Musashi in 2015, based on the research and search area analysis he conducted.

David was made an officer of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the location and recovery of historic shipwrecks; was awarded an honorary Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to Australia for locating the wrecks of HMAS Sydney and AHS Centaur; and was awarded a King Charles III Coronation Medal for a significant contribution to Canada for his role in locating the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s last ship Quest. Other awards include the Joseph Elzéar Bernier and QUEST Medals from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society; a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of South Florida, a prestigious Maritime Fellowship by the UK-based Maritime Foundation for an outstanding lifetime contribution, the Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award, and the Sir Robert Craven Award from the Britannia Naval Research Association. David’s last book The Shipwreck Hunter was the unanimous choice for the Mountbatten Best Book Award in 2018. He is a long-standing fellow of the Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society, and is listed in the UK Who’s Who published by A&C Black.

Peter Holt

Title: HMS Amethyst Lost and Found

Duncan Ross

Title:  Discovery Submerged Stories  – a personal dive into Britain’s Maritime History