The SS James Eagan Layne; The Liberty 70 Project, a Catalyst for Conversation in Submerged Cultural Heritage

Author(s): Mike W. Williams; Mallory R. Haas

Year: 2015

Summary

The wreck of the SS James Eagan Layne (JEL) has been a diving site since 1954, due to her masts still visible above the water. She is known to be the most dived wreck in the UK and was subject to early salvaging from divers who thought it fair game. Which is a frame of thinking in British diving culture then and today. Plymouth, the location of the JEL is the birthplace of South West diving at Fort Bovisand, and as such the SHIPS Project, a non-governmental organization started the Liberty 70 Project over 5 years ago to document all aspects of the JEL. The SHIPS Project, realizing the uniqueness, and easy public interface the JEL hosts, have used the her as a blueprint for recording finds, with no-risk associated to the people we interview and the finds we record. Thus, she has been the perfect template for community engagement. 

Cite this Record

The SS James Eagan Layne; The Liberty 70 Project, a Catalyst for Conversation in Submerged Cultural Heritage. Mike W. Williams, Mallory R. Haas. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Seattle, Washington. 2015 ( tDAR id: 434099)

Keywords

Temporal Keywords
WWII

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 556