The public is invited to the Middlesex County Public Library’s (MCPL) Deltaville branch on Thursday, July 17, at 5 p.m. for a program, “Shipwreck Hunting,” pre-sented by Charles Perkinson. Perkinson will share his experiences during a history-making search for a long-lost Spanish armada wreck off the coast of Ireland, while also navigating the start of the Troubles. Items from some of his dives will be on display. Refreshments and a Q&A session will follow the main talk.
A Deltaville resident, Perkinson is a lifelong diver, having explored shipwrecks, caves, and open water dives around the world. In 1968, his work for Dupont Industries took him to the city of Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland, where he spent his free time with a local diving club exploring the seafloor. One of their projects was to find the ship “La Trinidad Valencera,” wrecked off the coast of neighboring County Donegal.
The Spanish armada has gone down in maritime lore as one of history’s great maritime disasters. In 1588, 150-odd ships set sail from Spain, but only a handful returned, the rest being lost in battle or driven ashore in storms. Many of these — like “La Trinidad” — ran aground on the rocky coast and lay undiscovered. For months, the diving club spent their weekends camped out on a remote bay, making excursions underwater in search of clues. With his experience and talent for “seeing” wrecks, which are often invisible to the untrained eye, Charles quickly became their chief diving officer.
