Famous Explorer Shows Off His Explorations Of Famous Shipwrecks
There he was, standing in that familiar navy blue jacket chatting with a couple of people as casually as everyone else at the mixer.
Dr. Robert “say, is that the Titanic!?” Ballard was on board the USS Iowa, the famed World War II battleship that’s now a museum and tourist attraction in San Pedro, CA.
Ballard was there to introduce a new exhibit on the Iowa, “Lost At Sea,” a look at several of his explorations that were a little less, shall we say, titanic than his most famous discovery. But still significant. On display is information and videos of Titanic’s sister ship, Britannica, which hit a mine in a location, I noticed, was very close to Santorini, one of my favorite travel destinations in the world.
Also part of the exhibit is the Lusitania, the German battleship Bismark and several other famous and difficult-to-access wrecks Ballard has explored in his many journeys.
PubClub.com was invited to be part of this special ceremony the day before the exhibit opened to the public on Oct. 31. It was a special honor provided by the ship’s affable Public Relations representative, Brian Garrido.
The opportunity to go aboard this powerful battleship, let alone with Ballard there, was quite an honor.
And I did meet the great explorer. For about three seconds.
Garrido introduced us, Ballard and I shook hands and then he turned and walked away to talk with someone else. It’s always good to make a strong first impression!
Later, as if to make up for it, he put his hand on my shoulder and lead me and a group into the exhibit.
He also told a very interesting story. In 1966, he had just joined the army and was living in Belmont Shore. He was days away from being shipped out to fight the war in Vietnam when he got a knock on the door. It was a gentlemen from the navy, who told Ballard to pack his bags, for he was being reassigned to Naval Intelligence.
Talk about dodging a bullet!
It is doubtful that Ballard would have made any impact in Vietnam, but he certainly has done so to society. Some of which you can see on the USS Iowa when you are in Los Angeles.
In the display is a sign with a quote from Ballard, which could apply to anyone who likes to travel: “Everyone is an explorer. How could you possibly live your life looking at a door and not open it?”
RELATED POST:
• More On The Lost At Sea Exhibit
Battleship IOWA Museum Details
Address & Map: 250 S Harbor Blvd, Los Angeles
Website: PacificBattleship.com
Phone: 877-4-IOWA-61 (877-446-9261) or 310-971-4462
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