ouwasp
3/6/2013, 10:12 PM
Dr. Ballard (of Titanic fame) came to the school where I teach couple weeks ago for an assembly. I had met him once yrs ago when he gave a talk in Bartlesville. In that brief encounter I asked him if he was ever going to look for the Yamato. He informed me the Japanese had found it, and we spoke for a couple minutes about the Japanese battleship.
So a couple weeks ago I was standing at the front of the auditorium, monitoring the students, waiting for the last couple of busloads to get in and settled. Suddenly Dr. Ballard was beside me asking a question about the cordless mike he was wearing. I told him what I figured to be the correct answer.
Then I said "You know, I met you once, years ago. I asked you about the Yamato..." Ballard brightened and said "The Japanese have found it..." I chuckled and replied that's what he told me all those years ago, but I was wondering if there were anymore WWII ships they were seeking.
He smiled and said "We would like to look for the Shinano, but the Japanese gov't won't let us. They're too embarrassed!" We talked about the sister ship to the Yamato that had been converted to a carrier late in the war. She was sunk on her maiden voyage by the USS Archerfish. Dr. Ballard ended our conversation by saying "It's right off Tokyo Bay. Probably wouldn't be too hard to find... but they won't let us look..." With a shrug and a smile he took to the stage.
Kinda neat to talk to a world famous guy like that in a real casual way.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36758831@N04/4492964818/
So a couple weeks ago I was standing at the front of the auditorium, monitoring the students, waiting for the last couple of busloads to get in and settled. Suddenly Dr. Ballard was beside me asking a question about the cordless mike he was wearing. I told him what I figured to be the correct answer.
Then I said "You know, I met you once, years ago. I asked you about the Yamato..." Ballard brightened and said "The Japanese have found it..." I chuckled and replied that's what he told me all those years ago, but I was wondering if there were anymore WWII ships they were seeking.
He smiled and said "We would like to look for the Shinano, but the Japanese gov't won't let us. They're too embarrassed!" We talked about the sister ship to the Yamato that had been converted to a carrier late in the war. She was sunk on her maiden voyage by the USS Archerfish. Dr. Ballard ended our conversation by saying "It's right off Tokyo Bay. Probably wouldn't be too hard to find... but they won't let us look..." With a shrug and a smile he took to the stage.
Kinda neat to talk to a world famous guy like that in a real casual way.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36758831@N04/4492964818/