Asherah (submarine)

Asherah was the first commercially built American research submersible, owned by the University of Pennsylvania and used by archaeologist George F. Bass to examine underwater sites.[1][2] It was named after Asherah, an ancient Semitic goddess known as "she who treads on the sea".[3]

History
Name: Asherah
Namesake: Asherah
Ordered: 1963
Builder: General Dynamics, Groton, Connecticut
Launched: 1964
General characteristics
Type: Submersible
Test depth: 600 feet (180 m)
Crew: 2

The two-man submarine was built by General Dynamics, Groton, Connecticut, United States, and could dive to a depth of 600 feet (180 m). Commissioned in 1963 and launched in 1964, it was used to develop a new system of stereoscopy, and allowed Bass to become the first to use side-scanning sonar to locate a shipwreck.[4]

In 1967, under Bass' direction, Asherah was used to photograph an ancient Byzantine shipwreck at a depth of 285 feet near Yassi Ada island, off the coast of Turkey. [5]

References
  1. "George F. Bass". Institute of Nautical Archaeology. 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  2. Bass, George F. (2012). "Archaeology Under Water". Institute of Nautical Archaeology. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  3. In Ugarit is mentioned: ʼaṯrt ym, rabat ʼAṯirat yammi, 'Lady Athirat of the Sea'.
  4. Keiger, Dale (April 1997). "The Underwater World of George Bass". Johns Hopkins Magazine. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  5. https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-turkish-aegean/
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