"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all"

Dear New England Explorers and Friends,

I wish to here invite you to our folllowing New England Chapter meeting, to be held at the Double Tree Guest Suites Hotel on Thursday, May 21st 2009. Our guest speaker that evening will be our own NE Chapter member Davis W. Jourdan FN'04, whose presentation concerns his finding of the lost submarine Dakar, a fascinating story just now coming out in David's recently published book Never Forgotten. A description of David's book, and his work, follows:

Imagine being unable to find a massive 287-foot submarine that was lost for over 31 years, and not knowing what happened to the sixty-nine officers and crew who vigorously competed for a place on the ship. This was the problem faced by the Israeli Navy in 1996 when it invited David Jourdan and his company Nauticos to conduct the search which led to discovery in May 1999

“Never Forgotten: The Search and Discovery of Israel’s Lost Submarine Dakar” tells the exhilarating story of the will, endurance, and technical know-how of extraordinary people who made a lifelong impact on an entire navy and sixty-nine grieving families.

Never Forgotten is a first-person account that grew directly from Jourdan's successful career in deep-sea searches. The narrative follows the technological quest to locate the ship, 10,000 feet deep, and then try to discover the cause of the disaster. Included is the story of the Dakar itself, beginning with its origins as the WWII British HMS Totem, through its sale to Israel, and fateful voyage from which it never returned. Through all we follow the families of the lost crew, including a wife, a brother, and a son, from their pride in the Dakar, to their horror of loss, and their closure of discovery of their loved ones’ grave site. A dramatic final chapter imagines what the crew of the doomed submarine might have been doing in the final seconds before a massive implosion snuffed out their lives.

Advance Praise for Never Forgotten

“The disappearance of the Israeli submarine Dakar was one of the great sea mysteries of the twentieth century. Never Forgotten is epic story-telling by the man who made the incredible discovery possible. David Jourdan’s account of the search is as interesting as it is intriguing.”

—Clive Cussler


“Reading Never Forgotten by undersea explorer David Jourdan brought back many old memories of the Cold War when I was serving in the U.S. Navy. The story surrounding the loss of the Israel submarine INS Dakar, always fascinated me as a Naval Intelligence Officer. Its sinking led to all sorts of conspiracy theories so it was great to finally learn the truth!”

—Robert D. Ballard

“Never Forgotten is a gripping true story of disaster and discovery. A world-renowned underwater explorer, Dave Jourdan brings the compassion of a veteran submariner and the brilliance of a tested scientist to a story of horror and loss, and the epic search to find and recover lost sailors at sea. A brilliant read!”

—Admiral James Stavridis
U.S. Navy, author of Command at Sea and Destroyer Captain

“A fascinating, hi-tech detective story that solves a 31-year maritime mystery…Jourdan adeptly details the identification of key clues, including the intriguing path of a submerged buoy, and brings the reader along a ghostly underwater search that culminates in the dramatic discovery of the long-lost submarine. Never Forgotten combines the sophisticated search for a lost vessel with the emotional story of the Dakar and its ill-fated crew..”

—Dorothy Cochrane
Curator, Aeronautics Division, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

“The tragedy of the Israeli submarine Dakar left a very deep scar in the hearts of many people in Israel. The tradition of honoring the fallen became a ritual that led to an unprecedented thirty-two year search for the lost submarine...Dave Jourdan’s book is an excellent source to read for all that is known of this mystery.”

—CDR. Yoram Bar-Yam,
Israeli Navy (Ret) a fourteen year veteran of the Israeli Submarine Flotilla.

This THURSDAY, MAY 21st EVENT will be held at the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel, overlooking the Charles River and adjacent to the Harvard Business School near the Cambridge/Allston on/off ramp to the Mass Pike (400 Soldiers Field Road, Boston, Tel. 617-783-0090).

You may park in the hotel garage for free for events during May. The Social Hour begins at 7:00 p.m. in the hotel’s well-appointed (cash) bar and lounge above the second floor, followed by the presentation just after 8:00 p.m. There is a $10 voluntary donation per person requested to help defray the cost of room rental, which is payable at the event. All guests, friends, family, and interested parties are welcome. If you let us know ahead of time that you intend to come, that would be helpful; but regardless, do come, whether or not you let us know. Dress as you wish.

For any further information, or if you want to let us know that you are coming, please call me at (978) 927-8827 extension 128, or email to

greg_deyermenjian@yahoo.com or
paititi@alumni.clarku.edu.

Thank you very much, and I look forward to seeing you there!

Yours in exploration,

Greg Deyermenjian

New to our Books of Interest Section, a review by Lawrence Millman of The Lost Canoe

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