The 1000 Tyres / SHIPS Project Crew

Mallory Haas

Mallory Haas is an archaeologist who started her career working in public archaeology and is now a Director of The SHIPS Project.  She managed several seasons of field schools in the inner city of Cleveland, Ohio, engaging underprivileged youth in historical archaeology, using archaeology as a way to create an interest in science and history. Mallory got involved in diving and maritime archaeology in the Great Lakes in the USA and is now a commercial diver and mixed gas technical diver.

Mallory started working with the SHIPS Project in 2013 and is now director and chief archaeologist for the Project. Mallory is lead for the Stray Finds Project which aims to record objects found underwater and recovered by sports divers. Mallory is also working with the Plymouth Box Museum to develop their shipwreck interactive and produce a new shipwreck chart. The SHIPS Project is developing courses for training sports divers to be shipwreck explorers, bringing more citizen science to underwater heritage.  A new venture is the 1000 Tyres Project which aims to help clean up Plymouth Sound by removing tyres and other abandoned junk, and Mallory leads this first environmental initiative by the SHIPS Project.

For the past few years Mallory has worked as a consultant for TV and media, developing and leading investigations on many shipwreck projects in the UK and USA.  Mallory most recently was the archaeological advisor to the TV series Enslaved, acting as the Project Archaeologist on many of the shipwreck sites investigated by the series.  Mallory continues to be a consultant on a number of media projects being released in 2021. Mallory is a Trained Scientific Recovery Expert for DPAA, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, and has undergone training with the US Military in Hawaii to be a lead investigator on missions to recover human remains underwater from wrecks or crash sites. 

Mallory’s recent work includes collaboration with Mohini Chandra at the Plymouth College of Art on a project called ‘Paradise Lost’ which brings maritime heritage to a wider audience through art.  The piece looks at material culture connected to indentureship and slavery to help interpret inconvenient truths about past human actions.

Mallory is an adviser on maritime heritage for the Port of Plymouth Maritime Liaison Committee (PPMLC). Mallory is also a technical administrator for MSubs Ltd. in Plymouth who build submersibles and autonomous vehicles. Mallory sits on the board of IMASS, the organising committee for the International Shipwreck Conference, is the Engagement Officer for The Big Cannon Project (Ultima Ratio), was a tutor for The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) and is the treasurer for the Protected Wreck Association of licensees.

Peter Holt

Peter Holt is a Director of The SHIPS Project. Peter spent 20 years with Sonardyne International Ltd. designing subsea navigation systems for the oil industry and military. Since 1989 Peter has worked on maritime archaeology projects all over the world in water depths from the foreshore down to 1200m, and started 3H Consulting Ltd. to provide consultancy and software to the maritime archaeology community. Between 2010 and 2016 Peter directed the SHIPS Project, a wide ranging study of the maritime history of Plymouth, when it was funded by the US research foundation ProMare. From 2016 to present the SHIPS Project was run by 3H Consulting Ltd. with Peter as a director and it is now a Community Interest Company (CIC) in its own right.

Peter has written a number of papers on surveying, geophysics, archaeology, maritime history, GIS and data management and has written and contributed to a number of books on early submarines, marine geophysics, archaeology, shipwrecks and maritime history.  Peter was a visiting research fellow at Plymouth University from 2010 to 2016, supervising several MSc Hydrography projects each year. Peter is a Chartered Engineer, a Member of the Hydrographic Society, he was a Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists and is vice chair of IMASS, the International Shipwreck Conference organising committee. Peter is a commercial diver, pilot for small ROVs and is a Scientific Recovery Expert for the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

From 2016 to 2021, Peter was Operations Manager for MSubs Ltd. managing the build of manned submersibles and large UUVs, he was the Chief Technology Officer for HydroSurv Ltd., designing and building uncrewed surface vessels (USVs). Peter now works on technology for marine habitat monitoring for Sonardyne International Ltd., is an Associate Lecturer in Hydrography at the University of Plymouth, and he helps run the 1000 Tyres Project in Plymouth.

Recent publications include books about the abandoned hulks and ships on Plymouth's foreshore, crashed aircraft in the Tamar waterway and the Breakwater Fort in Plymouth, and a white paper on the history of pollution in Plymouth Sound.

Allen Murray

Allen is a Director of the SHIPS Project. Allen is a Chartered Civil and Structural Engineer and a Chartered Environmentalist, with over 45 years’ experience of the construction industry, the last 20 years as a technical director for a large multi-national environmental consultancy engaged in the investigation and remediation of contaminated sites.

Allen is Chair of the International Maritime and Shipwreck Society (IMASS), the organizing committee for the International Shipwreck Conference held annually in Plymouth and is the Secretary of the Protected Wreck Association. Allen has been diving since 1993 and has been involved with the local marine archaeological community for much of that time. He is a tutor for the Nautical Archaeology Society and coauthored their course on Understanding Metal Wrecks and also the British Sub-Aqua Club’s Wreck Diving skill development course. Allen is a former south-west regional coach for BSAC, is the Treasurer of the Kernow Dive Federation and the Diving Officer of Pilgrims Sub-Aqua Club. Allen has been part of the SHIPS Project since its inception in 2010 and is also the lead for the Mewstone Underwater Group which investigates and researches the numerous wreck sites on and around the Plymouth Mewstone.

Gerrard Spear

Gerrard is a Director of The SHIPS Project. Gerrard is an exploration geophysicist with nearly thirty years of experience working in the oil and gas exploration and production industry. His specialisation is data interpretation and mapping. He has been running his own consultancy for ten years and has project managed multiple multi-disciplinary teams for both shallow site and reservoir target interpretations and well operations. Gerrard has been diving since 1989 and has always had a keen interest in marine archaeology and has researched may shipwrecks during his diving career.

Volunteers and Supporters

The SHIPS Project could not operate without its huge team of volunteers, supporters and advisors who are too numerous to mention here. The team includes divers, archaeologists, historians, researchers, legal experts, geophysicists, environmental scientists, illustrators, diving companies, survey companies, museums, universities, government institutions and the Royal Navy.

We would like to thank you all for your help cleaning up Plymouth Sound and its estuaries

Joanne Rawley

Joanne became involved as a SHIPS Crew volunteer in 2022 and can often be found at public events; up to her eyes in newspaper archieves ensuring our wreck information is as comprehensive and accurate as possible, or up to her knees in mud helping clean up the foreshore. After learning to dive at Fort Bovisand in 2000 while serving in the RAF, Joanne became fascinated by the underwater world. By later joining the Merchant Navy in 2012 and spending years at sea Joanne is now balancing her time sailing with instructing maritime courses and fulfilling her commitments with other charities focusing on women in maritime and safety at sea.