Founded 1979 | ||
The National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) is a private non-profit organization in the United States. Originally it was a fictional US government organization in the novels of author Clive Cussler. Cussler later created and now leads the actual organization which is dedicated to "preserving our maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey and conservation of shipwreck artifacts.” Additionally "NUMA does not actively seek private funding. Most of the financial support for the projects comes from the royalties from Clive Cussler’s books."
Contents
NUMA has discovered many sunken ships. The wreck of the Confederate States Navy submarine H. L. Hunley was confirmed by NUMA in 1995, using information from Dr. E. Lee Spence's prior discovery of the wreck, and salvaged in August 2000.
The fictional NUMA
In the Dirk Pitt series of adventure novels by Clive Cussler, NUMA is a government organization. The fictional NUMA is devoted to oceanic exploration and investigation, and is the agency employing the main characters in the series of books. Its headquarters is a 30-story building located on the east bank of the Potomac River, overlooking the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.. The agency comprises over five thousand employees and scientists that often work around the clock on expeditions. It is often referred to as a marine version of NASA, although its mission more closely mimics the actual National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an American scientific agency focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere, and has research vessels that conduct many missions that are similar to the fictional NUMA.
The fictional NUMA is headed by the character Admiral James Sandecker, with Rudi Gunn as second in command, although Dirk Pitt is eventually asked to take over when Sandecker pursues the vice-presidency.
Housed inside this headquarters is one of the world's most advanced computer systems which contains almost every known piece of information, both current and ancient, about the sea. The computer center takes up the entire 10th floor but is in an "open" setting with a raised circular platform that uses a hologram to display Hiram Yeager's computer's embodiment, named Max, at its center. There are no cubicles. Hiram Yeager designed, runs, and maintains the computer lab.
The Sea Hunters
Cussler and NUMA have helped produce a television series on underwater exploration called The Sea Hunters, which chronicles the discovery and subsequent removal and conservation of the CSS H. L. Hunley in 1995. The show also features a number of other shipwrecks in various international locations, and on occasion the failure to find anything at all, such as their attempts to find the Holland III prototype submarine.
The show features Cussler and James Delgado, who is also an author and executive director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum. The show gives an in-depth explanation of the story of the shipwreck NUMA is exploring, including information about the ship's history and how it sank.
Two books titled The Sea Hunters were authored by Clive Cussler about NUMA's explorations.
Trustees
The NUMA Advisory Board of Trustees:
NUMA expeditions
NUMA's expeditions tend to focus on ships of American origin from the early 19th century to the early 20th century, especially on Union and Confederate ships of the American Civil War. NUMA has located or attempted to locate the following vessels and marine artifacts:
