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John Adams - Unit Leader

Gary - Diver

Richard - Diver  (In new suit that leaks)

Neil  - Diver

The members of the operational end of the Filey Bay Initiative are John, an ex commercial diver and fisherman and his three sons to dive and work as a combined team on the search for the Bonhomme Richard.  Other diving members include Mike Radley and Steve Griffith From time to time other divers come and assist John.

John's research has made him a knowledgeable authority on the Richard and - for him - all the evidence points to Filey Bay and to the large timber wreck that has taken up so much of his life.  At the locations of the wreckage they dive at every possibility they can, documenting, but never disturbing the silent timbers, noting each subtle change in the sea bed profile with the turn of the tide and waiting patiently for each new feature to be exposed by the shifting sands in the blackness below so they can shake hands with history once again.

John's three sons, Gary, Neil and Richard have been taught to dive from and early age and have spent much of their time working on the Project.  When they are not members of the dive team, they provide logistical support to the Unit.

Another member of the team is Tony Green who holds Marine Electronics and Communications certificates that enable him to maintain the Unit's survey and communications equipment.  His other duties include the secretarial and liaison work and research for the Unit. 

Another local person on the Team is James Hodgson, James is the Unit's Lawyer and deals in intellectual properties, he regularly advises the Unit on all Legal matters and where required, dealings with the media.  James's work has been invaluable in ensuring that the Project has developed to its current position.

The Project would not be where it is today without the work of of Donald G Shomette of Cultural Resource Management who visited and dived on the wreck site in August 2000.  Don produced the 200 plus page detailed Report on his findings, which includes a new historical account of the voyage of Commodore John Paul Jones  and the subsequent loss of the Bonhomme Richard. Compiled from existing historical sources and new material, the Unit believe that Don's account will become the new authoritative version of this compelling Naval Action. Don donated the Report, which equates to a small personal fortune in time and effort, to the Unit and the people of Filey. 

Peter Pritchard  of Pritchard Diving Services who is the Archaeologist in charge of the Project joined the Team in 2000,  Peter monitors the Unit's work on site and advises on Archaeological matters and liaison with Official bodies, Peter's work is on going and will regulate the Unit's work in the future.  

Roger Keech is part of the Unit, Roger was the Producer of the BBC Documentary about the Unit's work and is now a part of BNT Productions of Leeds, an independent television company.  He provides Technical Imaging and media  support

FBI have cooperated with other interested parties into the organisation and are actively involved with The National Geographic Society, The Submerged Cultural Resources section of the American National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Cultural Resource Management of Maryland U.S.A.

The ultimate benefactors of this Project will be the people of Filey and the surrounding area as it is foreseen that there will be an increase in Tourism and related trade in the area over the years to come directly attributable to the formal identification of the wreck. It follows that the Filey Bay Initiative takes every opportunity to project our town to the organisations and individuals that it deals with during the course of its work.   It is now widely recognised that one of the main Tourist and educational resources of this area is the large untapped underwater heritage that we possesses and the FBI is taking advice on how to tap these resources and provide the information for others to develop into material for presentation as educational and promotional purposes for the benefit of the community.