1960: World’s first scientific shipwreck excavation conducted in Turkey by George Bass † at Cape Gelidonya
1961: Excavation of the 7th-century wreck at Yassıada, Turkey begins under George Bass † and Fred van Doorninck
1968: Michael and Susan Katzev begin the excavation of the ancient Greek shipwreck near Kyrenia, Cyprus
1972: AINA—the American Institute of Nautical Archaeology—is incorporated in Philadelphia, PA by George Bass †, his wife Ann, and family lawyer Steven Gadon
1973: George F. Bass † elected INA’s first President
1974: AINA Newsletter (now INA Quarterly) inaugurated by Cynthia Eiseman
1975: Excavation of a jettisoned cargo at Şeytan Deresi takes place under George Bass †
1976: INA affiliates with and moves its headquarters to Texas A&M University
1976: The Virginia Research Center for Archaeology and INA conduct a joint archaeological survey of a shipwreck in the York River from the Battle of Yorktown, which ended the American Revolutionary War
1977: Excavation of 11th-century “Glass Wreck” begins at Serçe Limanı, Turkey under direction of George Bass † and Fred van Doorninck
1978: The Bodrum Museum officially becomes the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, featuring artifacts from INA excavations
1979: The American Institute of Nautical Archaeology drops the “American” to reflect its international staff and board of directors, becoming simply INA
1980: INA acquires Virazon, a 65-foot Korean War vessel, and bases it at Bodrum as a research ship
1981: Decade-long excavation of Port Royal, Jamaica, sunk during an earthquake in 1692, begins under the direction of Donny Hamilton
1982: George Bass † and Fred van Doorninck publish Yassı Ada I: A Seventh Century Byzantine Shipwreck as first volume in the INA Nautical Archaeology Series at Texas A&M University Press
1982: Don Frey is elected INA President
1984: Decade-long excavation of the Late Bronze Age shipwreck at Uluburun, Turkey begins under George Bass † and Cemal Pulak
1987: Voyage from Antiquity televised by NOVA as Ancient Treasures from the Deep
1988: George Bass † publishes Ships and Shipwrecks of the Americas
1989: Robert “Chip” Vincent, Jr. is elected INA President
1990: Serçe Limanı “Glass Wreck” exhibit opens in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology in Turkey
1991: INA begins collaboration with Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
1994: Dick Steffy publishes Wooden Ship Building and the Interpretation of Shipwrecks through Texas A&M University Press
1994: Excavation at Tantura Lagoon, Israel of seven shipwrecks dating from the 4th to 18th century begins under Shelley Wachsmann
1994: INA-Egypt’s Red Sea Survey locates the mid-18th century Sadana Island Shipwreck
1994: Fred Hocker is elected INA President
1995: INA’s Bodrum Research Center is officially dedicated and opens in July
1995: Excavation of the Byzantine shipwreck at Bozburun, Turkey begins under Fred Hocker
1996: INA-Egypt shipwreck survey program continues with surveys in the Mediterranean starting with Ras Hawala-Sidi Abd Al-Rahman
1997: Donny Hamilton begins conservation of La Salle’s flagship La Belle at the Conservation Research Laboratory in College Station, Texas
1998: Shelley Wachsmann publishes Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant through Texas A&M University Press
1998: INA-Egypt begins surveys from Marsa Um-al Rakham to Marsa Matrouh and Hierakonpolis
1999: INA-Egypt opens the Alexandria Conservation Laboratory for Submerged Antiquities
1999: George Bass † and Deborah Carlson begin excavation of Classical Greek shipwreck at Tektaş Burnu, Turkey
2000: Two-person submersible, Carolyn, and catamaran Millawanda added to INA research fleet in Bodrum
2000: Jerome Hall is elected INA President
2002: Two-year excavation of the 6th-century B.C. wreck at Pabuç Burnu begins under George Bass †, Elizabeth S. Greene and Mark Polzer
2002: Kevin Crisman initiates excavation season of the early 19th-century steamboat Heroine in the Red River
2002: INA-Egypt surveys the Red Sea at Quseir al-Qadim
2003: Donny Hamilton is elected INA President
2003: With funding from ARCE/EAP and IIE, INA-Egypt opens the new, expanded, fully-equipped conservation laboratory and training facility in the Egyptian Museum
2005: Excavation of the Late Hellenistic column wreck at Kızılburun, Turkey begins under Donny Hamilton and Deborah Carlson
2005: Cemal Pulak initiates research and recovery of eight shipwrecks at the Yenikapı harbor site in Istanbul, Turkey
2007: With the financial support of INA members and friends, the Archaeological Institute of America establishes the J. Richard Steffy Lectureship
2008: Excavation of the Phoenician shipwreck at Bajo de la Campana, Spain begins under the direction of Mark Polzer and Juan Pinedo Reyes
2008: James Delgado is elected INA President
2009: With the financial support of INA members and friends, the Archaeological Institute of America establishes the George F. Bass lectureship
2010: Bob Walker is elected Interim President of INA
2011: Deborah Carlson is elected INA President
2012: Deborah Carlson, Osmund Bopearachchi, and Sanjyot Mehendale initiate the excavation of a 2000-year old shipwreck at Godavaya, Sri Lanka
2013: The Archaeological Institute of America publishes “Shipwrecks” issue of Archaeology magazine, featuring five INA excavations
2014: Kroum Batchvarov is the first recipient of the Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant for his work on the Rockley Bay Research Project in Tobago
2014: Barbara Duthuit gifts the funds for the construction of a new research vessel to replace Virazon
2014: Kevin Crisman publishes Coffins of the Brave: Lake Shipwrecks of the War of 1812 through Texas A&M University Press
2015: Dave Ruff becomes the second recipient of the Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant for his team project on sunken Roman-era ships in Kastela, Croatia
2016: Virazon II is completed in Tuzla, Turkey and becomes first ship in the world to be classed as an Archaeological Research Vessel (ARV)
2016: Carolyn Kennedy receives the Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant for her exploration and recording of four steamboats in Vermont’s Lake Champlain
2017: Nicholas Budsberg and his team receive the Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant to complete the excavation of what may be the earliest known European ship in the Americas at Highbourne Cay, Bahamas
2018: Two new funding opportunities, the INA Discovery Fund and the George and Ann Bass Endowment for Nautical Archaeology Publications, are established
2018: Justin Leidwanger and his team receive the Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant to continue excavation of the Marzamemi “Church Wreck” in Sicily
2018: Virazon II completes its inaugural international voyage to Albania
2019: John Broadwater is named the first recipient of the George and Ann Bass Grant for Nautical Archaeology Publications to support the final publication of the Yorktown Shipwreck Project
2019: Cemal Pulak receives the Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant in support of his collaborative excavation, with Hakan Öniz, of a Bronze Age shipwreck at Kumluca, Turkey. In 2022 INA terminated support for this collaborative project.
2020: Wendy van Duivenvoorde receives the second annual George and Ann Bass Grant for Nautical Archaeology Publications for her work on the Kyrenia Ship’s hull
2020: José Casabán becomes the seventh recipient of the Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant in support of his collaborative excavation, with Irena Radić Rossi, of the Santo Hieronimo (1576) shipwreck in Croatia
2020-2021: The Covid-19 pandemic delays most fieldwork for two summers
2021: Carlos de Juan and Miguel San Claudio are co-recipients of the eighth Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant for their work on the 4th-cent. B.C. wreck at El Sec (Mallorca) and the 16th-cent. galleon San Giacomo di Galizia at Ribadeo, respectively
2021: John McManamom and Jeremy Green are co-recipients of the third Bass Publication Grant for the Bozburun Byzantine shipwreck and the Santo António de Tanná shipwreck at Mombasa final reports, respectively
2022: Deborah Cvikel is the recipient of the ninth Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant to continue studies of the hull remains and artifacts of the 7th-8th cent. CE Ma’agan Mikhael B shipwreck on the Carmel coast of Israel
2022: Cheryl Ward is the fourth recipient of the Bass Publication Grant for the final report on the Sadana Island shipwreck on the Red Sea coast near Safaga, Egypt
2023: INA Celebrates its 50th Anniversary
2023: Orkan Köyağasıoğlu is the recipient of the tenth Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant to return to the Hellenistic shipwreck at Serçe Limanı, Turkey
2023: Nicolle Hirschfeld is the fifth recipient of the Bass Publication Grant for the final report on the Cape Gelidonya Shipwreck Project, 1960–2010
2024: Orkan Köyağasıoğlu and Carlos de Juan are co-recipients of the eleventh Claude Duthuit Archaeology Grant for their work on the Hellenistic shipwreck at Serçe Limanı, Turkey and the 4th-cent. B.C. wreck at El Sec (Mallorca), respectively
2024: Shelley Wachsmann is the sixth recipient of the Bass Publication Grant for the final publication of the shipwrecks at Tantura Lagoon, Israel
© 2024 Institute of Nautical Archaeology.
