Mr. Swete was an active team member on more archaeological shipwreck projects than anyone else in the world. His work ethic under duress, observational abilities, and perception are legendary to those involved in the field of nautical archaeology. In addition to his experience in the field, he held a Master's Degree in Nautical Archaeology from Texas A&M University and he was PhD candidate at the College of William and Mary. He retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of captain and a veteran of the Vietnam War. After fulfilling his dream of finding the SERAPIS, Richard Swete died while working on the Serapis Project in 2000.
Go figure... an Army veteran with a Masters in nautical archaeology. Apparently he was quite an enthusiast of Naval disasters ... ;-)