A lifelong scuba diving obsession led Steven Schwankert to the
tale of the HMS Poseidon and the startling discovery that the
British submarine, which sank off the northeastern coast of
China in the 1930s, had been raised by the Chinese in 1972. That
revelation lies at the heart of Schwankert's upcoming book, "The
Real Poseidon Adventure: China's Secret Salvage of Britain's
Lost Submarine" and an accompanying documentary film chronicling
his search for answers about what became of the sunken vessel.
The seven-year transcontinental quest saw frustrations, triumphs
and deeply emotional experiences, none more so than bringing
together descendants of the Poseidon's crew and sharing with
them new information about the submarine's fate. "I only wish
we'd been able to find more relatives. It feels like we've taken
on this incredible responsibility of being custodians of this
history," said the 42-year-old Schwankert, an American
journalist and diving instructor who has lived in Beijing for
more than a decade. The Pos