John D. Broadwater is president and founder of Spritsail Enterprises, an archaeological consulting company. During 2007-2010, he was chief archaeologist in the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). From 2005-2007, he served as program manager of NOAA’s Maritime Heritage Program. From 1992-2005 he was manager of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, during which time he directed seven major expeditions to the remains of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. During 1978-90, as senior underwater archaeologist at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Broadwater directed a study of shipwrecks from the Battle of Yorktown, 1781. He has participated in numerous national and international underwater archaeological expeditions, including deepwater archaeology expeditions in the Black Sea and North Atlantic. He has served on numerous archaeological advisory boards and is a Fellow in The Explorers Club. He has published a variety of technical and popular articles and contributed to numerous archaeological books and encyclopedias including USS Monitor: a Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage (Texas A&M University Press, 2012). He has a master’s degree in American Studies from the College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. in Maritime Studies from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
