The Ship, the Saint, and the Sailor: The Long Search for the Legendary Kad'yak

A book by Bradley Stevens. Ingram Press, 2018. 

"The Ship, The Saint, and the Sailor: The long Search for the Legendary Kad'yak" tells the story of the Russian 3-masted sailing ship Kad'yak, that sank in Kodiak, Alaska, in 1860, while carrying a cargo of ice from Kodiak to San Francisco. After years of painstaking research, I led a team of divers to find the ship in 2003, and in 2004 assisted a team of professional archeologists to survey the wreck site. At the time it was found, the Kad’yak was the oldest known shipwreck site in Alaska, and the only shipwreck from the Russian colonial period ever found. Although it carried no treasure, the Kad’yak played an important role in the history of Alaska. As we raised some artifacts from the seafloor, we elevated the Kad’yak from mystery to history.

Brad Stevens with the nameplate from the Kad’yak shipwreck (S. Quinth).

You can buy the book Here

AND NOW, the story is being told in Drain the Oceans Series 6, Episode 1 on National Geographic TV and Disney Plus. In July 2022, I traveled to Kodiak Alaska with a film crew from Mallinson Sadler Productions to film the episode for National Geographic TV. This episode combines on-site video with underwater video taken by Award-winning international nature photographer Stefan Quinth of CameraQ productions.

The Alaska episode, titled “Drain the Oceans - Alaska”, will be initially aired at 10 pm on March 5, 2023, on National Geographic TV. It will appear on Disney Plus at a later date, which we will announce when available. Together we tell the fascinating story of the Kad’yak shipwreck and it’s importance to the history of Alaska and the United States.