Richie Kohler Jr.

Richie Kohler is a filmmaker, author and explorer whose diving experiences began in the waters surrounding Brooklyn NY, but whose passion for diving and exploring shipwrecks has taken him to all corners of the globe. As a founding member of the NY based group the “Atlantic Wreck Divers” Kohler has spent the last 40 years exploring and identifying lost shipwrecks. Those exploits have been documented in newspapers, magazines, documentary films and numerous books. Kohler holds nearly every diving qualification, certified scores of technical divers in advanced diving techniques and continues to lead shipwreck and technical diving expeditions internationally.

In 1992 his work (with diving partner John Chatterton) to identify a previously unknown German U-boat was the focus of an award-winning NOVA documentary, “Hitler’s Lost Sub.”  That six-year effort was the subject of several television documentaries and a best-selling book, Shadow Diversby Robert Kurson, a New York Times bestseller. The success of that program launched his career in underwater filmmaking. Kohler co-hosted and produced fifty-six episodes of the popular History Channel program “Deep Sea Detectives” that attracted millions of viewers worldwide. The educational program focused on underwater mysteries in nearly every aquatic environment and inspired many to discover diving and explore the undersea world.

Kohler has produced numerous other television programs detailing his explorations on some of the most famous shipwrecks in the world, including the Andrea Doria, RMS Titanic, and the HMHS Britannic. Kohler has worked on film projects for Fox, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, CBS, PBS/NOVA, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, E-One.

Kohler’s work is often focused on the human aspect of shipwreck tragedies and he has prioritized reaching out to the survivors and families answering questions and providing closure on wrecks such as the U-215, U-869, USS Murphy, USS Lagarto and the PC 566.  Alongside legendary underwater explorer Dr. Bob Ballard aboard his research ship, EV Nautilus,Kohlers workculminated in an award ceremony at the Pentagon in which the Secretary of the Navy posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit with Valor to a World War II Captain.

A Fellow in the Explorer’s Club, Kohler continues to lead expeditions in search of lost ships and the mysteries they hold.  He has written dozens of articles about shipwrecks, deep diving and diver safety and in 2016 published his first book, Mystery of the Last Olympian, that details his decade of work on Titanic’s sister ship HMHS Britannic. Over the years he has made presentations at schools, libraries, diving conventions and symposiums promoting diving safety, education and awareness.

Recently Kohler hosted on a new series of diving-centered programing, Dark Waters with Richie Kohler. This programing promotes the fragile underwater environment, showcasing the treasures it holds to a new generation of underwater explorers.

Richie Kohler represents a unique sector of diving professionals with significant contributions to exploration and historical preservation of the ocean’s wreck resources.

Diving Certifications

  • 1976 – Junior scuba diver
  • 1977 – Basic scuba
  • 1982 – Advanced open water
  • 1993 – Advanced technical nitrox and tri-mix
  • 2004 – Cavern / Full Cave
  • 2005 – Evolution CCR (air diluent)
  • 2005 – CCR Cave
  • 2006 – CPR first responder
  • 2006 – Evolution CCR (mixed gas)
  • 2006 – Megladon CCR (air diluent)
  • 2007 – Rescue Diver & Dive Master
  • 2007 – Open water Instructor
  • 2007 – Advanced Wreck Diving Instructor
  • 2007 – Advanced Nitrox Instructor
  • 2007 – Evolution CCR Instructor
  • 2008 – Evolution Mixed Gas CCR Instructor
  • 2009 – Sentinel CCR (air diluent)
  • 2009 – Sentinel CCR Instructor
  • 2014 – JJ CCR (air diluent)
  • 2021 – JJ CCR (mixed gas)
  • 2023 – Hyperbaric Life support

Film & Television

  • 2000 – Subject of the PBS NOVA 2-hour documentary Hitler’s Lost Sub, winner of both the IDA and Writers Guild awards detailing the 6-year quest to identify an unknown U-boat wreck off of New Jersey USA.
  • 2003/2005 – Co-hosted fifty-seven episodes of the History Channel series Deep Sea Detectives.
  • 2005- Appeared on the National Geographic program The Sea Hunters. Worked with Clive Cussler’s team on the 2004 discovery and identification of the U-215.
  • 2005 – Appeared on History Channel program Digging for the Truth episode, “Cleopatra’s Palace”.
  • 2005 – Interview on 60 Minutes regarding Shadow Divers, by Robert Kurson.
  • 2006- Interviewed on Good Morning America for Missing Pieces.
  • 2006 – Subject and executive producer of the History Channel’s 2-hour documentary Titanic’s Final Moments: Missing Pieces, detailing new forensic evidence about Titanic’s sinking. (Winner of the 2006 Bronze Telly award.)
  • 2007- Subject and executive producer of the History Channel 2-hour documentary Titanic’s Achilles Heel, sequel to the 2006 program, further detailing the post sinking investigation and  modern forensic analysis.
  • 2007 – Subject and executive producer of the History Channel’s 1-hour program, Titanic’s Lost Sister: Britannic.
  • 2009 – National Geographic film and dive team member to HMHS Britannic, (film project canceled due to the death of expedition leader Carl Spencer while diving the wreck).
  • 2015 – National Geographic/Nova Documentary film on Germanys U-boat attack against America, “Nazi Attack on America”
  • 2016 – Titanic’s Tragic Twin, BBC Documentary film for the centenary of the sinking of HMHS Britannic.
  • 2016 – Subject and presenter of the “Mystery of the Britannic” a U-Film docudrama.
  • 2017- Subject and presenter of the “Beasts of the Abyss” a documentary film about the discovery of the WWI German submarine UB 85 and a connection to legendary monsters for Animal Planet.
  • 2018 – Subject and presenter of the AQ film series “Dark Waters” featuring the following programs:

    • “The Perseus Survivor” a tale of survival from a WWII submarine.

    • “Nephilim” Detailing the loss of the battleship HMS Russell in WWI.

    • “The Shadow of Olympus” Britain’s worst wartime submarine disaster.

    • “The Floating Palace” The sinking of Thomas Lipton’s incredible yacht.

  • 2019 – U-Boat expert and subject in “The Hunt for Eagle 56” a three-part series on the Smithsonian Channel about the last Navy warship sunk in enemy action in US waters during WWII.

 

 

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Richie Kohler’s Diving Accomplishments

  • 1985- First dive on the Andrea Doria, 124 dives to the wreck since then.
  • 1991 – 1996, with partner John Chatterton, positively identified an unknown German U-boat wreck located off the NJ coast as the U-869.
  • 1999 – U.S. leader of a British/American team to locate and identify numerous World War I and World War II German U-boats in the English Channel.
  • 2002 – Identified the remains of the USS Murphy, a World War II American destroyer, located 90 miles from New York harbor.
  • 2004 – Located and identified the U-215, the first German U boat to be located in Canadian waters, 150 miles south of Nova Scotia.
  • 2005 – Awarded “Diver of the Year”, (Arts), at Beneath the Sea.
  • 2005 – Led the History Channel Expedition’s award winning documentary to the RMS Titanic, documenting new evidence and wreckage.
  • 2006 – Led the History Channel Expedition to explore and document the wreck of Titanic’s sister ship, HMHS Britannic.
  • 2006 – Inducted into the Divers Hall of Fame, California Wreck divers.
  • 2007 – Documented the wreck of the WWII American submarine, USS Lagarto for the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and PBS in the Gulf Of Thailand.
  • 2009 – Exploration diver on the National Geographic expedition to HMHS Britannic.
  • 2012 – Presented at RF3 (re-breather forum 3) on technical diving safety
  • 2014 – Worked with Dr. Bob Ballard documenting deep shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, including the German submarine U-166
  • 2015- Expedition leader and Diving Operations Officer on a Russian Geological Society expedition to HMHS Britannic, an Explorer’s Club flagged expedition.
  • 2016- Expedition leader and Diving Operations Officer on with the Russian Geological Society 100-year anniversary expedition to HMHS Britannic and filming for both the BBC program “Titanic’s Tragic twin and the U-Group/U-Films’ docudrama “Mystery of Britannic”.
  • 2016 – Presented at the 1st Shipwreck Symposium at Warsaw University, Warsaw Poland
  • 2016- Presented at the KEA 100-year Shipwreck Symposium in Greece.
  • 2016- Presented at the 4th Eurotech Technical diving conference in the UK.
  • 2018 – Presented at the 5th Eurotech Technical diving conference in the UK.
  • 2019 – Presented at the 3rd Shipwreck Symposium at Warsaw University, Warsaw Poland.
  • 2022 – Diving Safety Officer for the 2022 HMHS Britannic Expedition.
  • 2022 – Presented at the International Shipwreck Symposium, Plymouth University, Plymouth UK