July 2026 Speaker

Speaker: Jennifer Sellitti

Discussion topic: The Adriatic Affair

July Location: Sir John's Restaurant

The Adriatic Affair and the Discovery of the 1855 French Passenger Steamship Le

Lyonnais

Shipwreck hunter, attorney, and author Jennifer Sellitti shares the remarkable true story

of the French passenger steamship Le Lyonnais and the decades-long mystery

surrounding her loss. Drawing from her book, The Adriatic Affair: A Maritime Hit-and-

Run off the Coast of Nantucket, Sellitti traces the tragic collision, unanswered questions

it left behind, and the modern hunt to locate the wreck of this extraordinary vessel.

The American sailing vessel Adriatic collided with the French steamship Le Lyonnais on

November 2, 1856, off the coast of Nantucket in what can best be described as a

maritime hit-and-run. Adriatic’s captain, Jonathan Durham, rendered no aid and left the

passenger steamship to fend for herself. 114 people died in the collision and in the days

that followed. Durham did not count on a hero, French sailor Jean-Marie-Louis

Choupault, who helped 18 Le Lyonnais passengers and crew adrift on a small lifeboat in

the brutal North Atlantic. French authorities later put Durham on trial, but his adventures

did not end there. News of his daring escapades made Durham a celebrity in America.

The outbreak of the Civil War ended further inquiry into what became known in

diplomatic circles as “the Adriatic affair,” and the victims of the disaster never received

justice.

In August of 2024, Jennifer, her partner Joe Mazraani, and a team of explorers

discovered from their dive vessel Tenacious, dived, and identified the wreckage of Le

Lyonnais 140 miles from land on the eastern edges of Georges Bank. Mazraani

subsequently died on a July 2025 expedition to document other Georges Bank

shipwrecks the pair had discovered together. This presentation is a powerful real-life

story of history, courage, love, and loss and an unflinching look at what it truly means to

follow your passion far offshore and in deep and dangerous waters.

JENNIFER SELLITTI

Jennifer Sellitti is the Managing Member of Atlantic Wreck Salvage (AWS) and the captain of

the company’s dive vessel, Tenacious. She leads dive expeditions, conducts historical research on

both active and prospective projects, oversees side-scan sonar operations, and directs the team’s

public education efforts on the importance of shipwreck discovery and responsible salvage.

Jennifer has participated in the discovery of several previously undocumented shipwrecks,

including the 1855 French passenger steamship SS Le Lyonnais, the WWI-era fishing trawler ST

Seiner, the U-53 casualty SS West Point, and the bow of MV Stockholm, the vessel that collided

with and sank Andrea Doria, among others. She organizes and leads regular expeditions to dive

sites along the Eastern Seaboard and has provided surface support on international expeditions to

SS Andrea Doria, Titanic’s sister ship HMHS Britannic, RMS Lusitania, and other deep-water

wrecks far offshore.

A diver and U.S. Coast Guard–licensed captain, Jennifer is an associate member of the Boston

Sea Rovers and a trustee of the New Jersey Maritime Museum. When not at sea, she practices

criminal defense law.

Her first book, The Adriatic Affair: A Maritime Hit-and-Run Off the Coast of Nantucket (Schiffer

Publishing, March 2025), chronicles the sinking of the nineteenth-century passenger steamship

Le Lyonnais. The epilogue documents D/V Tenacious’s 2024 discovery and exploration of the

wreck’s final resting place.

Jennifer inherited AWS from her partner in life and in wreck diving, Captain Joe Mazraani,

following his death during a July 2025 expedition to document the Georges Bank shipwrecks

they discovered together. His untimely death was a profound loss to Jennifer and the Tenacious

crew; but the spirit that defined him – his fearless curiosity, his unwavering determination, and

his relentless pursuit of exploration beyond limits – did not die with him. It lives on in the team

he built, in the standards he set, and in every expedition that challenges the edge of what is

possible. Today, Jennifer and her crew honor Joe’s legacy by pursuing undiscovered shipwrecks

and maritime history with the same passion, strength, and tenacity that defined his life and work,

ensuring that every voyage aboard Tenacious is not only a search for lost ships but a living

tribute to the man who believed the ocean still held stories worth fighting to find.

For more information about AWS and D/V Tenacious, visit: www.dvtenacious.com and follow

us on social media @dvtenacious on Facebook and Instagram.