Commodore Robert Stanley Bates

In 2004, Bates was the leader of the first expedition to the suspected site of the first Eden-Atlantis off  the coast of Cyprus. In 2006 he was  consultant to the History Channel for the second expedition. Bates has led a distinguished career as an officer in the Coast Guard and the U.S. Merchant Marine. He also served  as captain on board the University of Rhode Island research vessel ENDEAVOR , the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute research vessel OCEANUS for numerous other sub-sea projects, and captain of the survey vessel USNS HARKNESS for bottom mapping in the Persian Gulf.


LONGER BIO: Commodore Bates is a 1960 graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy and served the next 22 years as a career officer which included a tour in Vietnam. In 1969, he earned a masters degree in mathematics at the University of Rhode Island and was elected to Pi Mu Epsilon, the national honorary mathematics society. Upon retirement from the Coast Guard in 1982, he sat for his unlimited master’s license and commenced a second career in the U.S. Merchant Marine. He participated in the Cold War as captain on Ocean Surveillance Vessels and captain on a survey ship during Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf. During the following nine years, he served as captain on board the University of Rhode Island R/V ENDEAVOR and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute R/V OCEANUS for numerous sub-sea projects. Between tours at sea, he served on the adjunct faculty at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point Campus, the United States Coast Guard Academy and the STAR Center in Florida. In 2004, he was the expedition leader to the suspected site of Atlantis off the coast of Cyprus. In 2006 he was the consultant to The History Channel for the second expedition. Since 1988 he has authored numerous articles in a variety of periodicals. In 1995, he founded Batek Marine, a maritime consulting firm. In 2011, he published the book: The Authority to Sail: The History of US Maritime Licenses and Documents. Recently, he has published articles and lectured on the Atlantis expeditions.