Andy Hall is a native of the Texas Gulf Coast and a longtime researcher and author, specializing in local maritime and Civil War history. Working with the Texas Historical Commission, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, the PAST Foundation and other groups, Hall has had the opportunity to help archaeologists record multiple historical shipwrecks, including the famous blockade runners Denbigh and Will o' the Wisp and the blockaders USS Arkansas and USS Hatteras.