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June 20, 2004
First Dive Debriefing
Back in the warmth and safety of the Sea Hunters editing suite, Mike Fletcher got a chance to watch the footage they returned with, and reflect a bit.
To my unpracticed eye there is almost nothing in the video that can confirm that it's a wreck, never mind a U-boat, but Mike Fletcher's practiced eye sees something. We just don't know what it is yet.
I was surprised to hear Mike mention that it was possibly the worst diving conditions he had ever encountered, this is a man who has been diving for years all over the world, and in all sorts of conditions. What makes it a tough site is the strength of the currents and the unpredictability of the direction they are flowing in.
It's also deep, and with so many fishing nets snagged on top of the unidentified target it means that they can't dive with a helmet and full dive suit, since it's so much easier to get snagged up while wearing one, and the consequences of that are unthinkable. That means that they have to dive with scuba gear, with faces exposed to the bone chilling water.
Hearing of the conditions that they face when they search for lost wrecks like this makes me realize just how dangerous the job is, and fills me with respect and admiration for those who take it on.
Posted by administrator at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
Ground Truth Video!
Mike and Warren Fletcher have returned to the surface and are optimistic that we have an interesting target, worthy of further examination on a future dive.
270 feet below the cold and turbulent Atlantic they saw and touched an object that they are certain is a sunken vessel. It was not possible to make a positive ID, that will have to come later, but taking the size and shape of the target, as well as what they witnessed with their eyes, they are fairly certain that we have found a submarine.
The question now is which one?
Could this video footage be the first ever of the long lost U-Boat U-215? The final resting place of 48 souls.
Posted by administrator at 02:04 AM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2004
Looking back at the U-21
While we wait for Mike and Warren to resurface, let's digress a bit.
It's a big event when a new U-boat is found. If it was easy to find and get to, it was discovered ages ago.
Back in 2002 the Sea Hunters team discovered the U-21 in the North Sea. This time, Clive Cussler had done the leg work in locating the area where the sub might be found. The U-21 entered the history books when her captain, Otto Hersing, torpedoed and sank the British light cruiser HMS Pathfinder on September 5th 1914, the first submarine casualty of World War I and it was the second time in maritime history a vessel had been sunk by a submarine.
To this day, if you mention the U-21 to Mike Fletcher, his face burns with memories of Jellyfish stings. Watch this scene with Mike, as he dives down to discover the wreck of the most feared U-Boat of early submarine warfare.
Posted by administrator at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
A Promising Target?
After 36 hours of sidescanning near the Hague line on George's Bank, the Sea Hunters team has identified an extremely promising target. They were led to explore this target based on the following promising multi-beam bathymetrics "backscatter" image. Does that look like a sub to you? Click the image for a larger view.
As of this writing Mike and Warren Fletcher are now preparing to dive in two-hundred and seventy feet of cold Atlantic water to perform a ground-truth. The depth reads from 260 to 270 feet and the currents are strong and unpredictable. There will only be enough time and gas for a drop down to the bottom, a quick look around, and then right back up.
Posted by administrator at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2004
The Sea Hunters Depart on the Arvor
At 0700 this morning the Sea Hunters boarded the vessel "Arvor" out of Gloucester Mass., and headed out to sea. The Captain/owner of our initial search vessel "Arvor" is Capt. Mark Sheldon. Here is Sea Hunter sidescan specialist Vince Capone at her helm.
This initial mission's goals are to sidescan 12 targets selected by Sea Hunter producer John Davis. Here is how John explained how he identified these targets, in his own words.
"There were two sources used to develop targets for the U-215 search."
"The first was the multi-beam bathymetrics created by the East Coast Canadian Scallop sector. They have a large fishery on George's Bank and they spent millions of dollars searching and recording the bottom to look for new scallop beds. I got permission to search their Multibeam "Backscatter" data to look for anomalies that could represent shipwrecks."
"The Second information source was "Hook ups" That had been recorded over the years by the Yellow Tail Flounder fleet out of S. West Nova Scotia."
"This combined information provided 12 potential targets."
The Sea Hunters have their work cut out for them. Two noteworthy ships lie in the area they'll be sidescanning, the long lost "U-215" and the liberty ship "Macomb". The final stories of the two ships are intertwined. The Macomb was been sunk by U-215's torpedo, and the U-215 failed to escape the depth charges dropped from the convoy escort vessle "Le Tiger'. The hunter became the hunted.
Is this the final resting place of the U-215 and the Alexander Macomb? Are they out there?
Posted by administrator at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2004
The Search Begins for U-215 and Alexander Macomb
In July of 1942 the German U-Boat 215, Commanded by Kptlt. Fritz Hoeckner, was on a secret mission to North America. U-215 was a very rare class of u-boat, a type VIID.
In total there were only six of this type of vessel built. The uniqueness of this design was in the addition of a thirty-two ft. compartment between the control room and the galley that housed five vertical mine tubes. Each tube held five SMA (magnetic influence) mines. The addition of these mine tubes allowed the U-Boat Command to assign dual purpose missions to these boats, that of mining enemy harbors and anchorages and the traditional attack role of torpedoing enemy shipping. Kptlt. Hoeckner’s secret mission was to mine the entrance of Boston Harbor and create havoc as convoys started their long journey across the Atlantic. He would never accomplish his task. The torpedo he sent into the hull of the Liberty Ship USS “Alexander Macomb” would seal his fate and the fate of his crew long before he reached his destination.
The “Alexander Macomb” was built in Baltimore Maryland. She was launched on May 6th. 1942. On July 3rd. 1942 she was lagging behind her convoy in dense fog. She was 6 miles back when U-215 fired her torpedoes. 30 men of her 60-man crew were killed or wounded in the blast. She sank minutes after the secondary explosions in her cargo hold opened her hull to the waters of the cold North Atlantic.
Minutes after the torpedoes hit the “Macomb” the convoy escort vessel “Le Tiger” took up the chase for the U-boat. Using ASDEC (a primitive form of sonar) they located the sub as she ran for deeper water. Dropping depth charges at close intervals the “Le Tiger” first slowed her target then, the pings from the ASDEC indicated that the target had come to a complete stop on the bottom. Oil and debris on the surface indicated a kill. The “Le Tiger” then went to the Aid of the “Macon” Survivors.
Using targets provided by fishermen and multi-beam charting done by the Bedford Institute of Oceanography the “Sea Hunters” will search for and dive these wrecks, confirming the kill of the U-215, and telling the story of the loss of the “Macomb” and the Nazi plans to mine Boston Harbor.
Posted by administrator at 08:02 AM | Comments (0)
