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#U boat watch kriegsmarine markings stopwatch free#

It was very dark and visibility was only 10 to 15 feet as he continued his survey.

#U boat watch kriegsmarine markings stopwatch free#

Descending the anchor line, John reached the bottom and quickly secured the grapnel so it couldn’t pull free of the wreckage. He quickly geared up then flopped over the side of the boat. Captain John Chatterton decided to tie in the anchor line and make a reconnaissance dive. The anchor line jerked back as the grapnel clambered over the wreckage then fetched up securely, and the line was quickly tied off.Ī glance at the depth sounder revealed deeper water than anticipated. The signal was given to toss the grapnel off the bow. Within a few minutes, an erratic jump on the bottom recorder traced an outline of an object resting on the bottom. On approach to the coordinates, Captain Bill slowed the engines and began a search pattern. The sun had just risen into a clear sky and the seas were tolerable as he took over the helm. These clues are usually obtained by trading locations with fishermen or dragger captains who wish to avoid these lumps so as not to lose their nets.Īs SEEKER neared its destination, Captain Bill Nagle – owner-operator of the boat – was called to the wheelhouse. The trip is an annual event set aside from the usual schedule to investigate clues to a lump that may hold more promise of interest than an old trash barge or pile of rocks. The boat pulled away from the dock at midnight for a five-hour journey across open ocean to a point 65 miles off the New Jersey coast. Looking aft into the extremely tight electrical room.Īn expedition on September 2, 1991, aboard the dive boat SEEKER left Manasquan inlet to examine one of thousands of lumps that litter the floor of the Atlantic along the East Coast. Be careful, John! Backtracking from the torpedo room to the Petty Officers’ quarters. As the U-869 may never have fired a shot, there is probably several thousand pounds of touchy old explosives in her torpedo rooms. Looking forward in the Petty Officers’ quarters on a different Type IX, with a closed hatch leading to forward torpedo room. Whatever happened to the U-869 must have been immediate and catastrophic, as all the hatches appear to be wide open. In the event of damage, these hatches would be closed to seal off the watertight compartments. This hatch leads to the aft torpedo room, which also served as crew berthing. An internal hatch of a Type IX u-boat, the U-505, preserved in Chicago. This is where Chatterton enters the wreck, but on the U-869 it is blown wide open. Looking aft in the control room of a Type IX u-boat. In the video, Chatterton enters through the blast hole amidships and moves forward to the torpedo room. Note the extensive damage.Īt the widest point, the pressure hull is slightly less than 5 meters in diameter and tapers to both ends. Sheesh! Sectional drawing of a Type IX u-boat. Pause the video at 3:37 to see the easy lobster he missed. Exploring the U-869 John Chatterton explores the U-869. The remains of the crew are still inside the broken hull, and even today this hapless boat continues to take lives: 3 divers have died on her since her discovery in 1991. The now-famous “Horenberg knife” German Navy markings on a dish U-869 According to Navy records, the Coasties just wasted a lot of ammunition on nothing. But since there was no definite confirmation of a kill, the Navy denied the Coast Guard credit for anything, which was not uncommon. ) Much more likely is that the sub was sunk by Coast Guard convoy escorts in an attack on Feb 11, 1945. That theory also does not explain the extensive damage at two locations on the wreck. While there are numerous documented cases of this, a submarine can usually detect a circular-runner and evade it by diving under it. The initial theory was that the U-869 was the victim of a circular-running torpedo, one which malfunctioned and homed in on the sub that launched it. This took some detective work, as neither US nor German records placed the U-869 anywhere near the eastern seaboard, and no submarine was recorded as sunk at the location of the wreck. The “U-Who?” was identified as the U-869.