General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Posistion Info for sub. Is it the lost U-376???
Posted by:
1inCanada
()
Date: December 02, 2003 03:42AM
<HTML> Dear Sir, I have noticed on the forum that the topic "P.E.I. Uboat Info" was posted on November 30th at 23:39 hours. It contained two references to other web sites (www.pinetreeline.org/rds/detail/rds24-7.html and www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/41_49P/49P_08.html )that I briefly read, which describe the activities of U-262 and U-376.
The Pisces book, Dive into History Volume 3 U-boats by Henry C. Keatts and George C. Farr, may shed some light on the position of the missing U-376 u-boat. Page 201 of the book has the following info: entitled "U-???", Location off Prince Edward Island, approx. depth 95 feet, water visibility poor, current strong.
A ship wreck that may be a U-boat has been found, has been dived, and has been sketched, but has yet to be identified. Something lies there on a broken bottom of sand and silt, in about 95 feet of water. Kevin Mills, a Canadian diver from Fredricton, New Brunswick, heard that a U-boat had been discovered by Arnold Gaudet, a retired fisherman from Tignish, Prince Edward Island. Other fishermen know of the obstruction because it snagged their nets. One fisherman reported to have recovered a munition box with German markings. Mills learned from Gaudet that he found what he believes is a U-boat while fishing the area of Hearn Ledge, off the west shore of North Cape. Mills, using a fathometer, scanned the site and produced a 220 foot by 25 foot object.
He interviewed witnesses and others familiar with eyewitness accounts of May 7th, 1943, unsuccessful attempt by a U-boat to sink a cargo ship at about 1:00 pm. The aborted attack is reported to have been followed by a three hour sequence of events with the U-boat scampering out to sea, then back to shore to evade surface attacks and air attacks from planes believed to be based at CFB Summerside, PEI. Those reporting the event claim that several times during the action, the U-boat was brought to the surface by depth charging until it was blown out of the water and sunk by a direct hit on the stern section. She sank stern first, with all hands lost, in less than two minutes.
His sketch in the book shows the wreck lying on its port side, partially covered in sand at the stern and keel. The conning tower faces the shore, but its streamlined fairing and wooden deck plates have disintegrated over the years. Mills reported he found a large deck gun (possibly an 88mm), a 20 mm antiaircraft gun, periscopes, and all hatches in place. He observed that the antiaircraft gun and periscopes were bent by a draggers' net, with the remains of the net draped over the gun and periscope.
The site is about 1.25 miles off the west shore of North Cape, Prince Edward Island, between Hearn Ledge and the "Horseback". It is and area exposed to weather from most directions. Diving is best at slack tide, but the dive is recommended only for experienced wreck divers because of the treacherous currents. Without artifacts or photographs, only Mills description and sketch along with the legend of the 1943 U-boat sinking substantiate the conclusion that the wreck is a U-boat. This concludes the general written decription in the book.
My observations of the sketch of the wreck in the book are as follows: The sketch shows the wreck lying about 15 degrees past what is assumed to be magnetic north (not true north) in a general north-south orientation with the conning tower (draped with nets) lying towards shore. Water depth is about 95 feet. The general water current is from the northwest and shows sand pushed up against the hull from the stern to about two thirds along the wrecks' entire length. The debris field runs southwest of the wreck and extends one third of the vessels length. There are no Loran or GPS co-ordinates given and there are no longitude or latitude co-ordinates either.Illustration is by James L. Christley.
As of this date I have not researched the world wide web for sonar images of this vessel or the area which may be avaliable from different government sources, defence sources, diving sources, diving centers around Price Edward Island and oceanography sources of the world. General sonar images of this area may show the wreck and pinpoint it's exact location as well as identify it. Your help in identifying this u-boat??? would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, 1inCanada</HTML>
The Pisces book, Dive into History Volume 3 U-boats by Henry C. Keatts and George C. Farr, may shed some light on the position of the missing U-376 u-boat. Page 201 of the book has the following info: entitled "U-???", Location off Prince Edward Island, approx. depth 95 feet, water visibility poor, current strong.
A ship wreck that may be a U-boat has been found, has been dived, and has been sketched, but has yet to be identified. Something lies there on a broken bottom of sand and silt, in about 95 feet of water. Kevin Mills, a Canadian diver from Fredricton, New Brunswick, heard that a U-boat had been discovered by Arnold Gaudet, a retired fisherman from Tignish, Prince Edward Island. Other fishermen know of the obstruction because it snagged their nets. One fisherman reported to have recovered a munition box with German markings. Mills learned from Gaudet that he found what he believes is a U-boat while fishing the area of Hearn Ledge, off the west shore of North Cape. Mills, using a fathometer, scanned the site and produced a 220 foot by 25 foot object.
He interviewed witnesses and others familiar with eyewitness accounts of May 7th, 1943, unsuccessful attempt by a U-boat to sink a cargo ship at about 1:00 pm. The aborted attack is reported to have been followed by a three hour sequence of events with the U-boat scampering out to sea, then back to shore to evade surface attacks and air attacks from planes believed to be based at CFB Summerside, PEI. Those reporting the event claim that several times during the action, the U-boat was brought to the surface by depth charging until it was blown out of the water and sunk by a direct hit on the stern section. She sank stern first, with all hands lost, in less than two minutes.
His sketch in the book shows the wreck lying on its port side, partially covered in sand at the stern and keel. The conning tower faces the shore, but its streamlined fairing and wooden deck plates have disintegrated over the years. Mills reported he found a large deck gun (possibly an 88mm), a 20 mm antiaircraft gun, periscopes, and all hatches in place. He observed that the antiaircraft gun and periscopes were bent by a draggers' net, with the remains of the net draped over the gun and periscope.
The site is about 1.25 miles off the west shore of North Cape, Prince Edward Island, between Hearn Ledge and the "Horseback". It is and area exposed to weather from most directions. Diving is best at slack tide, but the dive is recommended only for experienced wreck divers because of the treacherous currents. Without artifacts or photographs, only Mills description and sketch along with the legend of the 1943 U-boat sinking substantiate the conclusion that the wreck is a U-boat. This concludes the general written decription in the book.
My observations of the sketch of the wreck in the book are as follows: The sketch shows the wreck lying about 15 degrees past what is assumed to be magnetic north (not true north) in a general north-south orientation with the conning tower (draped with nets) lying towards shore. Water depth is about 95 feet. The general water current is from the northwest and shows sand pushed up against the hull from the stern to about two thirds along the wrecks' entire length. The debris field runs southwest of the wreck and extends one third of the vessels length. There are no Loran or GPS co-ordinates given and there are no longitude or latitude co-ordinates either.Illustration is by James L. Christley.
As of this date I have not researched the world wide web for sonar images of this vessel or the area which may be avaliable from different government sources, defence sources, diving sources, diving centers around Price Edward Island and oceanography sources of the world. General sonar images of this area may show the wreck and pinpoint it's exact location as well as identify it. Your help in identifying this u-boat??? would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, 1inCanada</HTML>
Posistion Info for sub. Is it the lost U-376???