General Discussions  
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII. 
Go to: Forum List•Message List•New Topic•Search•Log In•Print View
U166&C.J.Christ
Posted by: Kevin Fitch ()
Date: June 09, 2001 09:05PM

<HTML> I really don\'t know where to begin.I developed an interest in u-boats about 10 years ago. Last year I met C.J.Christ from Houma,Louisiana and entered his lifetime capsule. In 70 years there isn\'t much he hasn\'t done or tried to do. 1967 was the year of his first U166 expedition. Many,many more trips followed and friends and sponsors would come and go.In the mid 70\'s he went to Germany and stayed with Admiral Donitz for two weeks to learn more about u-boat operations in the U.S. In 1978 he joined the u-boat veterans association and has returned every year since then. He has also been appointed by that organization as their custodian for all u-boats in American waters. C.J. purchased the Coast Guard widgeon airplane that was thought up until last month to have sunk U-166 in 1942. He flew the plane to Pensacola and donated it to the Naval aviation museum. They didn\'t want it because it wasn\'t a navy plane. He convinced them of the historical significance (the only Coast Guard plane to sink an enemy vessel in W.W.2) and they finally took it. When you first walk into C.J.\'s house you see the type IX model boat and the enormous rows of books and literature on u-boats. At the end of a shelf is a picture of C.J.(in Germany they call him comrade Christ) and Adm. Donitz standing in Donitz\' backyard. If there is anyone in America that has spent more time reading and learning, interviewing thousands, plotting maps,diving,traveling,ect. I can\'t imagine who that would be. Up until a month ago the only thing we knew for sure was that U166 was somewhere between New Orleans and Europe. All the hang and wreck sites proved fruitless over the years.We already had a trip scheduled off Dauphin Island,Ala. when we accidently found out that U-166 had been found in very deep water by C&C technologies of Lafayette,La. We went anyway 45 miles due south of Mobile Bay except we really needed to go another 100 miles south to be in the right spot. Archeologists Robert Church and Dan Warren looked at 1986 Shell Oil data that identified a wreck as being the Alcoa Puritan but something didn\'t look right when it was compared with the new data. Bp Amoco & Shell were partners in the pipeline project and decided to go back offshore and down 5000 feet for another look see. The next data proved conclusive U166 had been found- 59 years later! </HTML>

Options: Reply•Quote


Subject Written By Posted
U166&amp;C.J.Christ Kevin Fitch 06/09/2001 09:05PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ TORLEF 06/09/2001 10:27PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ Marc Haldimann 06/10/2001 01:38PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ Robert Church 06/10/2001 07:17PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ ray schwartz 06/11/2001 02:47PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ Daniel Warren 06/11/2001 05:29PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ ray schwartz 06/11/2001 06:23PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ ray schwartz 06/11/2001 06:25PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ Marc Haldimann 06/11/2001 05:07PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ Robert Church 06/12/2001 03:36PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ Marc Haldimann 06/13/2001 04:46PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ Walter Gallant 06/13/2001 06:08PM
RE: U166&amp;C.J.Christ Walter Gallant 06/13/2001 06:09PM


Go to: Forum List•Message List•Search•Log In
Your Name: 
Your Email: 
Subject: 
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.
  *******   **     **  ********  ********  **    ** 
 **     **  ***   ***  **    **  **        ***   ** 
 **     **  **** ****      **    **        ****  ** 
  ********  ** *** **     **     ******    ** ** ** 
        **  **     **    **      **        **  **** 
 **     **  **     **    **      **        **   *** 
  *******   **     **    **      ********  **    **