U-boat Still a Threat
More than 60 years after she set sail, the U-864’s deadly cargo is poised to cause destruction never envisioned by the command that ordered her mission in the desperate waning months of World War II. Crammed with 65 tons of mercury, the U-boat left Kiel bound for Japan. The weapons to be created with the mercury she carried were intended to help the Japanese regain supremacy over the U.S. Navy in the Pacific and divert American attention away from Europe and Germany.
Neither the cargo nor the 73 men on board made it. The U-boat was torpedoed and sunk 9 February 1945 in the North Sea by a British submarine. Today, her toxic cargo, slowly leaking into the waters off the coast of Norway, is an ecological time bomb threatening marine—and potentially human—life. The Norwegian government is set to act, following recommendations that the wreck be hermetically sealed to prevent the further release of the liquid metal.
“We are worried about the long-term consequences of the contamination,” Ane Eide Kjeras, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Coastal Administration said in a BBC interview. “We need to do something as soon as possible.” The sub’s mission and fate have been documented by a BBC television program.
By December 1944, Nazi Germany was virtually surrounded and laid plans for Operation Caesar, which would have the U-864 embark on her underwater mission loaded with 1,857 canisters of mercury to be used for weapons production in Japan, as well as a variety of jet aircraft parts. British code-breakers, however, learned the details of the operation, even the names of the German and Japanese scientists and engineers on board.
The Royal Navy assigned the submarine HMS Venturer to intercept the boat after she left the Norwegian port of Bergen. The U-864 was located by the British sub’s sound detection gear (ASDIC) used in the passive mode so there would be no tell-tale ping to reveal her presence. The Venturer’s commander, 25-year-old Lieutenant James S. Launders, spotted the U-boat’s periscopes because of what he termed “the most shameful periscope drill on the U-boat’s part.” From the ASDIC and sightings, Launders concluded they were broad on the U-864’s starboard bow. After an hour to make certain of the enemy’s direction and speed, the British captain fired a salvo of four Mk VIII torpedoes at 3,000 yards. One hit, sending the U-boat to the bottom more than 500 feet below. There she lay undiscovered until the Royal Norwegian Navy, alerted by local fishermen, found the wreck in early 2003, just off the island of Fedje.
A no-fishing zone was imposed around the wreck site after the discovery of documents listing mercury as part of the sub’s cargo. Tests carried out on the nearby water and silt revealed elevated levels of mercury. The Norwegian coastal authorities have decided against raising the wreckage, deeming it too dangerous, and are recommending the two parts be sealed.
Kjeras said an area of about 500 feet in diameter would be covered with up to 40 feet of material. It is thought a special type of sand or gravel could be used to cover the eroding flasks.
It will also seal the watery grave of 73 men.
Saucy Recovery
After nearly six years of arranging financing and exploration crews, underwater archaeologists are finally discovering the secrets of a shipwrecked 1st-century Roman vessel off the coast of Alicante in southeast Spain. The ship—believed to have been 100-feet long and capable of carrying 400 tons of cargo (about twice the size of most other Roman shipwrecks found in the Mediterranean)—holds 1,500 well- preserved one-meter-tall clay amphoras, or two-handled jars, that contained fish sauce, a prized condiment for wealthy Romans.
Boaters found her cargo in 2000 when their anchor got tangled with one of the jars. After word of the find spread, pirate divers raided the site and stole some of the amphoras, forcing the Valencia regional government to protect the remains with a thick metal grating.
The site is important not only because of the ship’s size and condition of its cargo, but also because it is so easily accessible—in just 80 feet of water about one mile from the coast. Most wrecks are so deep they cannot be readily examined by scuba divers.
Javier Nieto, director of the Center for Underwater Archaeology of Catalonia, also declared it “immensely important” because of the fine condition of the cargo. No other Roman shipwreck is currently under study in the Mediterranean, he added.
The ship probably sank in a storm while sailing back to Rome from Cadiz in the south of present day Spain. The storm must have been severe because it is unusual for such a vessel to have been so close to shore.
What remains of the ship’s wooden structure—about 60 percent—is buried in the seabed. The cargo probably also includes lead, which the Romans used for plumbing, and copper, which they mixed with tin to make bronze. Because the jar seals could not survive two millenia underwater, the fish sauce is long gone. Traces of fish bones remain, which researchers believe will help them determine how the sauce was made.
C. F. Adams Needs Help
The Adams Class Veterans Association (ACVA) has received word from. Naval Sea Systems Command that ex-Charles F. Adams (DDG-2) may be removed from the ship-donation hold list and offered for scrapping as soon as February 2007. The ACVA has spoken to many ports on all three coasts in hope of finding a home for the warship but with no success.
The Charles F. Adams Veterans Association was founded in January 2004 to save a DDG ship. The group changed its name to Adams Class Veterans Association, and began efforts to save the ex-USS Charles F. Adams. At that time several of the class were still at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since then, each of the remaining Adams-class ships have been sent to scrappers with only the Adams remaining.
ACVA would like to discuss details with any museum that is interested in offering the Charles F. Adams a berth. Contact ACVA President Tom Crasser at [email protected] or association secretary Dave Myerly at [email protected]. Information on the USS Adams is available at http://www.bozair.com/adamsmenlDDG2.html and ACVA at http://adamsclassddgvets.org/.
Call for Papers
The Eighth Maritime Heritage Conference, to be held 9-12 October in San Diego, California, has put out a call for papers. The conference program committee invites abstracts for individual paper (15-30 minutes in length) and session proposals (three or four papers in 75 minutes). Papers may address a specific subject or aspects of broader themes of the conference, which are Maritime and Naval History, History of Hydrographic Surveys, Oceanic Trade and Communications, National Maritime Sanctuaries, Marine Art, Shipbuilding, Ship Preservation, Small Craft, Lighthouses and Lifesaving Stations, Historic Ships, Underwater Archaeology, Maritime Libraries and Museums, and Maritime Heritage Education.
Abstracts should be typed and consist of no more than one single-spaced page. Each abstract must be accompanied by a curriculum vitae of no more than three pages. Abstracts are due no later than 1 June 2007. They should clearly outline the paper’s argumentation, its place within the broader themes in maritime history, the umbrella organization to which the presenter belongs, as well as the paper’s estimated time limit. Abstracts should be sent, preferably by email, to the conference program chair, Kevin Sheehan, at [email protected] or via postal mail to the Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101. Phone (619) 234- 9153 and fax (619) 234-8345.
Last Chance for War Relics
On 13-14 March and 10-11 April 2007, the Maritime Administration’s Beaumont (Texas) Reserve Fleet will make accessible and available for donation to qualified organizations, a large collection of World War II-era and Victory-ship equipment and components that has been maintained and preserved on board a Navy barge. This is the last major collection of such material remaining in Maritime Administration custody. Groups qualified to participate must be non-profit museum ship organizations and maritime-related public and non-profit museum organizations and historical societies. Access will be provided to and from the barge.
An unconfirmed inventory listing of the material, a collection of photographs, and Beaumont Reserve Fleet information can be found at http://www.pmars.imsg.com/largefile.asp.ship=5616. Organizations interested in participating in this event must first register at http://www.pmars.imsg.com/artifact/ organizationlogin.asp. Visitation will be set during normal business hours and groups will be limited to five people.
This will likely be the final opportunity organizations will have to access and obtain this World War II-vintage material before its disposal. Selected items will be donated on a first-come/first-serve basis to qualified organizations that are immediately able to take custody of the material. Those not immediately able to take custody will be afforded until no later than 1 July 2007 to do so or lose rights to the material. MARAD will make every effort to support organizations with crane lift and shore-side staging, but limitations may come into play. Specific material handling support requirements will be addressed as required.
Questions may be directed to Pete Wagner, at (202) 366-6129 or peter. [email protected].