Niagara Falls| Divers from the U.S coast guard
took part this morning, in a delicate wreck recovery operation to bring to the
surface a Nazi submarine discovered two weeks ago at the bottom of Lake
Ontario.
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| Damn! that is COLD! |
The U-boat was spotted
for the first time by amateur scuba divers in late January and they had
contacted the authorities. Archaeologists associated with Niagara University of
and master divers from the U.S Coast Guard were mobilized on site to
determine what it was, and they soon realized that they were dealing with a
German submarine that sank during World War II.
A wreck recovery vessel
of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society was mandated to refloat
the ship and bring it back to Niagara Falls, where it must be restored before
becoming a museum ship. The delicate recovery operation took nearly 30 hours to
complete, but the submarine was finally brought down on the bank with relative
ease.
The divers of the U.S.
Coast guard braved the frigid water temperature to go attach cables to the
wreck for the recovery operation.
The submarine was
identified as the UX-791, a unique experimental German submarine, based on the
U-1200 model, and known to have participated in the “Battle of the St.
Lawrence”. It was reported missing in 1943 and was believed to have been
sunk near the Canadian coast.
 |
| Here she is! |
Professor Mark
Carpenter, who leads the team of archaeologists, believes that the U-boat could
have traveled up the St-Lawrence River, all the way to the Great Lakes, where
it intended to disturb the American economy.
A report from the dated
from February 1943 suggests, that the ship could have attacked and destroyed
three cargo ships and two fishing vessels, even damaging the USS Sable (IX-81),
an aircraft carrier of the U.S. navy that was used for training in the Great
Lakes, before finally being sunk by anti-sub grenades launched by a Canadian
frigate.
“We have known for a
long time that the Nazis had sent some of their U-boats in the St-Lawrence
River, but this is the first proof that they actually reached the Great
Lakes,” Professor Carpenter told
reporters. “This could explain the mysterious ship disappearances that took
place in the region in 1943, and the reported “Battle of Niagara Falls” which
had always been dismissed as a collective hallucination caused by fear.”
The restoration of the
submarine could take more than two years, but once completed, the museum ship
is expected to become one of the major tourist attractions of the region.
How about that!!!
Until next time,
Fair Winds,
Old Salt
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