Hunt is on for sunken WWII vessels off N.C. coast

VirginiaPilotOnline: Hunt is on for sunken WWII vessels off N.C. coast
HATTERAS ISLAND: The search for undiscovered World War II shipwrecks continues this summer off the Outer Banks, where researchers are especially eager this year to find the remains of a German submarine that attacked a 1942 convoy from Hampton Roads.

Bound for Key West, Fla., to deliver cargo for the war effort, the convoy of 19 container ships and five military escorts was attacked soon after leaving Hampton in July 1942. U-boat 576 succeeded in sinking a Nicaraguan tanker called Bluefields, but the submarine ultimately met the same fate when the convoy fought back.

After straying into a minefield off Hatteras Island, three other convoy vessels sank that day. Known as the Battle of Convoy KS-520, the clash is the latest focus of a research expedition now in its fourth year.

“It really is like a whole battlefield site that is now lying on the bottom of the ocean,” said Lauren Heesemann, research coordinator for the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, one of many partners working on the project.

The project will progress this summer in four phases.

First, researchers will conduct a wide survey using remote-sensing technologies, including an autonomous – programmable unmanned – underwater vehicle. During this phase, the goal is to locate U-boat 576, Bluefields and the other three vessels sunk in the Battle of Convoy KS-520.

More targeted surveys will use multi-beam sonar systems to produce 3-D images and detailed models of the wreck sites.

Work began this week southeast of Cape Hatteras.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration leads the expedition, which seeks to document the underwater remains of the Battle of the Atlantic – all without disturbing the wrecks, some of which are considered grave sites.

The waters off Hatteras Island, infamous as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” is the final resting place for about 80 World War II vessels of U.S and British naval fleets, merchant ships and German U-boats.

Funding will determine whether this is the final year for the project, Heesemann said.

The ultimate goal is to produce a comprehensive report on the wartime shipwrecks, she said.

“There are so many other stories to be told that are just lying off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia,” Heesemann said. “This project could go any number of ways and could last for years and years.”

For more information about the expedition, visit http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/missions/2011battleoftheatlantic/welcome.html