BJ's Dive to the German Submarine U-352 7-12-04

<BGSOUND SRC="sonar2.wav"> BJ's Dive to the German Submarine U-352 7-12-04

07/12/2004 (Monday)

BJ's Dive to the German Submarine U-352

Sunk in 1942 30 nm south of Morehead City

This is the log of BJ's dive to the German Submarine U-352 sunk in 1942 30 nautical miles south of Morehead City, NC (N 34.228^o, W 076.565^o). BJ started SCUBA diving in 2001, after completing Open Water Certification at Discovery Diving Center in Beaufort, NC. Diving in Kona Hawaii, Aruba, Curacao, the Bahamas, and the Florida Keys, BJ completed Nitrox (enriched air) and Advanced Open Water Certification through PADI in 2004, and participated in 22 open water dives in preparation for this advanced 100' dive to the "Graveland of the Atlantic" to see the German Submarine.

Diving Log

Diver : BJ Reckman Dive Service : Discovery Dive Beaufort	Weather : Partly Cloudy Temp. Air: 90 Fahrenheit Avg water temp : 80 Fahrenheit Min water temp : 77 Fahrenheit
Diving Suit : 3/2 mil Wet Suit Inner Wear : None	Weight : 21 lb Tank Material : Aluminum Equipment : SeaandSea M5 Camera
Time In : 09:37:18 Time Out : 10:07:57 Dive Time : 00:26:15	Ave.Depth : 75 ft Max.Depth : 108 ft Safety Stop.Depth : 20 ft Safety Stop.Time : 5 min
Tank Capacity : 100 ft3 Nitrox - 29.6% enriched O₂ Pres. In : 3400 psi Pres. Out. : 200 psi Air Consumption. : 39.4 psi/min	Visibility H. : 60 ft Visibility V. : 60 ft

Description of the U-32 and its sinking

U-352 was the first submarine sunk on May 9, 1942 by the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Icarus which had departed her Staten Island, N.Y., base for duty in Key West, Fla. The Icarus was one of the Class 165-B cutters built during the 1930s to combat rum running. After being depth charged by the Icarus, the U-352 settled by the stern, the surviving Germans began diving over the side. Five minutes after she had surfaced, the black hull slid under for the last time, leaving 33 men bobbing in the water. Fifteen German sailors went down with the ship.

The U-352 was only the second submarine sunk in U.S. waters. In May 1942, merchant ships were being attacked with alarming frequency within sight of U.S. beaches. Americans knew very well that the war had come to their shores. News of U-boat sinkings in other parts of the world made the papers regularly, but for some reason the U-352 story was kept quiet.

It is sitting on its keel, with a strong (45 degree?) list to the starboard side. Most of what you see on the bottom is the remains of the pressure hull. The U-boat's outer casing has, for the most part, rusted away. For experienced NC divers, the biggest challenge of the U-352 is waiting for the boat captain to hook the wreck. It's small size and rounded edges make it the one the captains love to hate. New NC divers, however, beware. For some reason, over the years, the U-352 has claimed more that its fair share of diving accidents and fatalities.

The above description is taken from the website americandivemaster.com

The following two images were not taken by BJ and are reproduced from the website americandivemaster.com


The white portion of the pressure hull is pretty much all that is left intact.	Starboard side of the U-352. Photo taken in 2000. Notice the conning tower and gun mount.

Diving log graph

The line on the graph provides the dive depth profile and the dots are the water temperature at the indicated depth as recorded on my Citizen Hyper-Aqualand dive watch. Note the safety stop at 20 feet after the dive before surfacing. The blip and surface delay at the beginning was a surface wait for my "Dive Buddy" and then coordinate our descent to the wreck.

Pictures:

Taken with BJ's Sea and Sea M-5 35mm dive camera using ASA400 film and built in flash. Photos enhanced with Adobe Photoshop after developing.

A visitor peers out of the torpedo tube The outer skin is almost totally corroded.

A self photograph of BJ BJ on the surface of the U-352 deck at 100'