World War I-era German Submarine Discovered in US Waters; Found 100 Years After Sinking 1,600 Feet Deep To Seabed

A U-boat from the World War I era was recently discovered 100 years after it was wrecked in the United States Water.

In an exclusive National Geographic report, the German U-boat submarine, with the designation U-111, was found on September 5 by Erik Petkovic, a maritime historian, shipwreck researcher, and technical wreck diver 40 miles off the Virginia coast.

This shipwreck, the last WWI-era German submarine to be found in American waters, was sunk off the coast of Virginia in the early 1920s by the US Navy, sinking to the seabed believed to be 1,600 feet deep.

Five WWI German submarines, and eight more from World War II, have been discovered in the US waters, with the U-111, known to be sunk off the US coast to stay undiscovered.

Over 1,600 Feet Deep

Experts assumed since the Navy reported it sunk in more than 1,600 feet underwater, it was extremely deep to reach.

Other than the depth, ship wreckages and submarines decay fast in the ocean's salt water, "as metals corrode and rust" more rapidly because of the salt, a related Newsweek report said.

Moreover, any wood present is frequently quickly eaten by boring worms and other creatures of the deep.

Pekovic, with his friend, Rusty Cassway, first took his 45-foot R/V Explorer dive vessel to locate the undiscovered wreck, using an ROV remote-operated vehicle to hunt down the U-Boat at a site where they believed the wreckage to be.

The crew compared what was found by the ROV to the images of the U-III, and the two appeared to be a match.

This led them to come back on September 5, Labor Day, to gather additional information using the ROV and more technical divers.

Health Risk of Diving in Deep Waters

The same Newsweek report specified that diving in deep waters like this is dangerous. More so, it should only be done by technical divers with the training required.

To prevent decompression sickness or "the bends," the divers would need to take four hours to reach the surface after only 20 minutes of examining the wreck.

Essentially, the bends may occur if a diver ascends too fast from a depth, resulting in dissolved gasses in his blood and tissues emerging "from the solution a bubbles," leading to joint pain, rashes, and even paralysis, and death, a similar Mail Online report specified.

The deeper the dive, the higher the risk of the bends, not to mention the longer the diver needs to spend ascending to prevent it.

U-III Submarine Wreck Confirmed

The additional expedition validated that the wreck was that of the U-III, even though the crew keeps its exact location a secret "for now." Additional investigation is planned for next year.

Aaron Hamilton, a maritime historian, said such a discovery represents a step forwards in submarine technology and wreck-finding.

The fact that it has been discovered and can now be recorded and pictured is a significant achievement.

Related information about the discovery of the WWI submarine is shown on Breaking News - Amina's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Shipwreck in Science Times.