Dutch navy finds sunken German submarine

[Feuer Frei!]

THE Dutch navy has discovered the wreck of a German World War I submarine sunk by a mine on its maiden voyage and the remains will become an official war grave, the Dutch Defense Ministry announced today. The wreck of the U-106 is lying on the seabed 40 metres underwater. It is 65 kilometres north of Terschelling, an island in the Wadden Sea off the northern Netherlands.
The sub sank in October 1917 after hitting a mine with the loss of all 41 crew, Dutch navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Robin Middel told The Associated Press.
The 71-metre sub fell foul of an allied minefield in the North Sea at the end of its first voyage, during which it had torpedoed two British ships, Middel said.
Normally the German U-boats would be guided through the mines by a surface ship capable of detecting the explosives, Middel said, but on its ill-fated voyage the sub ran into a newly laid British mine.
The sub "was to make a rendezvous with that ship, but the ship never found the submarine and nobody had ever heard anything more from it," Middel said.
The wreck was first discovered in October 2009, during mapping of North Sea shipping routes. The find was only announced after the Dutch Defence Ministry authorities confirmed its identity with German authorities and informed relatives of the missing submariners.
The Dutch navy initially believed the wreck was a Dutch submarine, 0-13, that went missing during World War II, but divers and remote cameras later confirmed it was the U-106.
"This kind of discovery is almost always an accident," said Captain Lieutenant Jouke Spoelstra, who led the project to identify the wreck. "Years ago, a hydrographical service ship passed the same spot but at that time the wreck was buried beneath a layer of sand."
The navy said the wreck will remain where it is and be considered an official war grave. It is possible that a commemoration service will be held if relatives of the submariners request it.


SOURCE

[AVGWarhawk]

Wish there were pics. I assume the wreck is still covered in sand or was the sand moved to see the submarine?

[Herr-Berbunch]

There is this image, not a proper photo but the best we'll get for now.

[Feuer Frei!]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

There is this image, not a proper photo but the best we'll get for now.

What is that of? Obviously a spotlight shining on it, but, is it a tear in a part of the hull? Or is it a cloth material? Is that a seam at the bottom?
Certainly doesn't look metal.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I think it's just the hydrographer's computerised image of U-106, taken with whatever modern equipment they use nowadays to map the sea bed. Could just be no returned data for that area.

Or a big scary sea-monster they've redacted out!

[AVGWarhawk]

Looks like a submarine to me.

[Feuer Frei!]

It's a brass plate:

A brass plate indicated the sub was the German U-106, which sank during World War I, the radio report said.

Source

Also a picture of a sub in the same era, picture taken in 1916.

[Gargamel]

FF, you weren't referring the pic was the brass plate were you? The source you listed doesn't show that pic at all.

Anyways, thats a pic of the sub from side scan sonar. The blind spot (straight down from the ROV) is at the bottom of the pic, and the "shadows" are the sub blocking the sonar.

That's a top view of the sub, "illuminated" from the side, probably at a slightly downward angle.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Gargamel

Anyways, thats a pic of the sub from side scan sonar. The blind spot (straight down from the ROV) is at the bottom of the pic, and the "shadows" are the sub blocking the sonar.

That's a top view of the sub, "illuminated" from the side, probably at a slightly downward angle.

Agreed.

[Feuer Frei!]

I stand corrected, it was too early in the morning me thinks.

[Bakkels]

It's in grid AN8312 btw. (I've been playing a little too much silent hunter the last days )

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by Bakkels

It's in grid AN8312 btw. (I've been playing a little too much silent hunter the last days )

I guess LOL!

[Herr-Berbunch]

No big scary sea-monster then?

[Penguin]

This picture from Herr Berbunch is kind of like those Magic Eye pics from the 90s - first I couldn't see anything, but now it's there.

I am glad that Feuer Frei didn't post the link to the CNN blog first. I made the mistake and read some of the comments...
Juist because people have the oppertunity to post a comment doesn't mean they have to. One comment there catched my eye, as it ironically catches the essence of those moronic posts:

Is this the same WWI Nazi sub that attacked Pearl Harbor in 1812?

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by Penguin

I am glad that Feuer Frei didn't post the link to the CNN blog first. I made the mistake and read some of the comments...
Juist because people have the oppertunity to post a comment doesn't mean they have to. One comment there catched my eye, as it ironically catches the essence of those moronic posts:

Is this the same WWI Nazi sub that attacked Pearl Harbor in 1812?

Apparently, somewhere on the internets the demented spirit of John Belushi lives on.

"Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! "