A fascinating look at a World War II wreck

On May 9th, 1942, the German submarine U-352 was sunk off North Carolina by the US Coast Guard cutter Icarus. The submarine was much larger and more heavily armed than the small, light cutter; but the U-boat captain was inept, while the Lieutenant in command of the cutter was an experienced, determined seaman. His combat report may be read here. Two other accounts of the fight are available online, an official US Coast Guard one here and a longer, more embellished one here.

USCGC Icarus lands survivors from U-352 at Charleston Navy Yard on May 10th, 1942

A link in a report in the Daily Mail led me to a National Geographic Web site that offers a detailed panoramic view of the wreck of U-352. Here's a much smaller version of it.




The full-size version shows only a part of the wreck in a central window, with a smaller window above and to the right showing the part of the whole that's currently displayed. Moving a red box in the smaller window will bring a new part of the wreck into the central window. Zoom controls below the smaller window allow one to see more or less detail. It's very interesting viewing.

More pictures and a description of the U-352 dive site may be found here. Here's a short video of the wreck site.

Of course, U-352 is also a war grave; 15 of her crew died in the fight. I hope their final resting-place will be respected by those who dive on it, and not desecrated by souvenir-hunters.

Peter