The USS Turner Sank in January 1944. The ship was preparing to unload it's munitions and bring it ashore . The crew wasn't properly trained to disarm the munitions and they blew up and killed about 125 men . The Turner was anchored at the Mouth of Gravesend Bay at the Tin Can Grounds. The Coast Guard used a Helicopter for the first time to rescue survivors. The Explosion was heard all over NYC, my father was 10 years old at the time and heard it inside his Bay Ridge Brooklyn Home. The Turner had to anchor outside NY Harbor ( where they were anchored was protected by a Submarine Net so it wasn't sunk by a U Boat) because it was so crowded in the harbor. At Peak during WW 2 , there were 600 ships inside the harbor. You drive over the Verrazano Bridge today you see a few ships here and there. 600 Ships !
Offshore Wrecks
- Thread starter MakoMatt
- Start date
Snapprhead27
Well-Known Angler
You guys bring up some really interesting and cool facts. Keep them coming!!
captmike28
Well-Known Angler
A lifelong friend of mine is a hard-core recreational wreck diver and has been diving with and worked as a mate for both Dan Berg and another famous dive Captain, Steve Belinda of the Wahoo.
At my friend's son's wedding I was fortunate enough to be seated at the same table as these 2 well known dive experts. Very interesting conversations!
The things I learned about WW2 off the US East Coast would shock you. German U boat 607 or 606 sailed right up to entrance of NY harbor and laid 10 mines where Ambrose Tower use to be. A year after we declared war on Germany ! Another U boat was sent by the German High Command ( The Kreigsmarine directed U Boats, not the German High Command ) , in March 1945 with orders to shoot canisters of nerve gas into the streets of Manhattan to avenge the bombing of Dresden. Looks like the crew didn't wanna follow that order and there was a Mutiny. The U Boat didn't surrender at the end of the War and disappeared for 4 months. 4 months later that Uboat( I think 970) surfaced off Argentinia with it's deck gun missing and the hull looked like it was set on fire to destroy evidence of chemical weapons.
And the August 1864 Confederate Navy Raid off Fire Island - See the Fire Island National Park Service Website about the August 1864 raid.
Give me a couple of days and I'll fill you in on what really happened out on Amagansett Beach in June 1942 when 4 Spies landed on the beach . I've researched that landing the last 42 years, ever since I purchased my first Loran C in 1983 and became interested in shipwrecks.
Avenger
Well-Known Angler
We had a family friend, who is naturally no longer with us, that was a torpedo mechanic on a U-Boat. He had some interesting stories, including having the chance to view the Statue of Liberty through a periscope.
Interesting times.
BTW, read Shadow Divers if you get a chance.
Interesting times.
BTW, read Shadow Divers if you get a chance.
MakoMatt
Angler
Somewhere I have an old Wreck Valley DVD. I never knew about the anti submarine patrols from Mitchell Field that’s pretty cool.
MakoMatt
Angler
That’s some great information!!
MakoMatt
Angler
Will do, thanks.
MakoMatt
Angler
Just ordered the book from Amazon
I have that book about U869 and also the book about U550. U550 sank a little inshore of the Andrea Doria , after they sank U550 they found bodies of dead U Boat Sailors floating 25-35 miles SE of Shinnecock. Yeah U boats sailed right up to NY Harbor and off Long Island and the US Navy didn't actively search for them because everybody knew it was suicide to attack shipping in shallow water. U853 made that mistake . Kreigsmarine regulations said a U Boat couldn't attack shipping in less than 240 feet of water. They sank ships off NY/Long Island to scare people and as soon as they made their presence known they quickly made their way down South and attacked shipping off North Carolina where they could escape into deep water.Until the last day of WW2 there were UBoats patrolling off Long Island and they mostly were here to keep tabs on the Convoys. The US Navy didn't have to actively search for U Boats because the UBoats kept making their presence known every time they sent a coded message. Right until the end of the war the Germans had no idea we had the ability to locate them every time they sent a message. When U202 came and dropped off spies on Amagansett Beach they sent a Coded Enigma Message about 30 miles South of Amagansett that US Naval Intelligence in NYC was able to triangulate and get their position.
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So many Germans came to the US and Canada after the war. There was a WW2 German Pilot who flew an ME 109 . He got shot down by the Russians and he spent 5 years in a Russian Gulag and survived. He came to the US and settled in Patchogue where he raised his family. He wrote a book - Another Bowl of Kapusta - about his wartime experience and coming to the US and living here . He worked for the old Times Square Stores as a Home Improvement Estimator and worked out of a Store on Sunrise Highway in Merrick. I'm sure I crossed paths with that guy, maybe even came to my home and gave us an estimate. He dressed up in his German Uniform and appeared at Air Shows where crowds loved listening to his stories.
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Avenger
Well-Known Angler
Well,... that is VERY interesting...
I had no idea he was so local.
The history of Germans adopting the US goes back to the Hessians in the revolutionary war.
I see you bought the same book I did. You can see Gottfried on You Tube , a nice video of him at an air show cracking jokes
Avenger
Well-Known Angler
I will definitely check it out. Thank you.
ANOTHER GREAT BOOK TO READ - The Last Battle Of the Atlantic - The Sinking of U853 by Captain Bill Palmer. Fantastic photo from a Navy Blimp showing the USS Atherton dropping Depth Charges on U853 and the crew painting a U Boat on the side of the cabin on the ship after they sank U853. The USS Atherton was sold to the Philippines and it was their flag ship until about 2015 and now it's a museum in Manilla. More WW2 and Wreck stories to come. I've been reading about that stuff the last 42 years.
There's also a You Tube video about a US Navy Pilot who was flying a Grumman Avenger Torpedo Bomber on a training mission and he looked down and saw U Boat 853 sailing on the surface close to Montauk Point. Check it out.
There's also a You Tube video about a US Navy Pilot who was flying a Grumman Avenger Torpedo Bomber on a training mission and he looked down and saw U Boat 853 sailing on the surface close to Montauk Point. Check it out.
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Somewhere out there is a 35 foot Downeast Lobster Boat that was sunk by a crooked doctor who wanted people to think he drowned. What ever happened to that guy ? Did they find him ? The Government knows exactly where that boat is . And all the little boats you read about over the years that sank in the ocean. I wish I knew somebody who was a Coast Guard stationed at a Long Island Coast Guard Station , I'm sure they have a little black book with all the wreck locations they've logged over the years. Maybe if you went there and pretended to be a new commercial lobster guy they'd let you see their wreck numbers ?
And that Ship that caught fire in NY Harbor and burned under the Verrazano Bridge in the 1970's, the Coast Guard took that ship offshore and sank it someplace.
There's a 181 foot schooner 30 miles off Montauk that was sunk by the Confederate Navy in August 1864 . The Adriatic. And a Pilot boat was sunk right off Fire Island in August 1864, It was being chased by the CSS Tallahassee , the Confederate Gun Boat fired their cannons at the fleeing Pilot Boat and a shell hit the Pilot boat mast and they were forced to surrender.Fire Island Lighthouse was there at the time. I wonder if they tell people who visit the Fire Island Lighthouse about the Civil War history off Long Island ?
And that Ship that caught fire in NY Harbor and burned under the Verrazano Bridge in the 1970's, the Coast Guard took that ship offshore and sank it someplace.
There's a 181 foot schooner 30 miles off Montauk that was sunk by the Confederate Navy in August 1864 . The Adriatic. And a Pilot boat was sunk right off Fire Island in August 1864, It was being chased by the CSS Tallahassee , the Confederate Gun Boat fired their cannons at the fleeing Pilot Boat and a shell hit the Pilot boat mast and they were forced to surrender.Fire Island Lighthouse was there at the time. I wonder if they tell people who visit the Fire Island Lighthouse about the Civil War history off Long Island ?
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MakoMatt
Angler
Here is some interesting information on a little known wreck. But it’s not a ship, it’s a buoy.
I was 10 years old the first time my father took me out shark fishing. We fished out of Merrick aboard my Uncle Ed’s boat. That was in 1964. We fished in the vicinity of the 20 fathom curve and the many wrecks that lie on the bottom in that area. There was at the time a buoy out there, and it was known as, “The Experimental Buoy.”
The photo below is of a Mako my dad caught in June of 1962. The fish bottomed out a scale that went 450lbs. This fish was caught within a 5 iron shot distance from the buoy. Many sharks were caught in that area. My first trip there in 64’ produced 3 Blue Sharks.
But what was this experimental buoy?
Here’s an AI Overview……..
AI Overview
The term "atomic buoy" refers to an experimental U.S. Coast Guard navigational aid launched in 1961 that was powered by a miniature nuclear generator, not a standard buoy in Long Island. While there are many regular buoys and some that have washed ashore, like a wayward "Nun" buoy in 2019, the "atomic buoy" was a short-lived experiment in nuclear power for navigational lights.
This link will provide some more information….
I was 10 years old the first time my father took me out shark fishing. We fished out of Merrick aboard my Uncle Ed’s boat. That was in 1964. We fished in the vicinity of the 20 fathom curve and the many wrecks that lie on the bottom in that area. There was at the time a buoy out there, and it was known as, “The Experimental Buoy.”
The photo below is of a Mako my dad caught in June of 1962. The fish bottomed out a scale that went 450lbs. This fish was caught within a 5 iron shot distance from the buoy. Many sharks were caught in that area. My first trip there in 64’ produced 3 Blue Sharks.
But what was this experimental buoy?
Here’s an AI Overview……..
AI Overview
The term "atomic buoy" refers to an experimental U.S. Coast Guard navigational aid launched in 1961 that was powered by a miniature nuclear generator, not a standard buoy in Long Island. While there are many regular buoys and some that have washed ashore, like a wayward "Nun" buoy in 2019, the "atomic buoy" was a short-lived experiment in nuclear power for navigational lights.
- The original experiment: The "atomic buoy" was an experimental U.S. Coast Guard navigational aid launched in 1961.
- Nuclear power: It was powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) from the SNAP program (Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power).
- Purpose: The goal was to create a long-lasting beacon that could operate for years without maintenance, using a 10-watt generator to power a 7,500-candlepower light.
- Result: The experiment was successful in demonstrating the feasibility of nuclear power for remote navigational aids, but the "atomic buoy" was a specific, temporary project and not a permanent fixture.
This link will provide some more information….
- The entire Atomic Buoy Experiment ended in 1966 as they were not able to acheive the longevity that the engineers thought possible. So they were taken out of service. That is, all but one of the buoys. One of the buoys disappeared prior to the U.S. Navy operation to remove them.
- So what happened to this one?
- Legend has it that a particular party boat captain, who shall remain nameless, sunk the buoy. There are many wrecks with eyeshot of where the buoy was, and their exact locations were not very well known. Very few people in fact knew where they lay back then. Other fishing vessels that might happen by the buoy, and see this particular well known party boat on the hook in the distance, could triangulate his position. So, his solution to the problem was to…………. sink the buoy.
- And to this day that buoy remains on the ocean floor. I know it’s exact location, thanks paulh. Its not a big piece, and has a different name today, but holds some nice memories for me, and some nice Sea Bass.
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