Battle of the Atlantic: Seven Years Expanding the Horizons of Collaboration and Research

DOCUMENT Citation Only Joseph C Hoyt.

Seven years of focused research has been directed towards studying and characterizing WWII losses off the coast of North Carolina. During this time, NOAA has worked with multiple state, federal, academic and private sector partners to increase our understanding of this large collection of resources. This project evolved over time in both theoretical approaches as well as methodologies employed to collect data. Over the course of seven years an incredible amount of information has been uncovered:...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Douglas Jones.

Following the early success of Operation Drumbeat off the American East Coast, German Naval Vice Admiral Karl Dönitz turned his periscopes towards similarly wide-open hunting grounds in the Gulf of Mexico. For a brief but intense period beginning in the spring of 1942 U-boat attacks claimed over 50 Allied Merchant Marine casualties in the Gulf, and crippled many more.  Over the last decade many of these wrecks have been located during federally-regulated oil and gas surveys, and subsequently...

DOCUMENT Citation Only William S. Sassorossi.

The United States was not fully prepared for war in the Atlantic Ocean directly following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  Plans and resources were needed to counter Germany's U-boat operations that quickly followed the Japanese attack.  The U.S. Navy acquired ships of all types from both public and commercial sectors and adapted them for military use.  The focus of this study will be on converted fishing trawlers, specifically ones ultimately wrecked off of the coast of North...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Kara D Fox.

Between May 24th and June 1st, 2014, NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary collaborated with the Battle of the Atlantic Research and Expedition Group to survey and map the merchant shipwreck Caribsea, a freighter sunk off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in 1942 by the German submarine U-158. The data acquired from this project was instrumental in a study designed to illustrate and interpret site formation processes affecting World War II ferrous-hulled merchant shipwrecks. This...

DOCUMENT Citation Only John Bright.

In 2011, the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program awarded a grant to East Carolina University and NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary to conduct a battlefield analysis of a naval action which occurred off North Carolina during the Second World War. Specifically, researchers investigated action initiated against convoy KS-520 by German U-576 in July, 1942. Though the primary objective of the grant was to conduct historical and archeological evaluation of this naval...

DOCUMENT Citation Only David W Alberg.

ABSTRACT: Conducting long-term broad-scope projects have become increasingly difficult in ever-shrinking federal budgets and a slow economy. This reality has necessitated an all-inclusive approach, partnering with a wide range of institutions to achieve an end. Since the Battle of the Atlantic Project began in 2008, NOAAs Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has partnered with several internal line offices: Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Office of Coast Survey, Office of Marine and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only John R. Kloske.

An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) was used to locate and conduct detailed surveys of shipwrecks from the Battle of the Atlantic. A proven method for developing operationally efficient AUV dive plans was used for these surveys. The AUV dive plans were based on the characteristics of the search area, the capabilities of the AUV and onboard sensors, and the nature of the shipwreck of interest and required data products. The dive plans took into consideration the risk assessment and the...