Maryland's First Historic Shipwreck Preserve: U-1105 by Henry Keatts In World War I, German Unterseebooten crossed the Atlantic to deal a few shrewd blows at shipping on the US East Coast, even before American entry into the war in 1917. In World War II, 24 years later, all hell broke loose after Germany declared war against the US in December 1941. It was mid-summerof the following year, after dire warnings from Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall , that the US Navy brought the sinkings of American shipping under control, and building programs at last began to exceed losses. All this was not without cost, however, and today there are eleven sunken U-boats in American waters, all casualties of war except one, which was sunk after the war to test its defen sive strength. The Maryland Hi storical Trust, an agency of the Maryland Division of Historical and Cultural Programs, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the US Navy to create Maryland 's first underwater dive preserve at the site of the sunken World War II German U-boat U-1105. The dive preserve will provide sport divers an opportunity to explore the virtually intact remains of a unique World War II German U-boat. The Type VII C U-boat is in the Potomac River in about 85 feet of water. State archaeologists were made aware of the wreck, di scovered by Uwe Lovas of Fredericksburg, Virginia, in my " Hi story Submerged" column ("The ' Black Panther ' U-boat Discovered in the Potomac") in the July 1992 issue of
Discover Diving magazine. U-1105 was nicknamed "Schwarze Panther" by her crew because of her black hull color. The U-boat, in brackish water, is the best preserved U-boat in North American waters. Obtained as a war prize and sunk by the US Navy 's Underwater Explosive Research Divi sion in 1948, the U-1105 is the only known surviving example often rubberclad U-boats constructed near the end of the war as a part of Hitler 's much-heralded "super weapons" program. Built to neutralize Allied sonar detection equipment that was devastating the U-boat fleet, U-1105 represents one of the earliest uses of modern "stealth" technology fielded in wartime. The vesse l was launched 20 April 1944 and surrendered at Loch Eriboll on 10 May 1945. The British operated it as submarine N-16 until the US Navy took it over in 1946. The Historic Shipwreck Preserve is an advanced dive in a low visibility environment accessible to appropriately qualified and ex perienced scuba divers . Exhibits and support for the preserve are provided by the Maryland Historical Trust and the Museum Division of the St. Mary 's County Department of Recreation and Parks. The interpretive center is located at the county ' s hi storic Piney Point Lighthou se. Dedication of the Piney Point Lighthouse Museum and Park and the U-1105 Historic Shipwreck Preserve took place on Monday, 8 May 1995. The U-1105 site is located approximately one mile west of Piney Point, Maryland, at Latitude 38 °08'10"N, LongiU-1105 is well preserved, and largely intact. Just forward of the tude 76°33' lO"W. Beconning tower, the rupture line caused by the 1948 demolition tween April and Decan he seen. J/lustration by James L. Christley. cember, a blue and white buoy marks the lower gun platform of the wreck. The connin g tower rises to within 68 feet of the surface. U-1105 is a fragile hi storic site and remains the property of the US Navy as the government never abandoned title to the vessel it sank. Federal law prohibits the removal
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U-1105 being prepared for a demolition test .
of objects from the U-boat. An inventory of the vessel has been completed by the State of Maryland. To prevent unauthorized di sturbance, the site is monitored by the US Coast Guard and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Marine Police. Divers are requested to report any unusual or important artifact they may observe to the Maryland State Underwater Archaeologist (410 5147662), the St. Clements Island-Potomac River Museum (3Ql 769-2222), or the St. Mary 's County ·Department of Recreation and Park s (301 475-562 1). 1 H enry Keatts , Professor of Biology & Oceanography at Suffolk Community College, Long Island, New York, has authored six books on maritime history.
To learn more about opportunities to explore sunken U-boats , pick up George Farr and Henry Keatts' Dive into History: Volume 3, U-boats-New, Expanded Edition. The authors trace the development of Germany ' s legendary U-boats from the I 5th-century submarine design to the dreaded "gray wolves" that prowled the sea and wrought havoc during WWI and II . Included are descriptions of U-boats sunk during dramatic battles with Allied forces or after being surrendered as war prizes, along with detailed historical background and character accounts of the crews. The volume focuses on eleven sunken Uboats-eight along the eastern seaboard from Florida to Prince Edward Island, Canada, one off California, one in Lake Michigan, and one in the Potomac River. The book is available from Fathom Press, PO Box 191 , Eastport NY 11941 for $2 1.70 (NY residents add $1 .85) SEA HISTORY 74, SUMMER 1995