Independence 2001 U-869 Memorial Service III

The U-869 is a type IXC/40 German U-boat. It is 252 feet long and lies 230 feet beneath the North Atlantic, 60 miles east of Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey. It was discovered in 1991 on a Seeker deep exploration trip. The problem was the lack of any record of a U-boat being sunk off of New Jersey. With the concerted and persistent efforts of John Chatterton, Richie Kohler, John Yurga and others, it was finally identified as the U-869 in 1997. The U-869 is listed in the German U-boat archive as having been sunk off Gibralter in 1945. How she sunk is also a mystery, quite possibly from her own malfunctioning torpedo which blew off the conning tower and demolished the control room. There is a large hole in the stern, also the source of much mystery and research. One theory suggests that the passing freighter Harpers Ferry could have been the intended victim, saw the U-boat and fired its gun, hitting the stern, but this theory is in dispute primarily due to its reported location.

Last fall the PBS documentary show Nova had a 2-hour special on the mystery of the U-869, which introduced us to Barbara Bowling of Maryland (USA), whose brother Otto Brizius was a crewmember aboard the U-869 when it disappeared. She was born after the war, and thus never met her brother. In the show, Richie Kohler told her that John Chatterton and himself had identified her brother's ship off New Jersey. It was quite an emotional moment. Our mission today is to bring Barbara and her family to the site of her brother's grave, and to lay a wreath on the wreck commemorating him, the other crewmembers, and the three divers who lost their lives here.

The private dive boat Independence is a 33-foot BHM that cruises up to 25 knots. This boat is especially outfitted for deep wreck diving expeditions far offshore.

The following pictures (all images from video) are from voyage of the Independence to the U-869, Sunday, August 5th, 2001 (continued from Page II).

John Chatterton is also shooting video today.
	Richie proceeds to tie the wreath to the large gun mount.
Today I'm diving with the two cartoon characters from the Nova special! ;-)
	Richie will fit into all sorts of tight spots in his search for a lobster dinner for tonight with the Bowlings. :-)
Bump. ;-)
	John videos me as I swim back towards the gun mount at the end of the dive.
Richie takes one last post by the wreath.
	John Chatterton on his deco. I thought this was a cool shot.
Richie and John decompressing together.
	Richie with one of the lobsters he caught. We brought back quite a few for dinner that night. Photo © 2001 by Richard Kohler
Dan Bartone climbs back on the boat while Mac and Mac Jr. go swimming. It was 75 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface.
	Frankie drives the boat back. Frankie is a scuba cop on the N.Y.P.D. scuba team in his day job. He rescues people from capsized boats and such, just like on Baywatch! In fact, during the week before this trip he saved the lives of some people when their boat capsized in rough seas, earning a commendation from the Mayor of New York that was all over the evening news, and dinner at Gracie Mansion (the mayor's residence)!
Josephine is there to greet us when we pull into the dock at Dan's house, as always! I hope you have enjoyed these pictures of our U-869 memorial service!