Seeker 2000 U-869 II

The U-869 is a type IXC/40 German U-boat. It is 252 feet long and lies 230 feet beneath the North Atlantic, 65 miles east of Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey. It was discovered in 1991 on a Seeker deep exploration trip. The problem was that there was no record of any 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.

The following pictures (all images from video) are from the voyage of the Seeker to the U-869, Sunday, June 4, 2000 (continued from page I).

	Looking aft down the engine room of the U-869.
Richie Kohler sends up a large wooden box that he retrieved from the electric motor room.
	Richie Kohler does his deco. Richie, by the way, is writing a book about the U-869.
This is yours truly, just after I (and my camera) got out of the water!
	Richie Kohler and his wooden box. We are all anxious to see what is inside, but will wait until everyone's back on the boat before we open it. Richie is holding the shelf that the box was laying on.
This is the brass tag on the outside of the box. It was tags like this that provided the definitive answer to the mystery of the "U-Who" back in 1997!
	The brass tag on the shelf (bottom of picture) reads "Kasten 134". This matches the above tag that Richie found earlier. This indicates that there are likely to be at least 133 other boxes waiting to be discovered!
Once everyone's back on board, Richie Kohler breaks open the plywood box, to reveal that it's full of brass and ceramic fuses and bakelite switches!
	John Chatterton returns after pulling the hook.
Jennifer Samulski, Nancy Place, and Bob Ryan secure the ladder as we depart, heading back to Brielle.
	On the voyage home, Richie Kohler explains that the U-boat crews drank Beck's beer (large 18-ounce bottles of Beck's are found on U-boat wrecks).
These are Richie's three tags, all cleaned up and restored.