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Posted on 02/08/2026 3:35:57 PM PST by MAGA2017
Awhile back, I covered U-166. A submarine rather famous for her sinking in the Gulf of Mexico. And, of course, the way her wreck is so deeply buried on the bottom.
Today, we'll be looking at another U-Boat lost off the American coast. This time the East Coast, in the form of U-576. A much smaller Type VII boat, though far more intact than her larger cousin. This submarine was sunk in...strange circumstances, to say the least.
Leaving a mostly intact wreck on the bottom, in the modern day. One with all the features of her class still recognizable, at that. Probably one of the best preserved U-Boat wrecks out there, I'd say.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
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Wow. Drag her up and display.
That’s “Gulf of America”.
Get with the program or sit down.
I remember the family trip to Chicago @ 76-77 maybe. (My mind is ...sometimes gone ;) Anyway it was during The King Tut display we also visited the U-505 submarine. Pretty cramped space. Very Cool.
Growing up in Chicago, we often visited the Museum of Science and Industry. At the U-505 submarine, there was an Italian American security guard. I once asked him, “Is this a U-Boat?” He said, “No. I just a watch.”
(second time I got to use this joke in recent memory)
German Type VIIC U-boat U-576, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Hans-Dieter Heinicke, was sunk on July 15, 1942, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, during an attack on Convoy KS-520.
The submarine, already damaged (including a severe, irreparable main ballast tank issue reported days earlier), approached the convoy submerged and fired four torpedoes around 4:15 PM. These struck and sank the Nicaraguan-flagged freighter Bluefields (2,063 tons) and damaged two other ships (Chilore and J.A. Mowinckel).
U-576 then surfaced in the middle of the convoy—reason unknown, possibly mechanical failure, intentional attempt, or emergency response to damage. It was immediately engaged: hit by gunfire from the merchant ship Unicoi, then depth-charged by two U.S. Navy Kingfisher floatplanes from VS-9. The submarine sank with all 45 crew members lost; hatches remained closed.
The wreck lay undiscovered until 2014, when NOAA-led efforts located it via sonar in August 2014 at approximately 690–721 feet (210–220 meters) depth, about 30 miles off Cape Hatteras. It rests on its side, roughly 240 yards (220 meters) from the Bluefields wreck.
Initial sonar surveys in 2014 confirmed the sites. In 2016, divers in two-person submersibles visually inspected both wrecks, noting U-576's dive planes angled upward (suggesting an attempt to surface), wooden deck rotted away, hull and conning tower largely intact, deck gun present (with inscription "Peterle" noted earlier), hatches sealed, and some bow-area hull damage/exposed framing from corrosion or impact.
A 2022 joint NOAA/Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration survey (Valor in the Atlantic expedition, livestreamed May 2022) revisited and documented both wrecks further, highlighting their proximity as a rare victim-aggressor pair from the Battle of the Atlantic. The site shows heavy marine growth, rust patterns, silt-filled interiors, intact propulsion elements (rudders, stern dive planes angled upward, propellers), and overall good preservation relative to many U-boat wrecks, though with significant corrosion in places (e.g., bow hull breaches exposing frames, rotted decking exposing piping). It serves as an artificial reef with fish and other marine life inhabiting it.
My dad was part of a special Navy program after the war to convert an American sub with a snorkel so they could run the diesels under water, captured German tech. Called the GUPPY program. They had a lot of problems with it, and had some high level civilian support, he said Charles Kettering came out to the boat for consultations. Kettering worked for Delco, or really, he WAS Delco, having invented the ignition distributor and the electric starter some years prioe and was a pretty sharp guy.
Dad said one of the problems was the diesels - huge Fairbanks-Morse engines would draw lots of air when running at full tilt. A ball check valve on the snorkel kept sea water from being ingested into the intake when seas were rough, and this resulted instant very wide swings in air pressure. Said he’d wake up in his bunk with blood coming out of his ears. Nuclear propulsion made all of those experiments moot, anyhow.
The other day i was looking thru my chart application and was noticing wrecks which we not always on the old paper charts. It seems now they have integrated the wreck data on the digital maps. And looking at the wrecks i came across several sunk by u boats off the new jersey and delaware coasts. Areas i sailed many times. There were several dated 1918 and then in 1942. I think they were mostly barges. Also my dad was on the USS haverfield during WWII and i believe they were a sub chaser in the atlantic.
Get with the program or sit down.
I politely disagree. What we now call the Gulf of America was once a sea surrounded by Spanish territory from Cuba to the Yucatan, and farther South into the Caribbean Sea.
It should be called "El Golfo de Espana." Thats just me and I am right wing Maga.
PING
Another U-boat was sunk off one of the Carolinas, battling with Coast Guard cutter Icarus. I think it was U352.
They came up fighting, manning the deck gun. The Coast Guard cutter unloaded on it, and basically prevented it from being able to dive; I believe they actually took it in tow, captured the enigma machine, but the U-boat started to sink and they had to cut it loose.
There used to be a great site called u-boat.net, and it had the location and engagements of every single U-boat from World War I and World War II.
I remember visiting Seawolf park in Galveston as a kid. I was about 7 or so. They had a small sub you could tour. I was amazed that sailors lived in that thing.
Late FReeper Rodney(mylife) was a submariner during the cold War. We would do the Texas Cowboy shoots and hung out a bit. He told me they even smoked cigarettes submerged. I was like “what? No way!”. But apparently they did. Wish he was still around.
It should be called "El Golfo de Espana."As should the Chesapeake be called, "Bahia de Madre de Dios"
I happened to be on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, hanging out in our rented condo after a big music festival weekend, chilling out, watching inauguration stuff, and saw Trump sign the EO live. So suddenly, I was hanging out on the Gulf of America!
I like that real well.
A few hours later, Desantis issued an EO proclaiming a state of emergency to be ready for the incoming Winter storm in the Panhandle counties. It referenced the Gulf of America! I cracked up!
He and his people were on top of it all, I have to give them credit.
I escaped Tuesday morning and drove thru flurries for a couple hours as I went NORTH to escape the storm. Panhandle in that area got 6” of snow and more! I made it back to ATL just ahead of all that. From the GULF OF AMERICA!
I couldn’t find a good cap for that URL at the Wayback Machine (archive.org). Too bad.
The wreck is a war grave.
Why can they not pull it up and take the remains home? They did it with a civil war sub.
Yes, I think it’s gone now.
It was a great research Site. The man who ran the site, he was a German guy, his father has been a U-boat commander. Never came home.
It was one of the most painstakingly meticulously research site I’ve ever seen. He listed every single U-boat from World War I and World War II, where it fought, what it sunk, and who sunk it, With the approximate location of the wreck, all based on captains logs.
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