Shipwreck of WWI German U-boat Discovered off Virginia in 400ft of Water

A World War I-era German U-boat submarine has been found 100 years after it was wrecked in U.S. waters.

According to a report from National Geographic, the U-boat, which had the designation U-111, was discovered 40 miles off the Virginia coast by maritime historian, shipwreck researcher and technical wreck diver Erik Petkovic on September 5.

The U-111, the last World War I-era German submarine to be discovered in U.S. waters, was sunk off the coast of Virginia in 1922 by the U.S. Navy, sinking to the seabed at what was thought to be a depth of 1,600 feet. Strangely, Petkovic discovered it in waters only 400 feet deep.

Five German submarines from World War I, and a further eight from World War II, have been found in U.S. waters, with the U-111 being the only one known to be sunk off the U.S. coast to remain undiscovered.

Experts assumed since the Navy reported that it sunk in over 1,600 feet of water, it was too deep to reach.

In addition to the depth, wreckages of ships and submarines decay quickly in the saltwater of the ocean, as metals corrode and rust faster due to the salt. Additionally, any wood present is often rapidly consumed by boring worms and other creatures of the deep.

Pekovic and his friend Rusty Cassway initially took his 45-foot R/V Explorer dive vessel to find the undiscovered wreck, using an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) to hunt down the U-boat at a site where they believed the wreckage to be.

The crew compared what the ROV found to pictures of the U-111, and the two appeared to match. This led to their decision to come back on Labor Day, September 5, to gather more information using the ROV and additional technical divers.

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Diving in deep waters like this is very dangerous, and should only be done by technical divers with the required training. To avoid getting "the bends" or decompression sickness, the divers would have to take four hours to ascend back to the surface after only 20 minutes of investigating the wreck.

The bends may occur if a diver ascends too quickly from a depth, leading dissolved gasses in their blood and tissues to emerge from the solution as bubbles, causing joint pain and rashes, and even paralysis and death. The deeper the dive, the greater the risk of the bends, and the longer the diver has to spend ascending to avoid it.

This additional expedition confirmed that the wreck was that of the U-111, although the crew is keeping its precise location a secret for now. Further investigation is planned for next year.

According to maritime historian Aaron Hamilton, this discovery represents a step forwards in submarine technology and wreck-finding. "The fact that it's been found and can now be documented and photographed is a significant achievement," he told National Geographic.