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Sonar Survey Finds Lost U-Boats
01 Dec 2006
A routine Maritime & Coastguard Agency sonar survey off the Orkney Islands has led to the chance discovery of uncharted wrecks of two first world war German submarines which were originally reported missing in 1918 after apparently sinking somewhere in the Northern Barrage, a British minefield between Orkney and Shetland.
The boats, identified by experts as U92 and U102, were located just a couple of miles apart in 200ft of water by a hydrographic survey team aboard the ETV Anglian Sovereign, contracted to the MCA by Klyne Tugs (Lowestoft) Ltd. Rob Spillard, the Agency’s hydrography manager, explained that they were discovered last summer by the tug’s state of the art sonar equipment operated by NetSurvey in support of the MCA’s commitment to provide the UK Hydrographic Office with survey data for maintenance of nautical charts and publications contributing to navigational safety around national coastlines.
The tug’s main role, Spillard added, is to intervene when large vessels need towing away from coastal areas in order to protect shipping, lives and the environment. But when on standby for any incident that may occur, it is put to good use collecting hydrographic data. Earlier this year, the Anglian Sovereign’s sonar surveys of Scapa Flow, as part of the MCA’s ScapaMap project, had produced impressive three dimensional images of wrecks from the scuttling in 1919 of the German High Seas Fleet, which was ordered to sink more than 50 vessels.The area is now a major attraction for divers.
By DAVID GOODFELLOW
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