Submarines (1/2) ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Submarines (1/2)

USS Blenny reef — World War II - *USS Blenny* SS-324 - 312 ft, 1,810 tons, 8 knots submerged

Everyone knows what a submarine is - a ship that can go underwater. Hardly needs any explanation. Unless you're in the US Navy. By the Navy definition, only their modern, nuclear-powered boats ( all submarines are called "boats" ) are true submarines, designed to operate beneath the surface almost indefinitely. Anything else is merely a "submersible", tied to the surface by the need for fuel and air. Whatever.

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Black Sunday

The U-151 was the first German U-boat to operate in U.S. territory in World War I. The U-151 is not actually sunk in these waters ( it was sunk deep off Virginia after the war, ) but it did "contribute" the following six shipwrecks, all on the same day, Sunday, June 2, 1918:

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U-550

Type:: shipwreck, Type IXc/40 U-boat, Kriegsmarine, Germany
Built:: 1942, Germany
Specs:: ( 252 x 22 ft ) 1051 displacement tons, 48-56 crew
Sunk:: Saturday April 16, 1944
by depth charges and gunfire from destroyer escorts USS Gandy, USS Joyce and USS Peterson after torpedoing tanker Pan Pennsylvania - 44 casualties.
Depth:: 300 ft

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U-853

Type:: shipwreck, Type IXc/40 U-boat, Kriegsmarine, Germany
Built:: 1943, Germany
Specs:: ( 252 x 22 ft ) 1051 displacement tons, 48-56 crew
Sunk:: Saturday May 6, 1945
sunk by destroyer escort USS Atherton - no survivors
Depth:: 110-130 ft

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U-869

Type:: shipwreck, Type IXc/40 U-boat, Kriegsmarine, Germany
Specs:: ( 252 x 22 ft ) 1051 displacement tons, 48-56 crew
Built:: 1944, Germany
Sunk:: February 11, 1945
sunk by destroyer escort USS Howard D. Crow - no survivors
Depth:: 240 ft

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USS Bass V-2 / SS-64

Shipwreck USS Bass — This photo is signed by Admiral Chester W Nimitz.

Type:: shipwreck, submarine, U.S. Navy
Built:: 1924, Portsmouth Navy Yard, NH USA
Specs:: ( 341 x 28 ft ) 2000 displacement tons, no crew
Sunk:: Monday March 12, 1945
deliberate - weapons test
Depth:: 155 ft - sand ; 140 ft - deck ; 120 ft - conning tower

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USS Blenny SS-324

Shipwreck USS Blenny — The *Blenny* as she appeared during World War II.

Type:: shipwreck, Balao ( modified Gato ) class submarine, U.S. Navy
Built:: 1944, Groton, CT USA
Specs:: ( 312 x 27 ft ) 1810 tons, no crew
Sunk:: Wednesday June 7, 1989
artificial reef
Depth:: 70 ft

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USS G-1 / SS-19

Type:: shipwreck, submarine, U.S. Navy
Built:: 1911, Newport News, VA USA
Specs:: ( 161 x 13 ft ) 400 tons, no crew
Sunk:: Tuesday June 21, 1921
deliberate - weapons test

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USS G-2 / SS-27

Type:: shipwreck, submarine, U.S. Navy
Built:: 1912, Bridgeport, CT USA
Specs:: ( 161 x 13 ft ) 400 tons, no crew
Sunk:: Wednesday July 30, 1919
foundered after weapons tests - 3 casualties (inspection crew)
Depth:: 81 ft

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USS L-8 SS-48

Type:: shipwreck, submarine, U.S. Navy
Built:: 1917, Portsmouth Navy Yard, NH USA
Specs:: ( 167 x 15 ft ) no crew
Sunk:: Wednesday May 26, 1926
deliberate - torpedo test
Depth:: 110 ft

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USS S-5 SS-110

Type:: shipwreck, submarine, U.S. Navy
Built:: 1920, Portsmouth Navy Yard, NH USA
Specs:: ( 231 x 21 ft ) 876 displacement tons, 37 crew
Sunk:: Wednesday September 1, 1920
flooded during test dive - no casualties
Depth:: 165 ft

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Submarines

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East Rockaway Inlet / Beach 8th Street

The dive site is between 8th and 9th Streets (marker at upper-left)
Atlantic Beach bridge at right, inlet and ocean to the left (west)
In Queens borough, New York City!

East Rockaway Inlet is also known as Deb's Inlet, while New Yorkers optimistically, or perhaps ironically, call the Beach 8th Street dive site Almost Paradise. (Actually the name of a long-defunct dive shop there.) It is also referred to as Beach 9th Street. If that's not enough names for the same place, the waterway is officially called Reynold's Channel. So I suppose you could make six different entries in your logbook.

Beach 8th Street is the only part of the inlet that is accessible to divers, the rest is either private property or state park land where diving is prohibited. You can zoom, pan, and maximize the map above. The inlet is off to the left, marshland to the right, and Kennedy Airport above.

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