The Explorer Submarine
Sub Marine Explorer had a tragic story even worse than any of the other submarines. The Sub Marine Explorer was created by two inventors, a German named Julius H. Kroehl as well as an American named Ariel Patterson. It was the first underwater ship and first submersible that could descend below 30 meters continuously for hours. The Explorer was able to accommodate six crewmembers. The Pacific Pearl Company, Brooklyn, developed it for their own use and not military purposes!
The project was a disaster because the inventors did not understand how decompression affects the human body. The crew members died from “stomach pain”. Kroehl was the first person to die following the rehearsals. The ship was abandoned due to the induced conditions, and the overfishing of pearl schools. James Delgado, an archaeologist from Panama, was the first to discover it.
German submarine U-352
Type VIIC is another name for the German submarine U-352. In 1942, he began his military service as a member of the Kriegsmarine under the Wolfpack command. Later, he reached North Carolina where he tried unsuccessfully to shoot down SS Freden. On April 7, 1942, he lost his luck when he mistakenly shot at a United States Coast Guard cutter, mistaking it as a merchant vessel. After being hit, the submarine was unable to survive and ended up sung in the depths.
The artificial coral reef, as well as the colorful fish, make this a popular dive site. Heinz Karl Richter survived the tragedy and told the Discovery Channel how Captain Rathke’s obsession to earn a Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross made him sink as many ships possible. The North Carolina Aquarium has some of the recovered artifacts.
