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U-166 Project Field Updates
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Around 10:30 pm on October 6, 2003, the ROV was
launched from the Ronald
H. Brown to begin investigations of the bow section of the U-166.
Shortly before midnight, after a brief positioning problem, the ROV arrived
on bottom and set up to shoot a photomosaic of the bow section. Rob Church
of C&C Technologies was in the ROV
shack guiding the Sonsub ROV pilots
during the survey, while Jesse Harper, Brett Gunter and Rob Dixon (C&C and
Sonardyne) maintained positioning for
the ROV.
The ROV began the survey by running a single survey
line down the center of the bow from north to south recording video data and
taking digital still photos every ten feet. Evidence of the violent end to
the U-166 was clearly seen in the mangled decking and hull remains at what
was once the location of the forward torpedo loading hatch. As the ROV moved
forward from the damaged area it passed over the large indentation in the
bow section which is thought to have been caused by a depth charge from the
PC 566. Towards the forward end of the bow, the hull
remains are in excellent condition. The wooden decking has disintegrated
leaving only the exposed steel frame of the U- boat. The ROV surveyed three
parallel lines over the bow of the U-166 to complete the photomosaic.
The Innovator ROV examines the wreck of
U-166. Illustration by Andrew W. Hall. |
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Shortly before 3:00 am on October 7, 2003, the ROV
completed the photomosaic and began the microbiological investigations of
the bow section guided by Lori Johnston of
Droycon Bioconcepts and marine
archaeologist Dan Warren of C&C Technologies. Lori had the ROV investigate
several locations that she had noted from the video imagery taken during the
photomosaic. During examination of these areas several groups of rusticles
were noted. Unique among these were groups of white rusticles that have only
been documented on the
DKM
Bismarck, a German battleship sunk in the North Atlantic.
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Lori Johnston of Droycon Bioconcepts
prepares steel test platforms for placement on the U-166 wreck site. |
After inspecting the potential areas for the
experiment placement Lori decided that three sites at the north end of the
bow would be best to place a steel test platform, BART Platform, and two
etch tests. Once Lori's experiments had been placed, marine archaeologist
Dan Warren guided the ROV along the bow to obtain additional video on the
damaged areas to help in the assessment of the wreck site.
By 4:15 am the ROV had moved 500 feet from the bow to
the stern section of the U-166 to begin the photomosaic. The photomosaic of
the stern section was guided by Lieutenant Jeremy Weirich from NOAA's
Office of Ocean Exploration and
Dave Ball of the Minerals Management
Service. The stern was documented in similar fashion with the ROV
surveying three parallel lines over the wreck site taking video and still
images. The documentation of the stern required the Sonsub ROV pilots to use
their precision maneuvering skills to obtain high quality imagery for the
scientists while making sure not to impact the wreck, or stir up sediments
along the edges of the stern section.
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A close-up image of U-166's conning
tower, showing the unusual white rusticles. |
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Nearly four hours, later at 8:30 am, the mosaic was
complete and a wonderful success. The quality of the video was more than
anyone had expected and documented many aspects of the wreck that had not
been recorded in 2001. After the mosaic was complete, Lori Johnston again
had the ROV pilots place her experiments at key locations on the wreck that
showed evidence of rusticles. Shortly after placing the steel test
platform on the deck just aft of the conning tower, a 3 to 4 foot long squid
showed up on site. For several minutes the squid lingered around
investigating the test platform, before swimming off into the darkness.
By 10:45 most of the work on the stern was complete
and the ROV headed back to the surface. There the science team and the
Sonsub Crew would ready it for the next dive on the U-166. Throughout the
dive Dennis Aig (Montana State University/PAST)
and John Mcdonough (NOAA
Office of Ocean Exploration) diligently ran the lab making tape copies
and answering the questions of members of the science and film crews.
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