Finnish Diver Finds German WWII Submarine Near Estonia 53
jones_supa writes: A wreck of a German submarine, presumed lost more than 70 years ago, has been discovered near the Estonian coast. The submarine, which dates back to the Second World War, was found by Finnish diver Immi Wallin in July. The U-679 was apparently the last lost German u-boat in the Gulf of Finland. It was presumed destroyed by depth charges in January, 1945. However, the wreck was found in its own patrol zone, sunk by an underwater mine. After the wreck was discovered, the first dive down to its 90-metre grave was undertaken by a six-person group on September 10. The mission was to investigate the condition of the submarine and photograph it. Wallin says that she believes the submarine had remained lost due to the great depth at which it was destroyed.
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51 crew members to be exact.
Delimma (Score:4, Insightful)
On the one hand, the members of the crew were probably Nazis in the technical sense...as in a member of the party.
On the other hand, they were also probably just kids following the path that was laid out for them...join the party and fight or go to the camps.
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In 1945 I'd say it is unlikely very many of them were party members. Kids following orders, yes...
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Kriegsmarine was the least nazified Wehrmacht branch.
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In fact, your average German military man was NOT a member of the Nazi party--particularly in the Kriegsmarine, which on the whole didn't like the Nazis much (aside from SS formations, which were by definition all Nazis, the most Nazified of the armed forces was the Luftwaffe, thanks mainly to Herr Goering). Most likely there wasn't a single actual Nazi on the boat. Party membership wasn't handed out like party favors--it meant something. You had to earn it, and to earn it you had to want it. You had th
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To add to this: In the 1930s it would have been illegal for a German soldier to hold membership in a political party. It wasn't until after the war started the rules were changed.
The military was a competing center of power in Germany throughout most of Hitler's rule. That's why he turned on Röhm and the SA when the brass demanded he do so. He was afraid of the general staff and managed the relationship carefully as they were the only people who could depose him. It wasn't until 1943 that he had
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On the one hand, the members of the crew were probably Nazis in the technical sense...as in a member of the party.
On the other hand, they were also probably just kids following the path that was laid out for them...join the party and fight or go to the camps.
Would you have the same dilemma about the teenagers beheading prisoners for ISIS?
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Do you mean Goldsteins?
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"Or filled with Nazi gold or dead bodies?"
My bet is on Nazi gold-plated dead bodies.
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No, but they found a briefcase containing a sheet of paper with the name of a china pattern and a nice set of eye glasses inside.
The sub was also full of gold.
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Nope, just a run-of-the-mill Type VIIC, the most common U-boat. Germany made hundreds of 'em during the war.
its Finnish(ed) (Score:1)
nuff said
Depth (Score:5, Informative)
For reference, recreational diving is usually limited to 30 to 40 meters (90 to 120 feet). I've only been past 90 feet a couple of times myself, so this is pretty hard core.
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yes, that's nuts. I went to ~140 in Belize at the blue hole, and bottom time was limited to ~8 minutes. You can't do nitrox at this depth either, so it was some serious tech diving that they had to be doing.
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"I'll bet you could make it to the surface if you had to"
I'll bet ten to one you wouldn't.
I base my case in my free and scuba diving experience, and the obvious lack of experience from your side.
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"I'll bet you could make it to the surface if you had to"
I'll bet ten to one you wouldn't.
I base my case in my free and scuba diving experience, and the obvious lack of experience from your side.
Out of curiosity, a quick google shows that the world free diving record is over 200m, so escaping from a 90m deep submarine is certainly survivable in theory, but in an emergency situation it does seem pretty unlikely.
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"Out of curiosity, a quick google shows that the world free diving record is over 200m"
It has no relevance to this situation. That's why I talked about "the obvious lack of experience" of the parent poster that, it seems, you also exhibit. The problem is neither depth nor distance, but pressure differential. You must understand that all those records start and end at the same pressure level.
"Free escape" is the technical term you should look for. Max training depth is usually 30m and you should understa
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It goes to show how vastly different water is from air. I mean, yes, obviously there are differences, but we take them largely for granted except for those like the parent who intentionally explore them. 90 meters vertical difference is less than the height of many buildings (its, very roughly, 30 floors). In air, we barely think about that sort of altitude change.
But in water, where every 10 m or so is an additional atmosphere of pressure, going down the same distance is a Big Frelling Deal. We may exi
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Given the present state of the Calypso, you'd be better of using "was" instead of "is" when referring to it. After having sunk after a collision almost 20 years ago & then being abandoned for about 10 years, It was taken apart for a near total restoration over 5 years ago after. Should the funds ever be found to pay for the dismantlement and reconstruct it will have very little in common with the boat as Cousteau knew it.
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If you put two Calypsos end-to-end vertically, that wouldn't quite reach the newly-discovered submarine.
Looking at it a slightly different way, the length of submarines in that period was roughly equal to their normal maximum diving depth.
I'm fond of pointing out that there really is no such thing as a "WW2 submarine". We had something we called submarines, but they were surface vessels that could submerge, once in a while, for a little while. The first real submarine hit the water in 1954.
Re: Depth (Score:2)
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So, was the Wright Flyer not a real airplane because it could only travel very slowly over short distances? By that logic, the first "real" airplane would perhaps be the first operational jet-powered aircraft, like the Messerschmidt ME 262. Or maybe we'd choose the first all-metal monoplane, like the Junkers J 1?
I'm pretty sure most people agree on the basic definition of a "submarine" (a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater.), and even much earlier and more primitive vehicles quality by
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So, was the Wright Flyer not a real airplane because it could only travel very slowly over short distances?
Of course not: it spent its entire operational career in flight, never doing anything on the ground. If it putt-putted down roads most of the time and lifted off once in a while, you'd have a comparison.
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"But in water, where every 10 m or so is an additional atmosphere of pressure, going down the same distance is a Big Frelling Deal."
It is not the pressure itself. The body has no problem going down to 100 or even 200 meters -in fact, it is the first 10 meters the only ones that you will notice, it is everything else: coldness, oxygen toxicity, nitrogen narcosis, air consumption speed... that makes it a technical challenge -of course, all of them are related to pressure, but still, it is not pressure as in
Re:Is this the 'Daily Nazi' or something? (Score:5, Funny)
This is the second article about WWII today. I wonder why. 'Refugee' propaganda not working? Add a little 'Holocaust' propaganda, that will make the goyim bow down before you... NOT.
Evidence found on this sub will indicate the Nazis were closer to building the bomb than we ever realized.
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I'm a nerd, and I love this kind of news. It isn't like this is a sports team having to change their name... like they had on here earlier.
I doubt (Score:5, Insightful)
One of many (Score:2)
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WWII ended at the beginning of May 1945. This sub continued operations another 7 months? How was it supplied?
TFS said it sunk in January 1945, which to us normal human beings is 4 months before the end of the War.