| Project Title: |
Exploring for the Wreck of Submarine O-9 |
| NOAA Goal(s): |
EHR, OEX |
Region(s): NAT |
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Principal Investigator(s):
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Principal Investigator
Dr. Susan Langley
Maryland Historical Trust
OMP Office of Archeology
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Co-Principal Investigator
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Other Investigator
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Operations:
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Leg 1
Begin Date: 9/25/2004
End Date: 9/27/2004
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Support Vessel/Platform: R/V Connecticut
| System |
Dives |
Dive Time (hrs) |
Depth (m) |
| Hela ROV (modified Phantom III S2+2) |
4 |
14.07 |
126.52 |
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Narrative:
Summary of Research: The USS O-9 was built, with 7 sister ships, in 1917-1918 at the Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, MA, of the Electric Boat Company, Groton, Ct. After serving in the Atlantic Fleet she was laid up at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1931. She, with 9 other O-boats, was refurbished and updated at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1941 for service training submariners at the United States navy Submarine School, Groton, Ct, as part of United States preparations for WWII.
She sailed from SUBASE Groton on 19 June 1941, with O-6 and O-10, to Submarine Operating Area “A” east off Portsmouth, NH, for deep diving trials. On 20 June 1941, O-9 failed to surface from a dive to her 200-foot test depth. A search by surface vessels and other submarines in the area found an area of surfacing air, oil, interior cork insulation and other debris and a deck grating from the O-9. Two Navy divers, using the then relatively new breathing mixture of helium and oxygen, dove to the vicinity of the wreck but were unable to positively identify the submarine. At 432 feet, these were close to the 500 foot world record depth working dives at the time, well beyond the 300-foot design depth of the equipment used. In view of the extreme depth, the surfacing of material from inside the submarine that indicated severe hull damage and the lack of any sign of life on the wreck, rescue efforts were terminated and a memorial service was held on 22 June 1941. There has been no known return to or sighting of O-9 since then. A side scan sonar search by Klein Associates in 1997 found O-9 working with Garry Kozak and Marty Klein, the founder of Klein Associates, Inc.
The NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration agreed to support a four-day expedition to image the O-9 using its Hela ROV. The objectives of this survey were to: 1) document the condition of the submarine, including possible causes of loss, 2) develop a photo mosaic and video transects of the wreck and any surrounding debris field. Representatives of the U.S. Navy were invited on the cruise, but were unable to participate. Because of the size of the film crew (7), slots for observers and other participants were limited. Three descendants and the spouse of one of the descendants attended the first day. See the POB list attachment for participants and the days they attended.
Of the four days supported by NOAA, three (September 25-27, 2004) were spent on the site and the fourth was used for moving the research vessel, R/V Connecticut. It was determined in advance that should human remains be encountered and documented, none of that footage could be used by the film crew, nor could they utilize any images that implied human remains such as shoes or clothing in positions indicative of having been on a body. No human remains were encountered. There was no interior debris visible around the hull. However, the documented existence of watertight doors and the intact condition of the forward half of the submarine does not preclude the possibility of crew having taken refuge there. Unfortunately, unlike the Squalus which sank to 243’ in 1939, they were beyond rescue. The contemporary divers heard no sounds of life in this area.
The first day, the side scan sonar was used to relocate the site, the Connecticut used dynamic positioning to hold it, and the Hela ROV with armored tether cable was deployed. Some issues were encountered with the sonar and tracking which initially made it difficult for the ROV crew to locate the submarine. However, superior skills prevailed. The first two days were used to video document the submarine and to facilitate the work of the crew filming for Lone Wolf Productions. At the end of the first day of filming the descendants were provided with a large, red, white and blue floral wreath by Lone Wolf Productions for a brief memorial on the site. By the third day, the film crew had departed and it had become apparent that it was not going to be possible to shoot tracks suitable to create a photo mosaic of the submarine due to the extensive schools of pollock on the site as they insisted on being in all shots. Ivar Babb thought it might be possible in the future to submit some of the video footage to the photo mosaic firm for experimentation. On the afternoon of the third and final day on the site, a live link had been established to broadcast video footage and a 40 minute on-site presentation through a web site. The site is, www.ExploreTheSea.com maintained by Vbrick systems, Inc. in partnership with NURC. Because of a few technical difficulties, an additional 20 minutes was provided and successfully broadcast.
The submarine is basically upright although listing about 30 degrees to port. The primary goal of obtaining video footage of the O-9 was achieved but the list prevented filming the port side, except for a limited area in the stern, and extensive net hangs blocked a portion of the hull immediately aft of the conning tower. The most significant damage is in the area of the motor and engine rooms. While the metal of the hull bends inward in some places, there is nothing conclusive to indicate either an implosion from depth pressure or an explosion from within the hull. The bow section is largely intact, as is the conning tower. There is no evidence of damage in the area of the conning tower impacted during the 1922 collision. The visible dive plane is level and does not indicate the submarine was either diving or climbing. There is no evidence to determine a source or chronology of events in order to determine whether, if there was an explosion, this was the result of increasing depth pressure caused by sinking below the vessel’s hull limits precipitated by another problem, or whether an explosion in one of these rooms was the cataclysmic event that caused the sinking.
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Accomplishments: Over four dives totaling 13.15 hours, 12 videos were recorded, 288 pan and tilt digital stills were shot, and about 240 screen captures were made. The digitals and screen captures are included with navigational information and side scan sonar XTF files on 3 CDs. NURC houses all paper and photo-documentation for this project. Comparable data will be provided to the Naval Historical Center in Washington, DC. This project, as proposed, is complete. There are no plans to return to the site at this time.
The third day was to be devoted to shooting footage and stills for the photo mosaic but it had become apparent that it was not going to be possible to shoot tracks suitable to create a photo mosaic of the submarine due to the extensive schools of pollock on the site. Ivar Babb thinks it might be possible to submit some of the video footage for experimentation at some future dated predicated on the results of another mosaic project this firm is currently working on for NURC.
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