It is a grave
is immemorial it is a piece of the nation's history
and it is also an underwater reef but in March
1942 the Dixie a row was a paper
steaming just offshore from the Outer Banks loaded with fuel
for the Allied war effort in Europe a German u-boat
was stocking the Dixie a row substory pedos
hit their mark and the Dixie a row and 11 crew members
went down in ninety feet of water you can get a snapshot
into the path include that piece ever nation's history
you're looking at it the way that arrest on a monitor showing
and has perhaps her the past seventy years
basically so I'm you really are getting and
a snapshot in time and back in history
and also I their amazing resources as far as being artificial reefs as well i
mean they're
they provide habitat for a lot of different creatures though it the beer
will experience not only
for the history but also just be what
kinda life their resources now support the Dixie a row is now one of the
shipwrecked that are the focus
a research project to locate and document with photos
videos and maps the sea battle that raged of North Carolina's Coast
during world war 2 it's called the Battle of the Atlantic
expedition they they are non-renewable resources they won't be around forever
so our goal is to go out and document and
and to bring them to a public to you that may not know that they exist at all
there's
a great portion and the public that had no idea that more work you came this
close
to to the United States let alone two
the North Carolina coast maritime archaeologists working on the project
estimate more than 60 rector
allied ships both merchant and navy warships
as well as German u-boats why on the ocean floor within 100 miles off Cape
Hatteras
in Cape Lookout the secret German plan called for a submarine assault
on the american eastern seaboard it was a area
poorly defended and rich in Merchant Shipping targets
through early 1942 you boat cruise
struck at will attacking in shallow water then hiding in deeper water
just off the cat no show so many merchant ships were sunk
captains referred to the area as Corp ito junction
Battle of the Atlantic the closest place have come back to the US
during the war these
shipwrecks are not only independent vessels they
have a relationship with each other so
I like the Y P 39 was sent by the 70 wine in new 701 lives off the coast of
Cape Hatteras
they are intimately related
and many are related to this
this is the rack give the German submarine you
701 the German u-boat sake
9 allied ships off the North Carolina coast
hit was finally sunk in an allied air and naval attack
in 1942 you're looking at a battlefield and underwater battlefield you not just
learning a story in this specific shipwreck or their them
on personal history or that them a story in the people that were associated with
this track but you're actually learning about that holing determined that took
place up
is maritime detective work researchers want to not only document the rack
what this ship is and where it is located they are also looking at the
condition
up the REC the whole and other items made from steel and iron will eventually
corrode
and disintegrate object made from now on ferrous metals
such as brass and bronze will not corrode as easily
so allows us to to look at those resources and see how they're changing
over time what is happening to them
on how fast they're corroding how long they may be around and then
like I said it also gives us a great opportunity to an collect information on
those resources and
bring them to the public in different ways through posters through
video through photographed it's a different
I'm recordset about history we have history no history means we know about
historical records historians know how to read and interpret them into site for
them
achille archaeological data Tom can
redefined our opinions about the past
researchers also hope information learned from the racks will help fill in
the gaps
in the historic record it's a test history
arm it's often insight into psychological states
that maybe aren't reflected in historical record so old man's
historical records
the Battle of the Atlantic expedition is a joint effort between the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
University of North Carolina coastal studies Institute
and East Carolina University for every hour on the expedition we've planned
unit and 20 hours
you know with hopefully we've done the right amount of planning
but we get is a process of getting a group of people invested and then doing
the work in seeing
come out with and sometimes that successful sometimes not dive trips
are meticulously planned divers don't have much time on the bottom
so they must work quickly and efficiently
site cameras scientists realized latest technology to add to the historical
record
this is a towboat magnetometer which detects
how a piece of iron which has its own magnetic field
can disturb the earth magnetic field it then
uses that data to draw a picture of the item
we have particular massive I am or steal some
something santa can anchor you can imagine
it its gonna disturb field and what a magnetometer does is we tow it
across up the towpath and it'll let us measure
the degree of disturbance and then we can map that
and then what we can do is and we can create con tu is and then thats
invariably something its cultural could be a German u-boat it could be a
you know I allied trader could be a Canon was so this is a remotely operated
vehicle
an RV it has a camera in from right there I
and these lights year you can see the thrusters
here on this has the opportunity for little grab rumour in addition alarm
Tamra and so it's it's a tethered basically a tethered
camera that we can drive but of course the thing that archaeologists Tenge its
tangible
so much history is about an intangible things feeling a
Saikia culture and of course the tangible aspects of that a very alluring
to people to see touch
interact with the past directly
brings history to a place were actually happened you can see it right there
so there's a couple things that make those those wrecks memorable net
experience in your diving on but it's also the stories behind