Wreck Diving: Battle of the Atlantic

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] reported this week that it will lead a research expedition through July 26 to study the wrecks of three German U-boats sunk in 1942 off the North Carolina coast during the infamous Battle of the Atlantic. The battle was not just the longest engagement in the ‘Great War’, it was also the most important.

North Carolina’s rich military history includes this great battle for control of the Atlantic shipping lanes linking Great Britain, the United States and Canada, which allowed the Allies to take the ground and air war to Europe and the heartland of Germany itself.

The NOAA expedition is part of a larger, multi-year project to survey a number of historically significant shipwrecks during WW-II, including British naval vessels and merchant marine ships. Partners in the expedition will be the Minerals Management Service, the National Park Service, the State of North Carolina, East Carolina University and the University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute.

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Top 25 Reasons to Visit NC - 4

Part 4: Reasons 16 - 25

16. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Cultural Feast

The cultural and educational offerings in the State Capital area will appeal to even the most sophisticated of visitors. Excellent history and natural science museums, the North Carolina Symphony, the North Carolina Museum of Art, Duke Gardens at Duke University and more great outings can keep interested visitors busy for weeks!


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Seeing More Light

NC’s Lighthouses:

Cape Lookout and Bald Head Island

In the first installment in a series about North Carolina’s storied lighthouses, the Cape Hatteras and Currituck Island lighthouses were featured. This time, the Cape Lookout and Bald Head Island lighthouses are worth a tour through history.

The dangerous, shifting shoals of the North Carolina coastline were a constant danger to mariners and shipwrecks happened frequently. The U.S. Congress authorized a lighthouse at Cape Lookout in 1804, but the first tower was not completed until 1812. But like the original Cape Hatteras light, the Cape Lookout light was too dim to be easily seen off the coast, and ships were in more danger of running aground while looking for the light than if they just kept going until they could see one.

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Seeing The Light

NC’s Lighthouses:

Cape Hatteras and Currituck Island

North Carolina’s coastline juts well out into the Atlantic Ocean with serious attitude. It claims the distinction of owning the easternmost point in all of the United States, and catches more than its share of hurricanes and nor’easter storms.

The beautiful Cape Hatteras lighthouse is the most famous lighthouse in America, and originally sat right on that eastern most point of sand. Back in 1793 when the nation was still in its infancy, funds were released by the U.S. Congress to build a mighty lighthouse to mark the notorious Diamond Shoals sandbar, graveyard to more ships than anyone cared to count.

Diamond Shoals marks the meeting place of the two great Atlantic currents, the cold water Labrador current and the warm north-bound Gulf Stream. Their meeting creates shifting sandbars just beneath the surface, making for some very dangerous waters. Illness in the building crews delayed the completion of the lighthouse until 1803, when it was lit for the very first time. The original light consisted of 18 oil lamps with 14″ reflectors, providing a beam that could be seen from 12 miles offshore.

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