Outer Banks Dive Center
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We are headed to the U-85 Saturday morning and have a few spots left on the boat. Please call the shop and reserve your spot before they are all gone!!! 252.449.8349
Type VII-B, U Boat, 753 tons on surface, 218 ft long. Sunk by the destroyer USS Roper on April 14th 1942, with the loss of all hands. The top of the conning tower is at an approximate depth of 85 ft, with a maximum depth of 100 ft. The U-85 operating off Hatteras, was cruising on the surface just after midnight when it was found by the radar of the USS Roper. Trying to evade, the U-85 was able to get off one torpedo that missed the Roper. The Roper was able to get a spot light on the U-85 and responded with machine gun fire killing the U-85 gun crew. The Roper then began shelling the U-85 eventually hitting her directly behind the conning tower. This was a fatal blow to the 85 , some of the crew managed to escape the sinking hulk, but to no avail. The Roper fearing another U-boat in the area ran through the survivors multiple times dropping additional depth charges. None of crew escaping the sinking submarine survived the depth charges. The U-85 was the first German U-boat to be engaged and sunk off the coast of the United States during WWII.
The U-85 is probably the most accessible German U-boat to dive, just 12 miles off Nags Head, North Carolina. The R/V GO-BETWEEN makes two runs per week to this exciting wreck which take approximately an hour and a half. The structure of the U-85 is very much intact with the pressure hull showing the breach created by Ropers shell. The wreck is upright listing about 15 degrees to starboard. Although the exterior sheet metal has been damaged by the ocean the pressure hull is intact and provides an excellent opportunity to see a WWII German submarine. The torpedo tubes are still attached and the deck gun is raised as it was during the action just before it sank.
The Outer Banks Dive Center and the R/V GOBETWEEN have a strict policy of no touch/take on this or any other war wrecks. The history of this vessel needs to be preserved for all future divers to enjoy and explore. The U-85, like all U-boats, is protected by the Sunken War Ship act, which prohibits disturbing or taking artifacts. More importantly because service men were lost when she was sunk, she is considered a grave site and is preserved as such.
Type VII-B, U Boat, 753 tons on surface, 218 ft long. Sunk by the destroyer USS Roper on April 14th 1942, with the loss of all hands. The top of the conning tower is at an approximate depth of 85 ft, with a maximum depth of 100 ft. The U-85 operating off Hatteras, was cruising on the surface just after midnight when it was found by the radar of the USS Roper. Trying to evade, the U-85 was able to get off one torpedo that missed the Roper. The Roper was able to get a spot light on the U-85 and responded with machine gun fire killing the U-85 gun crew. The Roper then began shelling the U-85 eventually hitting her directly behind the conning tower. This was a fatal blow to the 85 , some of the crew managed to escape the sinking hulk, but to no avail. The Roper fearing another U-boat in the area ran through the survivors multiple times dropping additional depth charges. None of crew escaping the sinking submarine survived the depth charges. The U-85 was the first German U-boat to be engaged and sunk off the coast of the United States during WWII.
The U-85 is probably the most accessible German U-boat to dive, just 12 miles off Nags Head, North Carolina. The R/V GO-BETWEEN makes two runs per week to this exciting wreck which take approximately an hour and a half. The structure of the U-85 is very much intact with the pressure hull showing the breach created by Ropers shell. The wreck is upright listing about 15 degrees to starboard. Although the exterior sheet metal has been damaged by the ocean the pressure hull is intact and provides an excellent opportunity to see a WWII German submarine. The torpedo tubes are still attached and the deck gun is raised as it was during the action just before it sank.
The Outer Banks Dive Center and the R/V GOBETWEEN have a strict policy of no touch/take on this or any other war wrecks. The history of this vessel needs to be preserved for all future divers to enjoy and explore. The U-85, like all U-boats, is protected by the Sunken War Ship act, which prohibits disturbing or taking artifacts. More importantly because service men were lost when she was sunk, she is considered a grave site and is preserved as such.
