U-853 A look inside

[wreckedinri]

Easily scared? Surely, not this guy...

Hi Aaron,

I guess I can expect to be haunted by that pic from time to time. One silly moment and it's captured forever! And yes, I am a scaredy cat from time to time. It's helped me to live to dive another day.

Dennis

HIJACK . . . HIJACK . . . HIJACK: Also, I downloaded and tried that Auto Stitch program that you told me about. Very cool! It works quite well. Thanks!

 

[Soggy]

I'm a wuss myself....It's dark and scary down there.

 

[jdelprete]

Whenever diving any wreck it is always good to know the wreck before the dive. Some wrecks you can only get a photo off, but others like the U-853 there are a lot more resources. The best is the U-505 at the Museum of Science in Chicago. The 505 is of the same design as the 853 and any trip to her will open your eyes much better then I can to what is in the wreck. But look around and get some scetches of the layout of the boat.

Outside of the U-853

But from bow to stern on deck: The upper part of the bow has fallen off and now lies to the Port side. Be careful it as the sheet metal is thin and very sharp. Last year I saw parts of it flexing in the current. Looking around about 5’ off the sand you will see the forward torpedo tubes, 3 of the tube doors have been opened. If you look in the upper left hand tube, you will see the remains of one of the torpedoes. A little further back at sand level are the forward diving planes. Back up top and working back you will find the windless and forward torpedo loading hatch. This hatch is about 22” in diameter and is the largest hatch into the sub. As you head back, the upper portion of the pressure hull is all that remains as the decking has all corroded away. The next “hatch” that you will find is a rectangular hatch. This is the battery loading hatch and was never opened at sea. Smaller divers can get through it with some effort, but I would need to take my tanks off.

Don’t be looking for a large deck gun like you see in all the movies. The Type IX had a 105 mm gun at the beginning of the war but all had them removed by the end of 1943. The largest gun the U-853 had at the time of sinking was a 37mm anti-aircraft gun.

As you head further back you will find the forward “bomb” hole. This is the area directly over the captain’s cabin, sound and radio rooms which are long gone. A quick drop into the hole and you will find the round hatch into the control room. This hatch is about 30” wide and easily penetrated – more on penetration later. Looking forward in the bomb hole you will see hull plating bent down to your right and if you look to the left you can see access into the forward crews quarters.

Just as you come out of the bomb hole look on the right side of the wreck and you will see a long “pipe.” This pipe is the snorkel in the retracted position. The air head is at the end away from the conning tower. No just aft of the bomb hole is the conning tower. On top you will see a bright silver pipe coming up, this is the remains of the attack periscope, the actual head was cut off back in the 60’s or 70’s. The next pipe back is the search periscope in its retracted position. All you see is the periscope head as the lens is long gone. In front of the periscopes is a small hatch into the conning tower. This hatch is the smallest hatch on the boat and few have gone through it.

Aft of the conning tower is the mount for the 37mm AA gun. Further aft is a hatch into the engine room. Next, aft on the right side of the wreck is a bomb hole into the electric motor room, you will need to drop over the side to find it. The hole is large enough to get through easily, but watch out for the sharp sides.

Heading further aft you will find the aft torpedo loading hatch and the remains of the after torpedo room. The top hull plating is blasted away and you can drop right down into it with plenty of room to look around. Looking forward is a round hatch into the Electric motor room. On most days looking through this hatch you will see the bomb hole and if you have to be “inside” the sub, this is the best straight through of about 15 feet, in the hatch and out the bomb hole. Looking aft you will see more hull plates blasted down and if you look behind them you will see the tops of two parallel horizontal tubes, these are the aft torpedo tubes. You can not exit straight up through the bomb hole or out the left hand side of the wreck at sand level and have a look at the remains of the propeller shafts and steering mechanisms and rudders/dive planes.

My next post will go through the sub compartment by compartment.

Nice........I can't wait for part 2, thanks for the time you put in here...

Jim

 

[Gilldiver]

Here is my second post on diving the U-853.

First I made a few corrections to the original post, one is a typo about the aft torpedo room and the other was to add in the crews hatch into the crew quarters forward of the control room.

U-853 a Type IX German U-boat by compartment
From the front to the back. Any descriptions as to left or right will be in relation to the diver, not the actual right (starboard) or left (port) side of the sub. The directions will be for a diver moving from forward to the stern unless otherwise noted.

Compartments
Forward Torpedo Room
Crews Quarters, Captains Cabin, Radio & Sound Rooms
Control Room
Conning Tower (above the control room)
Diesel Engine Room
Electric Motor Room
After Torpedo Room

First, all the rooms are tight and it is almost imposable not to stir up the bottom. The good news is that a lot of the sand and silt is really sand and shell and doesn’t come up without a bit of effort. But it will cloud out and there is always the possibility that another diver has been in the room to mess things up for you. I highly recommend that no one new to the wreck penetrate the sub without a buddy who knows it and has many dives on it.

Next there are human remains in the forward torpedo room, crews quarters, and control room that may be on the surface and easily seen. Proper respect for these remains should be shown at all times. In other words, leave them alone.

Forward Torpedo Room
There are only two ways in to this room. The first and best is through the torpedo loading hatch. I am 6’3” and with twin 100’s and a dry suit I can get through the hatch. But you need to clean up – remove any reels, stage bottles, etc and hold them in front of you. A small canister light on your belt strap should be OK but you may need to guide it a bit.. Once through, clip everything back on. You should be on some firm sand and shell facing forward and may see the round disk of the hatch to the after compartments right next to you. If you see a round hatch combing right in front of you on a bulkhead, you are facing aft, turn around. A bit forward and to your left is the remains of a torpedo, (please don’t play with it, I may be in the water if it goes off). On the overhead in front of you, you will see two I-beams, these were for supporting the torpedoes as they were loaded into the tubes. They are your guides in any silt out. If you are silted out, stop, feel upward and find these I-beams, they are the highway out. At one end are the torpedo tubes at the other end are the hatches, if you hit the tubes, turn around and follow them back to the hatches.

As you move forward the sand and shell change to light silt, so be careful and maintain your buoyancy and keep the dangles out of the silt. At the torpedo tubes you will find that the two lower tubes are covered over with sand/silt, but the two upper ones are visible. The right hand side tube has had its door opened; the left hand tube is still closed (and loaded). By now rust and silt that have been stirred up will start clouding around you, it is time to move back aft. Remember to use the I-beams if there is a lot of silt and if you ran a line, keep it tight and reel it back up so it doesn’t become an entanglement for the next guy.

Back at the hatches you can exit out the torpedo loading hatch or go through the round bulkhead hatch into the crews quarters. To get out the loading hatch gather all your stuff into your hands and keep it all in front of you and “launch” up into the opening and onto the deck.

Crews Quarters
If you go through the round hatch into crews quarters the entries and exit are the hatch from the forward torpedo room, the square battery loading hatch, a round crew accesses hatch, and the forward bomb hole. I have never used the square or round hatches as the bomb hole is just so much easier.

As you enter the crews quarters from the torpedo room you will be in an area with a lot of silt that can be stirred up easily. There will also be the largest number of human remains which will be long arm and leg bones and a few skulls etc. This area can get spooky especially if you are a bit narced, be ready for it. As you head aft try to keep over to your right to get by some vertical supports from the old bulkheads which have rusted away About this time you will be under the square hatch and should be able to see the green glow of the light outside. A littler further aft you will be at the first bulkhead, look to your left and you should a cubby that is the ships kitchen. If you look closely you will see the electrical elements of the cook top. Go through the remains of the bulkhead hatch, which is rectangular and not round, and you will be in officer’s country. This is where the executive officer and senior petty officers were. In this area you will be under the round hatch and should see the green glow of it if you look up. Keep to the right side as you move forward so that you can get around the hull plating that is blown down from when she was sunk. As soon as you are past the plating you will have an unobstructed exit out of the sub through the bomb hole. The area where the bomb hole is was the captain quarters (right side), radio and sound rooms (left side) were. In the bomb hole looking aft you will see the round hatch into the control room.

The next posts will be on the control room and conning tower. My 3rd post will be on the diesel engine, electric motor, and after torpedo rooms.

 

[matt_unique]

I don't think it would be crazy for the NE Mod to post Gilldivers posts on the U853 as a sticky. People ask about this sub several times a year. An exterior and interior detailed summary would be a great reference.

--Matt

 

[MSilvia]

There's a good interactive IX-C class U-boat (like U-853) layout here.

 

[texdiveguy]

There's a good interactive IX-C class U-boat (like U-853) layout here.

What a great site!

 

[matt_unique]

There's a good interactive IX-C class U-boat (like U-853) layout here.

Nice find dude....

 

[Rainer]

Nice posts GD. Very useful. Would make an excellent sticky as matt suggested.

 

[wreck.reel]

What other 125' wrecks in this area would you consider more advanced? I keep my boat in Salem less my once a month weekend at the Block. I have only been on the USS-Bass, U853, and Blackpoint in the BI Sound.

--Matt

The Larchmont, the Mettis, the lake Crystal, are a few that are more advanced. Long island sound has a bunch of wrecks less than 125' deep more advanced than the u-853. Ive dove a few wrecks in buzzards bay that are also. Dont get me wrong the u-853 is an advanced dive but it is an easy advanced dive, its easy to get on it, it allways has a morring. Its easy to navigate, even with bad vis. The current is never so bad that you cant dive it.