U-869 (1945): Shipwreck Map, Location & Facts

Name	U-869	Wikidata label
Year lost	1945	Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier
Era	Second World War	derived from year
Ship type	U-boat	Wikidata P31 instance of
Nationality / flag	Nazi Germany	Wikidata P8047 country of registry
Operator	Kriegsmarine	Wikidata P137 operator
Conflict	Battle of the Atlantic	Wikidata P607 conflict
Sea / ocean	North Atlantic Ocean	Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon
Nearest coast	United States	Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 95 km from land
Position	39.5500, -73.0300	Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0)

About the wreck

German submarine U-869 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II; her keel was laid down 5 April 1943 by Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG Weser of Bremen. It was commissioned on 26 January 1944 with Kapitänleutnant Hellmut Neuerburg in command. The German Kriegsmarine lost contact with the submarine on 11 February 1945, and it was long assumed she had been sunk in combat somewhere along (or near to) the Moroccan coastline with all hands lost. However, the wreck of U-869 was discovered off the coast of New Jersey in 1991.

Diving & visiting

In 1991, Bill Nagle, a former wreck diver and the captain of Seeker, learned about a wreck off New Jersey and decided to mount a diving expedition to the site. On 2 September 1991, an unidentified U-boat wreck was discovered 73 meters (240 feet) deep (a hazardous depth for standard scuba diving) off the coast of New Jersey. Nicknamed U-Who, the exact identity of the wreck was a matter of frequent debate, and initially the wreck was thought to be either U-550 or U-521. The discoverers of U-Who, John Chatterton, Richie Kohler, and Kevin Brennan, continued to dive the wreck for the next several years.

Location

Recorded position: 39.5500, -73.0300 (Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0); may be approximate)
Sea / ocean: North Atlantic Ocean
Nearest coast: United States

Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.

OpenStreetMap

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article German submarine U-869 (revision 1380095899), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Discovery off U.S. coast”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.