Hi, got this off of CNN on 21 July. Thought you folks may be interested
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HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- A consortium of federal agencies, academic institutions and commercial firms is about to begin a study of seven vessels lost in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II, hoping to learn whether shipwrecks can function as artificial reefs in deep waters.
Among the ships to be studied is the only German submarine believed sunk in the Gulf.
The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service said Tuesday that researchers hope to examine whether man-made structures such as shipwrecks work as artificial reefs in the deep waters, how they affect the environment, how the environment affects the structures, and the possible implications on the thousands of oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Using a remotely operated vehicle more than a mile down, researchers plan to spend 18 days in the gulf off the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama beginning late this month.
Hundreds of structures have been converted to artificial reefs in shallow waters and are accepted as beneficial to fisheries, but little research has been conducted in deep water.
According to the Minerals Management Service -- which manages oil, natural gas and other resources in offshore waters on the outer continental shelf -- the ideal lab for such a study is the gulf, where 56 ships were sunk by German U-boats during World War II. Most were sunk within a few months during 1942.
Among the wrecks slated for study is a cargo ship that went down in 6,500 feet of water carrying a load of aluminum ore; the U-166, a Nazi submarine that now rests nearly 5,000 feet down; and a passenger ship, the Robert E. Lee, that was torpedoed by the U-166 in July 1942. A Navy vessel escorting the Robert E. Lee launched depth charges and is credited with sinking the submarine
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HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- A consortium of federal agencies, academic institutions and commercial firms is about to begin a study of seven vessels lost in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II, hoping to learn whether shipwrecks can function as artificial reefs in deep waters.
Among the ships to be studied is the only German submarine believed sunk in the Gulf.
The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service said Tuesday that researchers hope to examine whether man-made structures such as shipwrecks work as artificial reefs in the deep waters, how they affect the environment, how the environment affects the structures, and the possible implications on the thousands of oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Using a remotely operated vehicle more than a mile down, researchers plan to spend 18 days in the gulf off the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama beginning late this month.
Hundreds of structures have been converted to artificial reefs in shallow waters and are accepted as beneficial to fisheries, but little research has been conducted in deep water.
According to the Minerals Management Service -- which manages oil, natural gas and other resources in offshore waters on the outer continental shelf -- the ideal lab for such a study is the gulf, where 56 ships were sunk by German U-boats during World War II. Most were sunk within a few months during 1942.
Among the wrecks slated for study is a cargo ship that went down in 6,500 feet of water carrying a load of aluminum ore; the U-166, a Nazi submarine that now rests nearly 5,000 feet down; and a passenger ship, the Robert E. Lee, that was torpedoed by the U-166 in July 1942. A Navy vessel escorting the Robert E. Lee launched depth charges and is credited with sinking the submarine
