Since 11-30-04
Larry of Tampa Florida asks about a possible Uboat conning tower showing in the waters off the Saint Petersberg west coast area in the 1950s
Since 11-30-04
From: Larry
[klmyself@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2004 6:50 PM
Subject: When you were offline (via Bravenet HumanClick)
I grew up in the Tampa, Fl. area. In the early 50's, my parents used to take a
drive down the west coast from St. Petersburg to Sarasota. Off the coast near
Sarasota, there was what looked to me like the con of a submarine. My parents
said that was what it was. Only the con was out of water. If it wasn't a German
sub, then what was it?
___________________________
The above message was sent when you were offline, via your HumanClicked site.
From: Harry Cooper
[sharkhunters@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 1:16 AM
To: klmyself@yahoo.com
Subject: reply
Hi,
We were contacted by Jim Santos with your question
regarding what is thought to be a conning tower. We have all the locations for
all the sunken German U-Boats and while the rumor of one sunk off Sarasota (and
Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa and just about every other Florida coastal city or
town) is glamorous - it just isn't true. I won't go into too much detail about
all the romance stories, but I will tell you that every German U-Boat that
operated in Florida waters returned safely to their homeport so if they all came
home, how many are sunk here? None.
Also remember that a normal WW II submarine of anyone's navy needed a minimum of
20 feet of water when running surfaced. The west coast of Florida is famous for
"sailing in sand" which means that you need one mile offshore for each foot of
depth of water. It is impossible for any submarine to get close to shore unless
in a shipping channel. Many U-Boats did operate in the Gulf off Florida, but
they waited well out to sea where they had depth in which to dive, and they got
the ships after they left the channels.
Sorry this isn't what you wanted to hear, but it is the fact. Why not check out
our website for complete information on the U-Boats.
Go to www.sharkhunters.com and
we hope you enjoy what you see.
SHARKHUNTERS - Official Worldwide Publication of U-Boat History
www.sharkhunters.com
Harry Cooper
sharkhunters@earthlink.net
Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.