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Capt.
Dan Berg's Wreck Valley Collection
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COIMBRA
 The Coimbra was built by the Howaldj Swerke Co., of Kiel,
Germany, in 1937. She was a tanker owned by the Socony Vacuum Oil
Co., Ltd., of Great Britain. She was 423 feet long, had a60 foot
beam, displaced 6,768 gross and 3,976 net tons.
At 3:00 AM, January15, 1942, on a foggy morning, a torpedo fired
from the U-123 hit her amidships, exploding her cargo of 81,000
barrels of fuel oil into flames. A second series of explosions
ripped the Coimbra into three sections before sending her to the
bottom. Captain J.P. Barnard, and 34 crew members were killed during
the initial explosions and resulting fires. Only six people
survived. The NEW YORK TIMES reported with headlines "New U-Boat
Victim Confirmed By Navy ". The Coimbra was World War II's second
U-Boat sinking off the eastern seaboard.
 Today, the Coimbra still lies in the three sections she was blown
into. Her bow is facing east, mid section is leaning to port and her
stern rests on its side. The wreck is located 64 miles southeast of
Jones Inlet and 78 miles from Manasquan Inlet in180 to 190 feet of
water. The Coimbra has also created some controversy. Even though
the U.S. government has inspected the wreck and issued a report that
the oil left on Coimbra presents no pollution threat to U.S. shores,
others believe differently. In fact, one article about the site
reports that there could be as much as 28,500 barrels of lube oil
remaining on the wreck. When I first journeyed to this wreck aboard
the R.V. Wahoo, we couldn't help to notice the oil slick still
hovering over the wreck. The oil is slowly escaping, but over a
period of years as her metal decays, this sunken tanker and others
like her could cause our beaches to be covered in oil. Even with oil
leaking from her hull, I was amazed at the water clarity on this
site. We reached her hull at165 feet and peered over her side to see
a row of portholes in the sand in 187 feet. The sand is clean and
white, and the marine life over and around the wreck abounds.
Remember
penetration into any shipwreck should only be done by those with
proper training, experience and
wreck diving equipment.
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Coimbra Wreck. Photo courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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Capt. Dan Berg with a porthole recovered from the Coimbra Wreck. Photo courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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Divers from the Wahoo with artifacts from the Coimbra Wreck. Photo courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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Helm from the Coimbra Wreck. Photo courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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Keith W with telegraph from the Coimbra Wreck. Photo courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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Coimbra Wreck. Photo courtesy Dan Berg Wreck Valley Collection.
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All
photographs, sketches, images and text |
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Copyright Capt. Dan Berg / Aqua Explorers Inc |
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2745
Cheshire Dr
Baldwin NY 11510
E-Mail Wreckvalle@aol.com |
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