BAREG – Battle of the Atlantic Research & Expedition Group

1. 2024 Activities Completed:

27 JAN – BAREG Annual Symposium
The symposium featured three excellent presentations:

K.A. Nelson’s presentation on his forthcoming book, Killing Shores – Uncle Karl’s Master Plan: Bringing War to the United States
Bill Chadwell provided another of his excellent deep-dive briefings and this year’s topic was on Weserübung, Oscarsborg, and the Sinking of the German Heavy Cruiser Blücher.
Aaron Hamilton provided the close out briefing on BAREG’s initial U-1105 survey and plans for investigation of the sinking of the U-869

As always, our thanks to Dave McGee for arranging the symposium venue.

3 FEB – Potomac River Dives
Four BAREG divers dove on three uncharted targets in the lower Potomac River. To the best of our knowledge, these targets had not been dove before and so one BAREG member (Brian W.) has claim to the first to dive these sites. Though the targets are not in the context of the Battle of the Atlantic, we use dives such as these to maintain skills throughout the year. As expected, viz was near zero and the water T was 40 degrees F, and Brian did well quickly locating the wrecks from the shot line.

16 MAR – Battle of the Atlantic Course
Five BAREG members attended Bill Chadwell’s day-long Battle of the Atlantic (BoA) course. Bill’s course is an introduction to the BoA for members seeking more contextual insight on the sites we dive. Our thanks to Sam Abbe for arranging the use of the classroom at Virginia SCUBA where the course was conducted.

17 MAR – Potomac River Dives
Four BAREG divers returned to the sites dove in February to refresh skills.

7 APR – U-1105 Dives
Two BAREG divers made the first dives of the year on the U-1105. The purpose of the dive was to assess the condition of the wreck prior to buoy operations.

20 & 21 APR – U-1105 Buoy Ops
Six BAREG divers participated in the two-day operation to place the mooring buoy on station at the wreck site. A new diver up/down line was also attached to the U-boat’s search periscope.

CC and FCE assisting TA with his sidemount rig as Team II prepares to attached the recovered chain to the buoy.

Buoy Ops: Team One prepares to dive the U-boat and locate the mooring chain.

18 MAY – BAREG U-1105 Project – Follow-on I Dives
Four BAREG divers explored the wreck to identify sites for further investigation.

1 JUN – BAREG U-1105 Project – Follow-on II Dives
Five BAREG divers continued identifying sites on the wreck. During these dives a significant technical discovery was made and it will be a focus of the follow-on work. Details will be provided after additional research is conducted.

BAREG Activities Cancelled First Two Quarters of 2024:
The weather thus far this year has not been favorable to BAREG’s 2024 dive plans. Three U-1105 dives were cancelled in later winter/early spring due to weather. Additionally, the 11&12 May trip out to the Liberty ship John Morgan was cancelled due to weather. However, it’s not just weather as we cancelled the Oriskany trip in April due to a low level of interest; only one diver signed on in addition to the trip leader.

2. 2024 Activities Remaining:

On Saturday, 15 June eight BAREG divers will resume our survey of the Atlas.
15-22 JUN: SS Atlas Project, Beaufort, NC – Status: Confirmed
29 & 30 JUN: U-1105 – Status: Confirmed
13 &14 JUL: U-853, Point Judith, RI – Status: Confirmed
27 & 28 JUL: U-1105 – Status: Confirmed
10 & 11 AUG: U-853, Point Judith, RI – Status: Confirmed
25 AUG: U-869, Point Pleasant, NJ – Status: Confirmed

27 OCT-2 NOV: Scapa Flow – Status: Booked/full
16 NOV: Business Meeting – Status: Confirmed, location TBD
7 & 8 DEC: U-1105 Buoy Ops – Status: Confirmed

3. Training:

BAREG will offer NAS training in the fall (date TBD) if there is sufficient interest. Please let me know if you would like to take the course. There is an on-line component and two days of skills training that is conducted at Tall Timbers, MD and in a nearby tributary of the Potomac.

4. Dues:

As a reminder, some of you all have not paid your dues for 2024. I hate to sound like a PBS pledge drive, but we depend on your dues to pay for our DAN insurance, TDI/SDI membership, Zoom account, and other incidentals (e.g., supplies for our surveys). Please submit your dues payments via paypal or by check made out to BAREG and mailed to:
Battle of the Atlantic Research & Expedition Group
PO Box 17302
Alexandria, VA 22302

5. Plans for 2025:

Looking ahead to 2025, we are considering a return to dive the Bell Island wrecks in Newfoundland. Several members have expressed interest in this trip and we will begin planning once we have enough divers to make it a BAREG trip. We are also considering a return to Scapa Flow as our plans for this year were disrupted and a number of members could not sign on for the alternate charter due to space limits. As with Bell Island, we will begin planning if there’s sufficient interest in the trip.

Hope you all are getting in lots of diving this year.

Fred Engle
Ops Coordinator
BAREG