Bareg Fall 2025 Update

U-1105 Dives 18 & 19 OCT

Three BAREG divers, Kevin M., Brett S. and the Ops Coordinator, dove the U-1105 in mid-October. The diver floats were not on the surface when we arrived at the wreck site and a shot line was used to locate the wreck and to bring the floats to the surface. The floats and the line were covered in thick biomass and we cleaned much of it off and added a twelve-inch poly ball for additional buoyancy. Viz on the wreck was two to three feet and water T was 64 degrees F.

The plan to rendezvous on site with several non-BAREG divers making their first U-1105 dive was scrapped when that dive group could not get the motor on their Zodiac to start.

Kevin M. returns after locating the U-boat via shot line. Photo: Brett S.

On 19 OCT the planned dives on the U-boat were canceled due to rough seas. The decision to call the dives was made on site when the float line parted as we attached a large orange poly ball for additional floatation. The floats and line had been on station in the river for 18 months and the line had been chaffed where it was tied into the U-boat tower (see second photo below). We recovered the floats and line and returned to the marina.

The recovered U-boat diver floats and line, and the line remnant recovered from the search periscope on 26 OCT. After 18 months tied into the U-boat tower the line chaffed through at the top of the bridge. Photos: Ops Coordinator

U-1105 Dives 26 OCT

Brett S. located the U-boat via a shot line and was joined by Kevin M. for a fun dive on the 1105. The water T was 63 degrees F and viz at the top of the tower was one to two feet.

The Ops Coordinator tied a new diver up/down line and floats onto the search periscope, and then spent time in a freshly scoured area at the deck level, port side, forward of the tower. At this point on the main deck there is a recess for the base of the schnorkel mast and I looked for components of the schnorkel system. The actuator for raising and lowering the schnorkel mast is missing and it most likely was dislodged during the Uboat’s scuttling in 1949. The U-1105’s schnorkel actuator is visible in place in film taken the day the U-boat was scuttled off Piney Point.

The U-995’s schnorkel mast actuator is circled in this photo taken during our visit to
Laboe, Germany in April 2025. This component is missing from the U-1105. Note Aaron H. for scale. Photo: Ops Coordinator

Quarry Gardens Recce Survey Report

As mentioned in our Spring Update, eleven BAREG divers conducted a recce survey of two flooded quarries in Schuyler, Virginia. BAREG recently submitted its final report on the survey to the management of the Quarry Gardens. The report is be posted on the BAREG web site and can be downloaded here.

Buoy Ops – 8 NOV

Two BAREG divers, Reggie H. and the Ops Coordinator, and boat captain Megan R. recovered the U-1105 buoy on 8 NOV. Wind and sea conditions were marginal at the start, and the team tied into the wreck’s mooring buoy to wait for conditions to improve.
Water T was 57 degrees F and viz at the top of the U-boat’s tower was two feet. At the base of the tower and on the river bottom viz was less than one foot as a one-knot current created a turbidity blizzard of sediment. Though short-handed, the team safely and efficiently detached the buoy, lowered the mooring chain to the river bed, attached a guideline to aid finding the chain in the spring, and returned the buoy to Tall Timbers Marina for maintenance over the winter. Many thanks to Reggie and Megan for turning out to recover the buoy.