Hunting New England Shipwrecks

Shipwreck Data
Vessel Name	U-215
Other Names
Vessel Type	German Submarine (Type VII-D)
Owner	German Navy
Length / Beam / Draft (feet)	252' / 21' / 16'
Tonnage
Hull Construction	Steel
Propulsion	Diesel / Electric / Screw
Cargo
Built	1941 at Keil, Germany
Date of Loss	July 3, 1942
Reason for Loss	Depth charged by the armed British trawler Le Tigre after sinking the American freighter Alexander Macomb.
Fatalities	48 (all hands)
Location	200 miles east of Boston, MA (on Georges Bank), near the wreck of the Alexander Macomb. The wreck is located in Canadian territorial waters.
Coordinates (Lat/Lon)	41.48N / 66.38W (per U-boat.net)
Coordinates (Loran C)
Water Depth (feet)	270'
Typical Visibility (feet)
Wreck Condition
Diving Considerations
Other Information	The U-215 was on a mission to lay mines in Boston Harbor. About 200 miles east of Boston, it encountered a convoy headed for Murmansk, Russia, via Halifax. The convoy was being escorted by several British and American warships. The U-215 torpedoed and sank the American freighter (Liberty ship) Alexander Macomb, then was depth charged and destroyed by the British ship Le Tigre. The exact locations of the U-215 and Macomb wrecks were unknown for many years. Then in the summer of 2004, the wrecks were located by a Canadian team of researchers. For more information on the discovery of these wrecks, see CBC News report For more information on the Macomb, see our Alexander Macomb data page. For more information on U-boats in New England waters, see our page called U-Boat Facts and Legends.

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U-boats in port (Author's collection)