NEWPORT, R.I. — New imaging technology is providing a new look at sunken submarines in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound — helping to make the case for preservation of the wreckage sites.
University of Rhode Island professor Rod Mather says three sunken submarines — the USS G-1, USS L-8 and the German U-853 — were imaged last summer, along with the sunken Black Point merchant ship.
The Newport Daily News reports there are plans to image a fourth submarine, the Bass, next summer.
American forces sunk the 55-crew German sub in 1945 after it fired a torpedo at the Black Point, killing 12 of the 46 men aboard.
The images are the result of new, high-resolution technology developed by the federal Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.
Maher says the images may help win historic designation for the sites.
