{"id":2243726,"date":"2026-11-06T20:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2243726"},"modified":"2026-11-06T20:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:05:24","slug":"divers-found-a-wwii-shipwreck-off-maine-linked-to-a-nazi-spy-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2243726","title":{"rendered":"Divers Found a WWII Shipwreck Off Maine Linked to a Nazi Spy Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Cornwallis-Merchant-Ship-WWII-Maine&#8211;1200&#215;675.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"post-2000836369 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-human-history tag-military-history\">\n<div class=\"entry-content prose dark:prose-invert lg:prose-xl prose-science dark:prose-science max-w-none\">\n<p>The SS <em>Cornwallis<\/em> had already been sunk once before. In September 1942, the 400-foot-long (120-meter-long), 5,458-ton merchant steamer had been torpedoed near Barbados. But there was a war on, and so, after refloating and repairs, the <em>Cornwallis<\/em> once again departed Barbados bound north, ferrying bags of sugar and barrels of molasses\u2014until a German U-boat sank the unlucky cargo ship for the second and final time.<\/p>\n<p>The final resting place of the SS <em>Cornwallis<\/em>, as well as the bodies of the 43 crew members who lost their lives in this fatal December 3, 1944 torpedo strike, had remained a mystery for over 80 years. All that was known for sure was that the merchant vessel had been sunk somewhere off the coast of Maine. But, after seven years of searching, self-funded technical divers with the volunteer Nomad Exploration Team say they have discovered the World War II-era wreck about 400 feet (122 m) under the Atlantic, near Maine\u2019s lonely lighthouse island, Mount Desert Rock, roughly 25 miles (40 kilometers) off the mainland.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery quickly we discovered why it had not been found,\u201d one of the discovery team\u2019s divers, Danny Allan, explained in a YouTube video update. \u201cFirst of all, freezing water. I think we were diving up there earlier this year and I think the warmest I saw was 42 degrees [Fahrenheit, or about 6 degrees Celsius] on the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecondly, the currents are ripping up there,\u201d Allan continued. \u201cIt\u2019s just outside the Bay of Fundy \u2026 [which] has tides that go 30 to 50 feet\u2014and actually, during the tidal pull the current is running at about 10 knots. So crazy currents. And the weather turns in a heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"not-prose video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nomad Exploration Team Finds the SS Cornwallis, Lost for More Than 80 Years Off the Maine Coast\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rvKdRFNCjLk?feature=oembed\" frameborder allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>Lost in 10 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Just days before it sank the <em>Cornwallis<\/em>, German submarine <em>U-1230<\/em> had discreetly slipped two Nazi spies into the U.S. roughly 20 miles north near Hancock, Maine, in Frenchman Bay. The sinking of this merchant vessel was largely an afterthought following that infiltration effort, the lynchpin of a well-funded, two-year plan to gather technical intelligence on U.S. military shipyards and manufacturing, codenamed Operation Elster (German for \u201cMagpie\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>According to the Nomad Exploration Team, the Canadian-operated <em>Cornwallis <\/em>sank less than 10 minutes after being struck by the sub\u2019s torpedo. But actually locating the <em>Cornwallis<\/em> wreck was a comparatively much longer and harder operation.<\/p>\n<p>Allan and his fellow technical diver made five trips in total trying to locate the <em>Cornwallis<\/em> between 2019 and July 11, 2026, when the shipwreck was finally found. The Nomad Exploration Team had narrowed their search to three possible regions along the North Atlantic seafloor, deduced via archival research, but nevertheless wound up surveying over 50 square miles (129 sq km) of Maine\u2019s not particularly hospitable coastal seabed via side-scan sonar.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000836379\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000836379\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000836379\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Cornwallis-side-scan-Maine-WWII.jpeg\" alt=\"Cornwallis Side Scan Maine Wwii\" width=\"1072\" height=\"561\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000836379\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The divers created side-scan sonar images to identify the wreck. Credit: Nomad Exploration Team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very deep, it\u2019s very cold, a lot of current,\u201d as dive team member Jeff Goodreau also emphasized to the Portland Press Herald. \u201cPretty much the worst-case scenario as far as diving goes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even when they found the <em>Cornwallis<\/em>, according to one local paper, the Nomad team needed to carefully compare it to the ship\u2019s blueprints to positively identify the wreck as the lost steamer.<\/p>\n<h2>Found after 80 years<\/h2>\n<p>As with many of the WWII-era shipwrecks recovered in recent years, including Japanese prison vessels in the Pacific, Allan noted that he and his dive team members hope it brings some closure to the descendants of those who perished going down with the <em>Cornwallis<\/em>. Of the 48 people onboard, including seven guards operating machine guns given the wartime risks, only five managed to make it safely back to shore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the team, finding the wreck was the culmination of years of persistence,\u201d Allan said in a press statement. \u201cFor the families and communities connected to the ship, it brings renewed attention to a largely forgotten tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"not-prose\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"HvUDGOby6s\">\n<p>UK Finally Removes Masts From Sunken WWII Bomb Ship\u2014and Leaves the Explosives<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"not-prose\"><\/div>\n<p>The Nomad team said it plans to return to the wreck for further exploration more comfortably above water, using a remotely operated underwater vehicle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"entry-content prose dark:prose-invert lg:prose-xl prose-science dark:prose-science max-w-none\">\n<p>The SS <em>Cornwallis<\/em> had already been sunk once before. In September 1942, the 400-foot-long (120-meter-long), 5,458-ton merchant steamer had been torpedoed near Barbados. But there was a war on, and so, after refloating and repairs, the <em>Cornwallis<\/em> once again departed Barbados bound north, ferrying bags of sugar and barrels of molasses\u2014until a German U-boat sank the unlucky cargo ship for the second and final time.<\/p>\n<p>The final resting place of the SS <em>Cornwallis<\/em>, as well as the bodies of the 43 crew members who lost their lives in this fatal December 3, 1944 torpedo strike, had remained a mystery for over 80 years. All that was known for sure was that the merchant vessel had been sunk somewhere off the coast of Maine. But, after seven years of searching, self-funded technical divers with the volunteer Nomad Exploration Team say they have discovered the World War II-era wreck about 400 feet (122 m) under the Atlantic, near Maine\u2019s lonely lighthouse island, Mount Desert Rock, roughly 25 miles (40 kilometers) off the mainland.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery quickly we discovered why it had not been found,\u201d one of the discovery team\u2019s divers, Danny Allan, explained in a YouTube video update. \u201cFirst of all, freezing water. I think we were diving up there earlier this year and I think the warmest I saw was 42 degrees [Fahrenheit, or about 6 degrees Celsius] on the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecondly, the currents are ripping up there,\u201d Allan continued. \u201cIt\u2019s just outside the Bay of Fundy \u2026 [which] has tides that go 30 to 50 feet\u2014and actually, during the tidal pull the current is running at about 10 knots. So crazy currents. And the weather turns in a heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"not-prose video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nomad Exploration Team Finds the SS Cornwallis, Lost for More Than 80 Years Off the Maine Coast\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rvKdRFNCjLk?feature=oembed\" frameborder allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>Lost in 10 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Just days before it sank the <em>Cornwallis<\/em>, German submarine <em>U-1230<\/em> had discreetly slipped two Nazi spies into the U.S. roughly 20 miles north near Hancock, Maine, in Frenchman Bay. The sinking of this merchant vessel was largely an afterthought following that infiltration effort, the lynchpin of a well-funded, two-year plan to gather technical intelligence on U.S. military shipyards and manufacturing, codenamed Operation Elster (German for \u201cMagpie\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>According to the Nomad Exploration Team, the Canadian-operated <em>Cornwallis <\/em>sank less than 10 minutes after being struck by the sub\u2019s torpedo. But actually locating the <em>Cornwallis<\/em> wreck was a comparatively much longer and harder operation.<\/p>\n<p>Allan and his fellow technical diver made five trips in total trying to locate the <em>Cornwallis<\/em> between 2019 and July 11, 2026, when the shipwreck was finally found. The Nomad Exploration Team had narrowed their search to three possible regions along the North Atlantic seafloor, deduced via archival research, but nevertheless wound up surveying over 50 square miles (129 sq km) of Maine\u2019s not particularly hospitable coastal seabed via side-scan sonar.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000836379\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000836379\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000836379\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Cornwallis-side-scan-Maine-WWII.jpeg\" alt=\"Cornwallis Side Scan Maine Wwii\" width=\"1072\" height=\"561\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000836379\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The divers created side-scan sonar images to identify the wreck. Credit: Nomad Exploration Team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very deep, it\u2019s very cold, a lot of current,\u201d as dive team member Jeff Goodreau also emphasized to the Portland Press Herald. \u201cPretty much the worst-case scenario as far as diving goes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even when they found the <em>Cornwallis<\/em>, according to one local paper, the Nomad team needed to carefully compare it to the ship\u2019s blueprints to positively identify the wreck as the lost steamer.<\/p>\n<h2>Found after 80 years<\/h2>\n<p>As with many of the WWII-era shipwrecks recovered in recent years, including Japanese prison vessels in the Pacific, Allan noted that he and his dive team members hope it brings some closure to the descendants of those who perished going down with the <em>Cornwallis<\/em>. Of the 48 people onboard, including seven guards operating machine guns given the wartime risks, only five managed to make it safely back to shore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the team, finding the wreck was the culmination of years of persistence,\u201d Allan said in a press statement. \u201cFor the families and communities connected to the ship, it brings renewed attention to a largely forgotten tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"not-prose\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"HvUDGOby6s\">\n<p>UK Finally Removes Masts From Sunken WWII Bomb Ship\u2014and Leaves the Explosives<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"not-prose\"><\/div>\n<p>The Nomad team said it plans to return to the wreck for further exploration more comfortably above water, using a remotely operated underwater vehicle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/divers-found-a-wwii-shipwreck-off-maine-linked-to-a-nazi-spy-mission-2000836369&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Cornwallis-Merchant-Ship-WWII-Maine&#8211;1200&#215;675.jpg&#8221;] The SS Cornwallis had already been sunk once before. In September 1942, the 400-foot-long (120-meter-long), 5,458-ton merchant steamer had been torpedoed near Barbados. But there was a war on, and so, after refloating and repairs, the Cornwallis once again departed Barbados bound north, ferrying bags of sugar and barrels of molasses\u2014until a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,53],"class_list":["post-2243726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-gizmodo-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2243726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243726\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2243726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2243726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2243726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}