When Tomas Termote, a marine archaeologist, plunged 100 feet into the sea near Belgium this summer, he could barely believe his eyes: In front of him was a German submarine from World War I, with two of its hatches closed and, he suspected, 23 bodies inside.
"I immediately realized this was a German U-boat, and was elated," said Termote, a 42-year-old World War I buff and would-be "Flemish Indiana Jones" who has made more than 5,000 dives in the North Sea in search of shipwrecks. "The submarine was remarkably intact and covered in seaweed, marine plants, and orange, red and yellow flowers with fish swimming by."
Termote said in an interview that the search for the well-preserved mystery vessel began three years ago, when he noticed something peculiar in the murky image of a shipwreck off the coast of Ostend, in West Flanders.
The wreck had been identified 30 years earlier as a World War II-era craft that was used to transfer soldiers and equipment to land controlled by enemy forces. But to Termote's trained eye, the craft's angular shape looked more like a submarine.
He said his suspicions were confirmed in June, when he was granted permission to dive in a busy area of the North Sea and observed that the vessel was, in fact, a UB-II submarine.
Carl Decaluwe, the governor of West Flanders, said in an interview that he had notified the German government about the discovery and that the submarine would be declared a war grave.
He said German authorities would determine what to do with any remains in the submarine, although Termote said the complexity and expense involved in moving such a fragile structure likely means that it will stay where it is.
"We are not revealing the precise location of the ship to avoid looters," Decaluwe said. "We must show respect for the crew because this is a human grave."
The submarine, the 11th found off the Belgian coast, was one of dozens used during Germany's occupation of Belgium during World War I to destroy British ships and disrupt Allied trade routes in the North Sea and the English Channel.
The identity of the vessel -- and how it was immobilized -- remain a mystery. Termote is determined to solve it, and he is focusing on several clues.
Two of the vessel's torpedo tubes were destroyed and were found lying a short distance away, but a lower tube remains intact. Two of the hatches are still closed, but one was open; Termote said it had allowed him to see that the submarine was filled to the ceiling with sand. That suggested that the remains of the commander and his crew -- typically 22 in such a U-boat -- would be buried within.
"We are certain that the crew is dead and still inside, likely buried in the sand, though it is possible that some escaped," he said. "It takes about six months to a year for bodies to decompose underwater, so by now they would be reduced to bones. It is a total mystery why the submarine is still there. There are no witness accounts from that time of a sinking."
After carefully examining the evidence, he said the damage to the vessel suggested that it had probably escaped after being bombed by British forces and was on its way back to the German naval base in Bruges when it hit a British mine and sank.
German U-boats were lethally effective. During World War I, the 93 U-boats stationed at Belgian ports sank more than 2,550 Allied ships, but their relatively slow speed made them vulnerable to mines and depth charges. At least 70 U-boats never returned to Belgium, and about 1,200 German sailors in them were confirmed dead, Termote said.
The murderous power of U-boats entered the global consciousness on May 7, 1915, when a German U-boat torpedoed the ocean liner Lusitania off the Irish coast, killing 1,198 people -- including more than 100 Americans. The sinking was used to demonstrate German barbarity, and it played a pivotal role in galvanizing the United States to enter the war.
Termote developed his fascination for shipwrecks as a teenager from his father, Dirk Termote, a maritime enthusiast, who at 80, often acts as skipper for the ventures, including during the June dive. Together, they have discovered more than 1,100 shipwrecks, including near Haiti, Mozambique and Panama as well as in the North Sea.
Termote's latest discovery has attracted interest from as far away as Russia and China. Eager to provide answers, Termote said he had reviewed the records of more than two dozen U-boats that were part of the German fleet in Belgium and remain unaccounted for.
He said confirmation will not come until he completes another dive in coming weeks, when he hopes to examine identifying markers on the submarine's propeller or torpedo tube.
"U-boats were secret, so they were not always visibly marked to reveal their true identity," he said, "but some of the parts had the U-boat number in case the submarine needed to be serviced."
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