Meet a U352 survivor and dive the U352 at a Fundraiser April 18
Joe Porter of Wreck Diving Magazine writes:
U-352 Survivor Heinz Richter to be Guest of Honor at the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores Dive Program Annual Fundraiser.
On the first weekend in May Olympus Dive Center will be sponsoring a fund raiser weekend with the proceeds going to the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores Dive Program.
The weekend will kick off Friday evening with a catered BBQ Harbor Cruise aboard Olympus. Olympus will cruise the Morehead City and Beaufort waterfronts while we enjoy a local favorite, Southern pulled pork BBQ.
Saturday morning we are off to the U-352 for a dive aboard Midnight Express. May is the 65 anniversary of the sinking of the U-352. The first anniversary of the sinking was in 1985 when three of the U-boat’s sailors reunited to remember their lost comrades.
Saturday Evening’s event will be held at the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. The evening will begin with a social around the otter exhibit. After getting to know everyone, the event will move into Sound Side Hall for the re-airing of the episode of Deep Sea Detectives with Heinz Richter’s interview.
Heinz was the machinist aboard U-352 May 9th 1942 when she sank after being depth charged by the USCG Cutter Icarus. Heinz reviles the key reason the U-boat did not manage to escape.
Following the Sound Side Hall presentation we will all move into the main exhibit area of the aquarium for dinner, the Living Shipwreck. The main exhibit contains a replica of U-352 in over 300,000 gallons of seawater. The U-boat is built to 2/3rd scale and looks identical to the shipwreck we all know and love.
While enjoying your dinner prepared by Floyd’s 1921 Restaurant you can admire the U-352 and its many guests. The huge 70 foot long tank is full of sharks, jacks, eels, grouper and many other local fish. Those of you that have attended our Norwood fundraiser the past two years can expect the same great service and delicious food by Chef Floyd Olmstead, good friend of the Purifoy family.
In addition to the dinner and Deep Sea Detectives episode there will be a silent auction and chance to have Mr. Richter sign diver’s logs and U-352 pictures.
Several other divers aided in the discovery of the U-boat in the early 1970’s.
Some of the original searchers and researchers of U-352 will also be at the dinner.
Author Jim Bunch will be at the dinner signing his book Germany’s U-85 A Shadow in the Sea. The U-85, also a type VII and was sunk off Nags Head, NC April 14, 1942 less than a month before U-352’s sinking. Joe Porter of Wreck Diving Magazine will also be in attendance.
You can sign up for the whole package or just part of the weekend.
Package includes: Friday Evening Catered Harbor Cruise
Diving Saturday or Sunday
Saturday Evening Fund Raiser Dinner
$210.00 (Add 2 nights in Olympus Dive Lodge - $260.00)
Harbor Cruise Only $30
Dinner Only $55
U-352 Fundraiser Dive $125
Proceeds go to the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores Dive Program
Contact Olympus Dive Center at 252-726-9432
I have Jim Bunch’s book on the U-85 and wish I could attend to get it autographed. My wife and I are preparing for my son’s wedding in early June and I don’t think she’ll let me loose in early May to escape to North Carolina…but, I’ll try. — Phil