ROFFS™ Fishy Times Newsletter – 42nd Edition – World War II Battle Ships, Underwater Drones & Dr. Roffer Gets Inducted into Iron Arrow

NEWS

Two World War II Battle Ships Discovered Off North Carolina

Above: A sonar image of Bluefields, the merchant marine sunk by U-576?s torpedoes. It only took the ship 12 minutes to sink, according to NOAA, but the crew all escaped with minor injuries. Photo Credit: NOAA

Two World War II vessels that sunk within moments of each other 72 years ago have been rediscovered on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, resting only a few hundred yards apart.

The Allied merchant freighter Bluefields and the German U-boat U-576 went down on July 15, 1942, part of the larger Battle of the Atlantic that raged throughout the war. The shipwrecks were found by a team of researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

“We have discovered an important battle site that is part of the Battle of the Atlantic,” Joe Hoyt, a NOAA sanctuary scientist and chief scientist for the expedition, said in a statement. “These two ships rest only a few hundred yards apart and together help us interpret and share their forgotten stories.”

PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information on this recent discovery on our website now…

Underwater Drones Join Microphones to Listen to Chinese Nuclear Submarines

Last November, an unusual experiment took place in the congested waters of Singapore just a few weeks before a Chinese nuclear attack submarine passed through the adjacent Malacca Strait.

U.S. and Singaporean researchers used an underwater drone named Starfish to explore ways to monitor subsea activity in an experiment sponsored by the U.S. military and Singapore’s defense ministry, say people involved.

The goal of the operation, named Project Mission, was to link a Singaporean underwater surveillance system to an American one that is designed to track potentially hostile submarines. The trial was also part of a broader U.S. effort to use its own underwater drones, combined with data from friendly countries, to enhance a sub-snooping system that dates back to the early years of the Cold War.

From the 1950s, the U.S. listened for Soviet subs entering the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by stringing underwater microphones across the seabed around its coast and in strategic chokepoints, such as between the U.K. and Iceland.

PLEASE CLICK HERE for more on underwater drones listening for Chinese nuclear submarines on our website now…

Above: U.S. researchers are developing a mobile submarine-surveillance network called Seaweb that uses drones including the Wave Glider, seen here. Photo Credit: LIQUID ROBOTICS

Dr. Roffer Inducted into Iron Arrow Honor Society

The Iron Arrow Honor Society is an honor society at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida for students, faculty, staff and alumni. It is the highest honor that can be bestowed by the university.  Founded at the University of Miami in 1926, the society admits about thirty members annually, including undergraduates, students at the School of Law, and Miller School of Medicine. Membership requires unanimous votes of the membership. Criteria include scholarship, leadership, character, humility, and love of alma mater.

A Very Brief History of Iron Arrow

Shortly after the beginning of classes at the brand new University of Miami in 1926, the newly appointed Executive Secretary, Dr. Bowman Foster Ashe, had conversations with Francis Spencer Houghtaling about his idea of beginning a tap society(an honor society) for men employing Seminole Ritual. It was decided that if it could be started in 1926, the society would start traditions of the University from its very beginning. After Dr. Ashe had met with Professor Howard Southgate about the same topic, a meeting was called which included nine men (the “Founding Nine”); Dale C. Clarke, Robert Fink, Harry Gray, Francis Spencer Houghtaling, Norman Ted Kennedy, John C. McGuire, Gavin S. Millar, Leonard M. Tuttle and Clarke B. Wilson. The purpose of the society was to honor those male students who had contributed significantly to the “glory, fame & growth” of UM. The name “Iron Arrow” was a combination of parts of two ideas — Arrow from Bow and Arrow (straight path) and Iron from Iron Age. Dr. Ashe was the first sponsor of Iron Arrow.

PLEASE CLICK HERE to read more about Dr. Roffer’s induction into the Iron Arrow Honor Society on our website now…

What Happens to a Dead Body in the Ocean?

When a dead body decomposes in the ocean, scientists know little about what happens to it. To find out, some researchers performed an unusual experiment that involved dropping pig carcasses into the sea and watching them on video.

Lots of human bodies end up in the sea, whether due to accidents, suicides or from being intentionally dumped there, but nobody really knows what happens to them, said Gail Anderson, a forensic entomologist at Simon Fraser University in Canada who led the unusual study.

Anderson and her team got a chance to find out, using the Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS), an underwater laboratory that allows scientists to take video and other measurements via the Internet. With that equipment, all they needed was a body.

When a dead body decomposes in the ocean, scientists know little about what happens to it. To find out, some researchers performed an unusual experiment that involved dropping pig carcasses into the sea and watching them on video.

PLEASE CLICK HERE to read more about what happens to a dead body in the ocean on our website now…

Above: Deep-sea scavengers made quick work of this pig’s carcass. Photo Credit: VENUS/Gail Anderson and Lynne Bell.

Updated Catch Reports Section of ROFFS™ Website

Above: Nice mako! Photo from Steve Spagnuola (Caveman), NJ.