What is History’s Greatest Mysteries?

History's Greatest Mysteries, hosted and narrated by Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Laurence Fishburne, investigates a wide range of historically compelling topics and the mysteries that pervade each including the Titanic, Roswell, John Wilkes Booth and many others.

Deep Trekker x History’s Greatest Mysteries

Our President, Sam Macdonald was lucky enough to travel to Turks and Caicos with the History Channel to follow clues left by famous treasure hunter Roger Miklos for History’s Greatest Mysteries: Shipwrecked WWII Gold in Lost Submarine.

Miklos stated that in 1981 he discovered a German U-boat filled with gold, shipwrecked under the waters of the famed islands. For decades there had been rumours and stories that in the waning days of WWII the Nazis built a fleet of 9 specially modified cargo subs to ferry looted gold and priceless artifacts.

According to Miklos, there were 18 high ranking officials aboard the submarine with several famous paintings and 50 tonnes of gold. In addition to the massive amounts of treasure onboard, finding this wreck would allow us to learn more about the Nazi regime and the end of WWII.

Miklos unfortunately passed away before he could rediscover the U-boat. Miklos’ family gave his documents to professional diver Mike Fletcher and the History Channel to continue the search.

What are U-Boats?

The term U-Boat is an anglicised version of the German word Unterseeboot or “under-sea-boat.” U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, most typically in the First and Second World Wars.

These U-boats were used to sink 5,000 ships during WWII and were considered a huge technological shift in modern warfare.

Able to stay under for up to 2 hours, the U-boat provided tremendous stealth. They would remain submerged until finding a target when it would then surface to bring down enemy ships.

How were ROVs used in the Underwater Search?

Sam brought along the REVOLUTION ROV to aid in the historic search. Engineered with carbon fiber and stainless steel, the Deep Trekker REVOLUTION is more powerful than ever seen before - equipped with auto-stabilization, wireless connectivity, augmented recording capabilities and 4K Ultra HD video resolution.

Deep Trekker REVOLUTION is based on an automated station holding, allowing the camera, sonar and manipulator arm to rotate a full 260 degrees for advanced situational awareness and unmatched flexibility. It can be remotely controlled to depths of 305 meters underwater. The vehicle’s manipulator arm has a close strength of 70 lbs and the ROV tether can pull up to 300 lbs to the surface.

Deep Trekker REVOLUTION is designed to detect and locate objects hidden beneath the water, assist divers and safely conduct underwater inspections in harsh environments. In this case the ROV was used to safely explore the ocean surrounding the area of the suspected U-boat.

In addition to ROVs, the History Channel team used a magnetometer. Used to provide an indication of metal, a magnetometer is not like a sonar or camera but rather simply tells users that something metal is in the area.

The team found sub flanges along the ocean floor and a large path leading to a deep sea abyss. It is thought that the u-boat lies in that abyss.