There are a lot of nautical buzzwords that make me sit up and pay attention. Words such as: Tall ships. Submarines and Sunken ocean liners. Why, if you were to peruse my collection of DVDs and BluRay disks you’d be sure to find titles such as, White Squall, Titanic, Crimson Tide, U-571, Cutthroat Island. What do they have in common? The sea, ships, sailing vessels. There’s just something about the sea that decidedly pulls me in every time. So when my newest favorite Travel Channel show, Off Limits, came on last week, and mentioned an abandoned yellow submarine in New York’s Coney Island Creek, I sat up and took notice.
What? An abandoned submarine? At Coney Island? Are you serious?
Late in the hour-long show, Off Limits host, Don Wildman, began to weave a tale of nautical intrigue. The year is 1967. In Brooklyn, New York, shipyard worker Jerry Bianco decided to embark on an ambitious mission: build a 45-foot submarine from salvaged metal for the purpose of raising the sunken ocean liner SS Andrea Doria. For those of you who don’t know, that’s no easy task. The famed Italian cruise ship lies on its side, 200-ft below the surface of the Atlantic. A collision with the MS Stockholm in 1956 sent it to the bottom. 46 people died in the accident. Because of the extensive wealth aboard ship (solid silver statues, unopened safes, diamonds, extensive art work) going after the Andrea Doria would have been quite the haul. Millions and millions of dollars.
Bianco’s plan, according to Wildman, would have Bianco’s sub, Quester I, dive down to the wreck and then insert inflatable dunnage bags inside the Andrea Doria. Once the bags were pumped with enough air, the ocean liner would float to the surface. At that point I’m guessing that it would likely have been towed to shallow water where its extensive amount of valuables could be salvaged.
But the submarine voyage was not to be. In 1970, as the submarine was being launched via a crane, the uneven ballast caused it to tip sideways where it sank in the mud. Colin Moynihan’s article in the New York Times explains that Bianco eventually did get the submarine operational again and it was even seen cruising the local waters, but by then, financial backing suddenly became very hard to find. The submarine was a victim of thieves and sometime during the 1970’s a storm tore it from its moorings and washed it onto a sandbar. And that’s where you can find it today.
The Google Map Hunt for the Quester I Submarine
As soon as the Off Limits show ended, I hit the Internet – on my Droid smartphone. You should have seen me. Pinching and squeezing maps. Zooming in and out of Coney Island. Certainly I could find this sub… right? A good portion was supposedly above water, so I should be able to spot it.
I found a Weird Brooklyn blog suggesting that the sub was behind the Home Depot on Cropsey Avenue. I followed that road up and down, searching along the waterfront. Nothing. It wasn’t until I zoomed out that I was rewarded with the first treat: The Coney Island Creek held a graveyard of ships! Using both Bing and Google maps I was able to spot all kinds of underwater wrecks. Wow. What tales they must tell! I zoomed out more and then I saw it. The sub was in sight! Mission accomplished (and link below).
The Yellow Submarine?
The submarine initially sported a yellow exterior, apparently without any connection to the Beatles’ popular tune. It ended up being that color because Bianco got a good deal on yellow paint.
Though some referred to Bianco as a fool for even attempting such an adventure, I’ve got to give him credit. It isn’t just anyone who can set about building an 80-ton U-boat along the banks of Coney Island Creek. It takes quite a bit of work to do that; it takes a dreamer to pull something like that off.
And though the Quester lays quiet and still now, its engineering marvels never fully explored, its portholes never revealing the sunken ship full of treasure far below, I hope Bianco had fun building it…
I hope he still dreams.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
More Off Limits Links:
Travel Channel’s Off Limits Home Page
Visit Off Limits’ Facebook Page
Submarine Location Maps:
Bing Map – Quester Submarine Location
Google Map – Quester Submarine Location
Other Nautical Adventures by Ron:
White Squall – The Sinking of the School Ship Albatross
White Squall II — The Sinking of the School Ship S/V Concordia
History’s Worst Maritime Disaster – The Wilhelm Gustloff — the ship no one’s heard of…
The Search for 12 Lost Submarines from Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea ride