Coastal Explorations

10/11/2024

Northern lights with NC’s northernmost light 😍

07/13/2024

Nothing says summer quite like marsh mallows 🌺

07/07/2024

Wow! Different times

GERMAN WWII TYPE SMA SUBMARINE-LAUNCHED SEA MINE

The waters off our coast were battle zones during both of the World Wars. During World War II, specialized German Type VII-D and Type X-B submarines deployed SMA anti-shipping mines outside Allied harbors in the British Isles, Mediterranean, the U.S. East Coast, and in the Caribbean.

The mines were carried in vertical shafts and released through the bottom of the hull to settle on the seabed. Each mine was attached by a long cable to an anchor mechanism. A preset timer system released the mine after the submarine was clear, allowing it to rise to a predetermined depth. If a ship passed too closely, the steel of its hull could trigger the mine's magnetic detonator, releasing a blast of over 770 lbs. of explosive.

Other types of U-Boats carried similar, smaller type TMB mines in their torpedo shafts. In June 1942, 15 such mines were placed near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay off the coast of southern Virginia by the German Type VIIC U-Boat U-701, captained by Horst Degen.

The mines sank or damaged five Allied ships, including the HMT Kingston Ceylonite, killing 18. Three of the sailors who washed ashore at Sand Bridge are interred in Oak Grove Cemetery near Pungo Ferry Landing. On This Day, July 7, 1942, that submarine was sunk off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina by a US Army Lockheed Hudson patrol bomber.

ℹ️ Courtesy of the Military Aviation Museum

07/01/2024

Want front row seats for the 4th of July fireworks but don’t want to fight the crowds? Reserve a spot on our dock and stretch out with your friends to enjoy the show! Book online or give us a call!

06/28/2024

One sunset, two tones

06/18/2024

Great article with so many details (for anyone who wants to nerd out on lighthouse construction!)

By: Meghan Agresto, Currituck Beach Lighthouse Site Manager & Historian Corolla, NC – One hundred and fifty years ago, on June 19, 1874, at the Currituck Beach Light Station “the driving of the piles for the foundation was commenced.” More than 200 piles would eventually be driven for the foun...

06/14/2024

Found this mama horse watching over her new little one as it grabbed a nap 💤
Such a beautiful morning!

06/14/2024

What a week for sunsets 😍😍😍 !!!

06/04/2024

We’ve got some great deals on used equipment for all of your summer fun!! Give us a call or stop by the shop and check it out. Bikes are $150, kayaks are $300, foamy surfboards (great condition!!) are $200, SUP’s range in price based on condition. Only while supplies last! 252-453-9872

05/28/2024

It’s cattail pollen season, yall! I foraged some up and a friend made me cattail pollen biscuits 🤤

05/22/2024

Last night’s golden hour with the moon rising over the marsh 😍

05/01/2024

First one of these we’ve had in a while ⛈️ ! Must be getting close to summer 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

03/16/2024

Hey look at our dock in the background!

By Maggie Miles | Outer Banks Voice When film director James Rowe visited the Outer Banks on vacation a few years ago, he discovered the star of his next film. It was tall, captivating and mysterio…

08/29/2023

❤️❤️❤️

07/31/2023

Paddle with us and your evening could look like this 😍🤯😍!!

07/02/2023

As always, a page posting great info 👇

WHEN WORLD WAR II CAME TO THE OUTER BANKS, by Marni Patterson on Jun. 29, 2023

Most people think World War II was fought on battlefields across Europe and on islands in the Pacific. They'd be surprised to know that one of the most violent naval battles was fought off the shores of the Outer Banks. During the Battle of the Atlantic from January through July 1942, German U-boats sank over 400 ships off the North Carolina coast.

The Battle of the Atlantic was all about commerce. The Germans patrolled the Eastern Seaboard, particularly the New York and Florida coasts and Cape Hatteras, to stop merchant vessels bound for England with desperately needed food and military supplies.

Losses were high for both sides. Four U-boats never returned to Germany, and the allies suffered 1,657 casualties; 1,200 were merchant mariners. The fighting was so intense that the Outer Banks was called Torpedo Junction. Few people knew about the Battle of the Atlantic because President Roosevelt didn't want citizens to panic. But Outer Banks residents who were alive during World War II remember it very well.

Stanley Beacham was a child living on Currituck Sound in 1942. When a U-boat torpedoed a ship off Caffey's Inlet while he was sitting on his front porch, he told Coastal Review, "it felt like the earth was shaking."

Frieda Gray French was just six years old at that time. Her father, Homer S. Gray, was chief of the Coast Guard base and had the unenviable task of taking charge of bodies that washed up on the shore." She told Carolina Country, "He helped bury them and made sure they received full military honors."

Blackouts were strictly enforced even though the area was sparsely populated. As Cliff Perry told Coastal Review, the military patrolled neighborhoods to ensure no light was visible from houses. "If they could see light from your windows, they'd come to your house and tell you." So, homeowners became used to turning off lights and adjusting their blackout curtains.

Kitty Hawk School was the K-12 school that served the entire area, and residents who attended school at the time recall what it was like to ride the bus. All school buses were required to pass through a security gate. One guard came on the bus and checked faces and a second guard looked under the seats. The kids knew it would happen, but it was still unnerving.

Being in an (unofficial) war zone also brought unexpected rewards. After a battle, residents could walk along the beach after the Coast Guard cleared away debris and bodies. Occasionally they'd find delicacies that washed up on the beach, such as crates of oranges or lemons. This was like finding buried treasure because fresh produce was scarce and expensive. Stanley Beacham and his brothers found a stalk of bananas, and their mother hung them in the pantry until they ripened. As he joked to Coastal Review, "The first banana I ever tasted washed up on the beach."

Brothers James and Carroll Gray were 10 and 11 in 1942. They found thousands of little round containers they thought were s***f cans. They told Carolina Country, "It was the first time we'd seen instant coffee." They also found five-gallon cans of oil and sold them to local stores for 50 cents each.

World War II relics still occasionally wash up along the coast. In November 2021, Tom and Lauren Pirozzi were strolling along the beach in Corolla and found a military helmet liner in a pile of seaweed. Helmet liners were used to cushion steel helmets, but sailors often wore them alone when they weren't in a combat zone. The Pirozzis told the Virginian-Pilot they were considering donating the helmet to a local museum, such as the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum on Hatteras Island or the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

The U-boat attacks decreased after the federal government established an Army radar installation and observation tower in Kitty Hawk at what many locals still call Army Camp Hill. At the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, you can see items recovered from shipwrecks that occurred off the Outer Banks, including a German Enigma machine from U-85, the first enemy submarine sunk in US waters by a US Navy warship during World War II. Read more about Shipwrecks along the OBX here.

🖊 Marni Patterson is a freelance journalist writing about destination travel, local customs and cultures, and history. She’s lived all over the U.S., spent a year in Belgium as an exchange student, and now calls Phoenix, AZ home. https://mptravelwriting.com/
🔗 https://www.outerbanks.org/blog/
📷 Tom and Lauren Pirozzi found a World War II helmet liner on the beach in Corolla, North Carolina. (Photo Credit: Tom Pirozzi)

06/25/2023

Quick little thunderstorm - it’s really feeling like summer now!

06/23/2023

Our dock gives you upfront seats for the fireworks on the 4th! If you want to avoid the crowds come rent a section of our dock and enjoy some space and some phenomenal views! Give the shop a call or book online 🎆