An unidentified submarine had been sitting on the seabed in the English Channel for decades, charted as a First World War sailing vessel. Then, in July 2026, Ian Taylor and the Skin Deeper team dived it and discovered something very different.
It was a German U boat.
A few weeks later, the Gasperados headed out aboard Integrity with Abyss Charters to see if we could identify it. The first attempt ended with a missed wreck and a very long look at an empty seabed. The following day, Guy Trees and I finally reached the submarine in 70 metres of water.
What we found pointed strongly towards one particular boat, U 672, a Type VIIC submarine lost in July 1944.
The problem was that according to the accepted historical record, U 672 was lost nearly 40 nautical miles away.
In this video I follow the evidence from the wartime records to the seabed, including research by Innes McCartney, the unusual position where U 672’s entire crew was recovered, and the physical features we found on the wreck.
Those clues include the early ball float Schnorchel, the absence of later rescue dinghy containers, distinctive casing openings, and the remains of the extraordinary German Aphrodite radar decoy system.
I also speak to German U boat historian Axel Niestlé, who has spent decades studying German submarine losses and construction details. His assessment of the evidence gives us a very high degree of confidence that this wreck finally has its correct name.
U 672.
Huge thanks to Ian Taylor and Skin Deeper for sharing their discovery, to my fellow Gasperados, Axel Niestlé and Michael Lowrey for the research that helped make the identification possible, and to Ivor Farrell and Abyss Charters aboard Integrity.
Also
* Guy Trees for his epic thumbnail picture
* Steve Mortimer and Noel Rees for some video
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*Chapters*
00:00 Solving another U boat mystery
01:53 How many unidentified U boats are left?
03:22 Skin Deeper discovers a submarine
04:23 Why U 672 became the prime suspect
05:11 The position of U 672 was wrong
06:40 The survivors provide another clue
08:39 First attempt to dive the wreck
10:13 We try again
11:18 The submarine appears
13:21 Identifying a Type VIIC
14:38 The wartime story of U 672
16:02 The Schnorchel that became a vital clue
17:53 How Axel identifies individual U boats
19:17 Finding the Schnorchel
20:37 Dinghy containers and other clues
21:24 The distinctive casing openings
22:43 The mysterious Aphrodite cylinders
25:09 Why were all the hatches closed?
25:50 HMS Balfour attacks U 672
27:57 All 52 men survive
28:27 Axel explains the final attack
30:39 How divers are rewriting U boat history
31:42 Can we prove this is U 672?
32:39 Axel’s verdict
32:44 Identification at sea using Starlink
33:05 Who discovered and identified the wreck?
36:38 The mystery is finally solved
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*ABOUT THIS CHANNEL*
Deep Wreck Diver explores shipwrecks, submarines, and sunken aircraft from around the world – combining technical diving with detailed wreck identification and historical storytelling. Every dive uncovers a piece of history lost to the depths.
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*Kit I Use*
Note, some of these are affiliate links so help support making my videos:
– Gloves are Ansell Alphatec 87-063 –
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– Cameras are Paralenz Vaquita
– Video light is NiteScuba NSV60 – NiteScuba NSV60 –
– Phone housing is Divevolk Seatouch 4 Max –
– Stickers for gear by Dive Signs –
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*Strobes*
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Freaking awesome ass video 👍👍👍❤️
Again an awesome video, very impressive. I dive in the North Sea to wrecks at scuba levels (18-25m) and it’s always very special to be at a wreck with its history and story. Look forward to your next adventure
Excellent. Love these sort of Videos. No AI rubbish. Extremely informative
Cracking stuff. Nice to see Integrity going out further. Ivor is a top skipper.
Beau travail
Fantastic story well told, and unbelievable footage, there has always been a dark glamour about the u_boats i thing
WOW, just love your video and thank you for the amazing work you do and for such great history. ❤
That's my Grandpa's U-Boot. He was the captain! Thank you for finding it. So special to see it after hearing all the stories from my grandpa❤
16:50 Lobster be like, get off, call it what you will, it's my house now.
Thanks for sharing. I wonder if you dived U260 the Glandore sub? Innes McCartney has dived this wreck. A type VII C built in Bremen Vulkan Vogesacker Works. They built 74 subs in all. Commissioned 14 March 1942, scuttled 12 March 1945. Her schnorkel was fitted in August 1944. Growing up in West Cork I was drawn to the story of this wreck. We know the names of all 5 officers and 43 crew onboard. My GrandDad was sent to pick up the Commander Oberleutenant Klaus Becker (and 11 crew members who made it to the lighthouse) in a lorry. The rest of the crew were picked up on their rafts and one man cockle shell type dingy in the water by the lifeboat.
Actually thinking about closing the hatches, on U260 the radio officer smashed the enigma machine and in his hurry to leave the boat he forgot the enigma wheels in their box by the helm. He was the last man off the sub. The ships documents documents later floated to the surface in two 90cm water tight containers, and are now in the Irish Archives. Perhaps closing the hatches was to prevent this from happening, secret documents falling into enemy hands. Only that raises the question, why put them in airtight containers then, did they hope to visit the wrecks themselves once they had eventually won the war?
Great video. And nice to solve a mystery. Would love to participate on such things in future … but well little chance.
Anyway it was so clear from the dialect that this is a german researcher 😂
PS: the helium is probably gone but could be worth a fortune nowadays 😅
Do U know if they have found lost British subs in the med n agean seas as my great uncle David Rolfe died on HMS sickle he was an officer on board HMS sickle did try to do some research but because it mite have been on top secret missions didn't get far apart from where it served in the med n agean n some successes on some missions but going to try the submarine museum in Gosport which may have some photos of the sub n the crew I have a picture somewhere of him in his uniform have to dig it out is there any other ways to get the information that I would like to know about this
Be careful. You don't want to end up like Lionel Crabb!
This is an amazing story of survival of the crew. I'm glad that this documented in color. I was wondering just how many U-boats are still not identified, if any?
Excellent video! Subbed and hyped. I'm excited to see what other wrecks you explore
My Father in Law was CERA on HMS Balfour.
He started WW2 on HMS Intrepid which spotted the Altmark before she tried to hide in Norwegian waters, mine laying in the North Sea and the evacuation of Dunkirk. Then on HMS Burnham on North Atlantic convoys. He was on a convoy which passed within about 30 miles of Bismark when she broke out. He then got a posting to Balfour which formed part of the submarine screen for Operation Neptune, the naval part of the D Day landings in Normandy.
Fantastic content. Almost a documentary. Beautiful find
It’s interesting that the most fascinating objects, and most valuable, are the Nazi era German war machines.
Quality as ever Dom . Did they mark the Steel props like their brass counterparts ??
Wow was an incredible story! Thank you for sharing history with us.
What are the chances that the attack coordinates are correct and the sub moved 30 miles from where they were hit to where they scuttled her? Sounds like it was several hours between the two events.
Fantastic story and a WWII combat story that everyone survived is a feat in fj⁴
I have to make my first comment, you look and sound like Patrick Stuart the actor, John Luke Picard, too funny. Great doc..
Not sure what the fuss is, there were sailors, an already potentially misidentified location, a sunlb known to sink in the channel. Stop wasting time making something out of nothing.
That lobster looked massive! I wonder how big it actually was
The Admiralty used selective deception re U boat sinking locations. This was to preserve secrecy over deep minefields laid to catch U boats whilst remaining benign for surface ships. The U boat skipper would also not wish to reveal the exact location of his scuttled boat in case of potential RN salvage, thus possibly permitting recovery of enigma wheels, enigma, and sometimes codebooks, if not water soluble.
Alternatively, the Admiralty would not know of the final resting place of the U boat unless the skipper or first officer revealed it in captivity at Trent Park. The sinking location would be the position recorded by the RN warship when the hedgehog detonated. The time of day of the attack,, U boat course steered, and time of sunset could account for the distance run plus tide, following the attack.