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Discovering SS Bloody Marsh

Finding the Wreck of a Potentially Polluting Oil Tanker

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Maritime Archaeology

SS Bloody Marsh was carrying a cargo of nearly 4.5 million gallons of oil when it was sunk off South Carolina by a German U-boat in 1943.

The T2-AE-S1 type tanker was on its maiden voyage from Houston to New York when it was sunk.

Except for the missing bow section and the torpedo damage at the stern, the inverted hull is largely intact.

SS Bloody Marsh has the potential to continue to leak oil.

SEARCH directed the discovery and documentation of the wreck site of the oil tanker SS Bloody Marsh.

A UK-based satellite mapping organization detected oil slicks, requesting a sonar survey and ROV dive from NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer. SEARCH maritime archaeologists led the dive remotely via telepresence and guided the ROV pilots in documenting the World War II wreck. SS Bloody Marsh lies inverted on the seabed with torpedo damage at the stern. Parts of the bow and forward part of the ship were also broken off from a torpedo strike.

The main hull of the wreck is intact and may still hold large amounts of oil.

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“The discovery of Bloody Marsh is a story of collaboration and employing technology to locate shipwrecks in deep water. Potentially polluting wrecks pose an environmental threat, and locating and documenting them is the first step toward mitigating that risk.”

Dr. Michael Brennan, Maritime Principal Investigator, SEARCH, Inc.

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Approach to the shipwreck. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Windows to the Deep 2021.

Corrosion on the hull. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Windows to the Deep 2021.

Welded seams consistent with mid-1940s tankers like SS Bloody Marsh. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Windows to the Deep 2021.