US Venture Recovers 230,000 gallons of Oil From Wreck of WW2 German Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen

Originally part of the German Navy, the Prinz Eugen was given to the U.S. after World War II as a victory prize. The Americans used the ship to learn about the survivability of warships during atomic attacks. It was loaded with cargo and oil, then subjected to two atomic bomb tests, called “Operation Crossroads.” It later sank at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, after the second test had damaged it. USS Prinz Eugen (IX 300) at sea during Operation “Crossroads”. ¾ view STBD forward. Heading up the oil salvage project was Stephanie Bocek, a supervisor with the Navy Salvage and Diving Department (SUPSALV). The project was done in conjunction with the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command. The Navy’s salvage vessel USNS Salvor was involved in the operation. The team spent two years planning and researching the best methods for execution of the mission. First, they selected a firm that could provide a suitable commercial oil tanker to hold the recovered oil and then deliver it to a recycling center. A tanker called the Humber was chosen. The “Baker” explosion, part of Operation Crossroads, a nuclear weapon test by the United States military at […]

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