It's probably the last sunken U-boat off the Atlantic coast that can be explored by scuba divers.
In his day job, Joe Mazraani is a criminal defense attorney in Middlesex County.
A book out this week explores the depths of Mazraani's hobby: discovering historical shipwrecks. It's a passion that has taken him deep into the ocean, left him with life-altering injuries and led him to an incredible find four years ago: The last German U-boat sunken in divable waters off the Atlantic Coast.
"These are ordinary guys who have this amazing passion," said Randy Peffer, who wrote "Where Divers Dare: The Hunt for the Last U-Boat." "It's like climbing mountains, and going somewhere nobody has been before."
Divers Anthony Tedeschi and Joe Mazraani light up the conning tower of U-550. (Photo by Bradley Sheard, courtesy Joe Mazraani) The gripping true story of Mazraani and his six-man crew's discovery of U-550 bookends the non-fiction work, published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin-Random House. It's part maritime adventure -- Mazraani, who is compared in the book to George Clooney in "The Perfect Storm," lost his hearing in one ear after a life-threatening dive -- and part historical exploration. Readers are taken from Kiel, Germany, where the U-550 set sail, to some of the last moments before it sank about 90 miles south of Nantucket.
The battle against U-boats off the Atlantic coast in the 1940s is one of the lesser known periods of World War II history, in part because the government cracked down on any news about the lingering threat off the coast. In 1943, German boats destroyed 100 American ships.
The U-550 was one of the "lone wolfs" sent to harass ships leaving New York in preparation for the D-Day invasion. In April 1944, it sank an American ship leaving New York harbor, but trailing escort destroyers hit it as it tried to flee. Dozens of Germans died, but 13 were rescued -- including one who became close friends with the American ship captain who sank the sub, Peffer writes.
For decades, the U-550 sat at the bottom of the ocean. It belonged to the country it sailed for. But nobody had found it, and it became something of historical lore -- the "U-wish," Peffer called it.
The story opens there -- Mazraani, with his exploration boat, and a crew of divers, meticulously searching back and forth over a huge geographical expanse of ocean with sonar equipment. They call it "mowing the lawn." Mazraani's crew was composed of Steve Gatto, of Sicklerville, Tom Packer, of Berlin, Anthony Tedeschi, from Winslow, Bradley Sheard, from Ellicott City, Md., and Eric Takakjian, of Fairhaven, Mass.
It is probably the last U-boat off America's waters that will ever be explored by divers using scuba. (The Titanic is thousands of fathoms deeper, but it's only been explored via submersibles.)
For Mazraani, who lives in South River, that sort of history is part of the reason he explores shipwrecks. Growing up in Lebanon, he spent a lot of time snorkeling in the Mediterranean. When he went to college, his passion continued, and his expertise grew. So did the dangers. The nearly fatal accident that blew out one of his ears was a three-year setback, during which time the second-to-last U-boat was found. Even still, despite the risks Mazraani knew well, U-550 was the irresistible adventure. The Andrea Doria is considered the "Everest" of sunken ships, Peffer said. It sits at about 250 feet said. U-550 is at 330 feet.
It wouldn't be spoiling the story to say that Mazraani and his crew found the sunken sub, in 2012. But they found plenty of other things, too, including a corrective to the Navy and Coast Guard's official story about what happened the day U-550 was hit, and a story about common humanity shared even among people who were one day enemies, separated by decades and the vast ocean.
"There's a human story there," Mazraani said. "Even two parties on either side of one of the greatest wars ever respect each other's humanity, and still are able to be human even though they fought for different sides."
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.