U-Boats and Liquid Mercury as Ballast ?

[mnm]

Was talking with a Gentleman from San Francisco who recently moved here . Spoke of lore and folk but mentioned a different treasure, aside from the old Spanish type we all seek. He stated that back in war times it was used in submarines or some type vessel utilizing liquid mercury as ballast. Supposedly the value of mercury , in the event it was contained - could be exorbinant. Could this be the reason why Florida has a high level of Mercury in every body of water? Maybe they ruptured already because he did mention it being contained in glass tubes. Not sure any in sight would be great. Thanks...

 

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[Darren in NC]

I researched this awhile back. My conclusion was that it was a hoax. See fourth paragraph down...

uboat.net - Special Sections - Myth and Stories

 

[mnm]

Thanks , looks like it doesn't apply to Florida. Maybe mislead by the mislead.

 

[Darren in NC]

There's no questioning the existence of mercury on the colonial ships. It was used to extract gold in the mining process. I'm not certain how much may have been lost on the incoming ships. That may indeed account for some of the mercury found in our waters. But your question was for uboats, thus my reply.

 

[0121stockpicker]

Merc might have been used in some machine/components of a sub (was not all that uncommon to use back then) but not sure why it would be used for something as low value add as just ballast. That would be a hell of a lot of mercury. A lot cheaper and simpler ballast materials than merc.

Also mercury isn't all that valuable (it trades on commodity exchanges) and its highly toxic as you know so really wouldn't be the best "treasure" to go after. If such a cache did exist best left for the hazardous waste folks to clean up as such a sun would be a massive superfund site.

 

[mamabear]

I read somewhere Germany was going to use it as a weapon & it was on their boats. How it was going to be used, or how it was contained I don't know, but evidently there are high mercury levels at some german wreck sites.

 

[wreckwriter]

Mercury was NOT used as ballast on U-boats. This is a very old rumor and has been extensively researched by multiple people. Its simply not true.

 

[Salvor6]

Mercury is also found in freshwater lakes in FL. The source is from air pollution. Incinerators and coal fired power plants spit merc out their smokestacks.

 

[aquanut]

As an old submariner I never heard of such a thing and can't imagine it carries any truth.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Gafternoon my friends: I have heard such rumors also, The only reason that mercury would be used is for faster balance shifting. A major shift in balance, could occur with just a small amount of mercury being transferred, however, I doubt that it wold have much of an inprovement over the conventional diving vanes. One still needs to empty or fill the tanks to effect boyancy. or am I wrong Aquanut?

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[aquanut]

Gafternoon my friends: I have heard such rumors also, The only reason that mercury would be used is for faster balance shifting. A major shift in balance, could occur with just a small amount of mercury being transferred, however, I doubt that it wold have much of an inprovement over the conventional diving vanes. One still needs to empty or fill the tanks to effect boyancy. or am I wrong Aquanut?

Don Jose de La Mancha

The sub is ballasted through trim and ballast tanks using water and air or water pumps. This, along with the dive planes and motion provide the ability to submerge and ascend while keeping the boat trimmed.
A.

 

[AUVnav]

Coal fired power plants, manufacture of PVC, especially paper production, and..hot springs...release mercury.

 

[VOC]

Photo of mercury on a wreck Seven Seas Search & Salvage Album 1 « Gallery 1 « Page 4 « » Treasure Gallery (3rd row down third one in, click to enlarge)

 

[indub]

my late response

I just came across this post and despite being a few years late, I want to add to the discussion.

So I've been interested in Mercury for a little while now, mainly from prospecting gold. I just recently heard of a rumor/myth that ancient civilizations (namely, ancient India) may have created or obtained alien knowledge of a mercury levitation device using some sort of gyroscope.

Apparently Hitler was also very interested in this. Regarding the OP's inquiry, Mercury was inside submarines in the past, and in some large quantities. As dumb as it sounds, it happened, at least with the Nazis but I highly doubt it was used primarily as ballast. One U-boat (U-864) recently discovered is known to contain Mercury cargo, 61 tons. The wreck is still on the ocean floor off the coast of Norway. A salvage company was scheduled to raise the wreck some years ago but safety concerns have either cancelled or postponed the operation. Aside from the mercury, another safety concern is the sub may still have live torpedoes. The steel containers housing the mercury have rusted causing mercury to leak into the ocean and from what I've read it’s about 6-10 lbs per year! That’s already bad enough but the possibility of it exploding is really scary. So were the German’s really just transporting the mercury cargo to Japan for typical industrial/scientific uses (weapons) or was it used for some sort of experiment to build a “mythical” power generator? The German’s were ahead of their time with engines and maybe some powerful secrets were buried along with their evils.

I’m sure though if an antigravity device that powerful were possible we'd all be flying in our very own flying saucers by now, but still an interesting anecdote. Unfortunately, Mercury just poisons everything. So if there were/are undiscovered wrecks with leaks like U-864, only near Florida, then I guess it could be a reason you say Florida’s surrounding waters have higher than normal levels of Mercury.

Want a real head scratcher? Look into the story of Oak Island in Nova Scotia.

 

[ECS]

German scientists developed RED MERCURY, a compound of mercury, antimony, and oxygen- Hg2SB2O7, and it was not a simple chemical combination, but was created for use for the atomic bombs German scientist were developing.
A red mercury based nuclear weapon increases both the tamper and the neutron reflectability of an atomic bomb by surrounding the fissionable or fusionable material, compressing it to a higher density as it explodes. In other words, red mercury can make a small fusion bomb into a larger nuclear device.
May 19,1945, U-234, which was bound for Japan, was captured and surrendered to the USS Sutton.
On board were German scientist, specialists, technicians, two Japanese officers, reels of microfilm on secret German weaponry, a disassembled ME-262 fighter jet, ten barrels of irradiated uranium 235, and one barrel of red mercury.
It has been claimed that the uranium from the U-234 made its way to Japan by way of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

 

[indub]

That's very interesting although I kind of doubt that the uranium from U-234 was used on Japan since the US had already come upon their own uranium boom in Utah some years before and no longer needed to import or steal, but if it was indeed used on Japan that's quite the story. Crazy to think just how quickly that war could've gone the other way.

Weird too how all this is in some way connected to Oak Island. Roosevelt was going to bring the Army to Oak Island for a massive excavation project but then the US went to war instead and his dream was put aside. Meanwhile Hitler was studying the ancient India temple writings regarding the "Arc" or some type of mercury flying device, which of course has been linked to the folklore of Oak Island.

 

[ECS]

... Meanwhile Hitler was studying the ancient India temple writings regarding the "Arc" or some type of mercury flying device, which of course has been linked to the folklore of Oak Island.

Actually, the development of "secret weapons" was conducted under Himmler's SS WORKS DIVISIONS. Dr Hans Kammler, third man under Himmler, ran SS WORKS DIVISION C, SKODA WORKS, in Pilsen, in the Czech Republic. Every priority concerning secret weapons and technology was under his control, including the Horton 9 flying wing, flying disks, and even experiments in time travel. When Belin fell, Kammler loaded all the records an research papers into a Gotha transport, and with a loyal group of Waffen SS, took flight and disappeared into history.
In 1939, Germany claimed a section of Antarctica, calling the territory NEUSHWABENLAND, and built a submarine base in an ice cavern, that was overflowing with geothermal activity. Inside the cavern were hot water ponds, containing algae, which the Germans name, the Schumacher Ponds.
In 1946, Admiral Byrd led an expedition to Antarctica with an aircraft carrier,, destroyers, submarines, transport vehicles, and 4000 armed troops to find this base. While outfitted for several months, he left after only 6 weeks after losing several aircraft, shot down by "flying disks".
During July, 1952, a squadron of flying disks buzzed the White House, was seen by many people, and was registered on radar. Fighter jets were sent to intercept, but could not keep up with the faster disks that flew off, but returned a second time, reforming over the White House. Where the disks originated was not known.
In 1958-1959, under the cover of the INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR, three nuclear missiles were fired by the US Navy, detonating in Neuschwabenland.
How High Can You Jump? Operation "Highjump" And The UFO Connection
UFOs Flew Directlly Over Washington DC For Six HOURS In July, 1952
Haunebu

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Mercury is a naturally occurring element - in the ore cinnabar. If you have silver fillings in your teeth that is 50% mercury.

The problem in the environment is from liquid soluble forms of mercury that are organically fixable and become part of an animal's metabolism - tuna, people, etc. The mercury from thermometers, while not recommend, won't hurt you much to handle. Don't tempt fate and down a spoonful - it won't do you any good.

We had a medical Army depot locally that had a "cache" of mercury antiseptics like merbromin. Something like 300,000 pounds in a residential area. And, surprise, the soil of the local community tests high and there is a hot spot of juvenile cancer. Remember Mercurochrome? We had tincture of iodine in my household but LOTS of kids my age were soaked in a mercury tincture. That is the scary form and it was sold for years and years for household use.

The mercury in older alkaline batteries and some current lightbulbs - THAT is a "bad" version that is in molecules a body will metabolize.

 

[Dug]

There is a land locked saltwater pond aboard MCRD Parris Island SC that is only fed by two culverts, at high tide. That pond was a fantastic source for doormat flounder, bull reds, and tons of jumbo and large shrimp. Many military families and guests used it as a recreation source until a water testing was done by the EPA a few years back. The access points were boarded up with "off limits" posted. Elevated mercury levels were given as the reason with the culprit supposedly being the limited water exchange allowing the natural levels to build up to a human hazard level.

That had been a great place to fish and shrimp.

 

[FISHEYE]

Vimanas in india used mercury for propulsion.Also the black project TR-3B uses mercury for antigravity lift.Vimanas - Mercury Vortex Technology