REASSESSING THE CAPE HATTERAS MINEFIELD: AN EXAMINATION OF NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL DEFENSES DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

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dc.access.optionOpen Access
dc.contributor.advisorRichards, Nathan
dc.contributor.authorFreitas, Mitchell Campbell
dc.contributor.departmentHistory
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-31T14:01:40Z
dc.date.available2020-01-23T09:01:57Z
dc.date.created2016-05
dc.date.issued2017-05-03
dc.date.submittedMay 2016
dc.date.updated2017-05-30T17:03:38Z
dc.degree.departmentHistory
dc.degree.disciplineMA-Maritime Studies
dc.degree.grantorEast Carolina University
dc.degree.levelMasters
dc.degree.nameM.A.
dc.description.abstractIn response to the German U-boat attacks on Allied Atlantic merchant shipping during the Second World War, Ernest King, the Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, approved construction of a defensive wall of naval mines in an area off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This configuration of mines was intended to provide a safe harbor opportunity for convoys moving along the coast. The currently accepted narrative of Cape Hatteras Minefield is that it was a failure. This assessment is due to recent scholarship which cites the loss of three Allied ships that sunk after striking mines intended for Axis watercraft. As opposed to studies of the effectiveness of offensive or defensive weapons on mobile platforms (ships, aircraft, and terrestrial vehicles) or land-based defensive structures (e.g. forts and gun emplacements), this study will seek to understand the ways in which researchers can assess the success or failure of a different kind of defensive measure -- a naval minefield. In-depth historical research will be undertaken in order to better understand the social, economic, and wartime effects of the minefield. Archaeological theories sourced from battlefield archeology will also be applied to a virtually reconstructed minefield data set created with Geographic Information System (ESRI ArcGIS). The objectives of this project are to reassess how minefields are contemplated in battlefield archeology in a naval setting as well as to reconsider the narrative of Cape Hatteras minefield itself.
dc.embargo.lift2019-05-01
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10342/6144
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherEast Carolina University
dc.subjectCape Hatteras Minefield
dc.subjectMines
dc.subjectBattle of The Atlantic
dc.subjectGIS
dc.subjectMerchant Shipping
dc.subjectMined Anchorage
dc.subject5th Naval District
dc.subjectKOCOA
dc.subjectMETT-T
dc.subjectBattlefield Archaeology
dc.subject1942
dc.subject1943
dc.subjectGerman U-boats
dc.subjectU-701
dc.subjectU-576
dc.subjectConvoy KS-520
dc.subjectF.W.Abrams
dc.subjectChilore
dc.subjectKeshena
dc.subjectJ.A. Mowinckel
dc.subjectYP-389
dc.subjectOperation Durmbeat
dc.subjectVice Admiral Adolphus Andrews
dc.subject.lcshCoast defenses--North Carolina--Hatteras, Cape--History
dc.subject.lcshWorld War, 1939-1945--Naval operations, American
dc.subject.lcshNavigation--North Carolina--Hatteras, Cape--History
dc.subject.lcshKing, Ernest Joseph, 1878-1956
dc.subject.lcshUnderwater archaeology--North Carolina--Hatteras, Cape
dc.titleREASSESSING THE CAPE HATTERAS MINEFIELD: AN EXAMINATION OF NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL DEFENSES DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR
dc.typeMaster's Thesis
dc.type.materialtext

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