Freehold Dive Team Discovers Post-WWI Submarine Near Ocean City

FREEHOLD, NJ - A Freehold-based salvage company has discovered post-World War I relic that has remained fully intact and upright for nearly a century.

The rare find is reportedly one of 27 R-class submarines commissioned by the U.S. Navy during World War I. It was built in 1918 in Massachusetts and used in training off the coasts of California and the Gulf of Mexico.

The 102-year-old submarine was reportedly found by New Jersey’s Atlantic Wreck Salvage, operated by two New Jersey Public Defender's Office criminal defense attorneys that reside on a farm in Freehold.

“The discovery is historically important because R-8 is one of few American submarines resting in [accessible] East Coast waters that had yet to be located,” a statement from Atlantic Wreck Salvage said, initially reported by NJ.com.

The R-8 was used by the military for target practice at the end of its life in the 1930s, according to the Associated Press. In the early 1930s, the submarine was used by the Inactive Naval Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia, later serving as a target in an aerial bombing practice, only to sink off the coast of Ocean City in 1936.

“It appears from the sonar images that the site will reveal a very well-preserved example of an R-class submarine in existence anywhere," said Cpt. Eric Takakjian, a recovery team member, according to the AP.

The Freehold dive team identified the wreck using a combination of sonar systems and historical records. According to the firm, the new discovery serves as just one of few American submarines in Atlantic waters yet to be located.