After six years of research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has identified two World War II vessels, previously unnamed, at the bottom of the Graveyard of the Atlantic 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina and less than 240 yards apart. Lost for more than 70 years, the German U-boat 576 and the freighter Bluefields offer a peek into a little-known underwater battlefield.

On July 15, 1942, as part of Convoy KS-520 — 19 merchant ships escorted by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard — the Nicaraguan-flagged Bluefields was en route to Key West, Florida, from Norfolk, Virginia. Near Cape Hatteras, U-576 attacked the convoy, sinking Bluefields. Those aboard escaped with minor injuries. The U.S. Navy Kingfisher aircraft responded by sinking the U-boat.

Each vessel is protected under international law, and owned by the U.S. and Germany, respectively.

“WWII [had such a] far reach that it encompassed literally the entire globe,” said John Bright, a maritime archaeologist for the National Parks Service, “right up to the North Carolina shore.”