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Park Island was originally a sharp bend in Bayou St. John, and came into existence in the mid-1800s when workers carved another channel into the bend to ease the buildup of bayou debris.
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Photo by Eileen Loh-Harrist
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Hey Blake,
There is an island in Bayou St. John. Are there any interesting stories about the place?
Marylou Carroll
Dear Marylou,
You must be referring to Park Island between Mirabeau and Harrison Avenue -- a splendid place.
When Bienville and company struggled up in 1699 what we know today as Bayou St. John, the island didn't even exist. At that point there was a sharp curve in the bayou that was constantly filling up with sand, branches, and refuse brought in by another smaller bayou that used to be on the east bank. Frustrated navigators of the 18th century gave this point a name: the Devil's Elbow or the Devil's Slough.
The island was created in the mid-1800s. On the east side of Park Island is a narrow channel; this is the original bed of the bayou, the one that gave Bienville and those who followed so much trouble. As early as 1850, there were plans to excavate land on the west side of the bayou to make a deeper channel that would be easier to navigate. Work began in 1861 but, as you might expect, was interrupted by the Civil War. Years later the digging was completed, and the island was formed.
At one time the island was given as a reward for excellent work to Claude Jules Allou d'Hemecourt and bore his name. Born in France in 1819, he came to New Orleans with his family in 1831. Influenced by his father, Jules achieved an excellent reputation, and many believe he was the best surveyor ever seen in New Orleans.
Hey Blake,
You need to update your comments on U-166. It has been found for sure and by a Lafayette-based company.
John Roscoe-Hudson
Dear John,
Even though this is not a question for Old Blake, I am happy to oblige, especially for the reader who sent in the question regarding the German U-boat sunk in the Gulf of Mexico in the summer of 1942.
Last May 15, I wrote about the Coast Guard plane that was out on patrol on August 1, 1942, when it spotted a submarine on the surface. A depth charge was dropped right as the sub was disappearing beneath the surface. The ship was never seen again, and it was believed for many years that the crew had sunk U-166. After the war, German records indicated that U-166 had indeed been lost in the Gulf.
However, a recent discovery in late May -- almost immediately after I wrote about the incident -- has shown that the Coast Guard plane had actually bombed a different submarine -- U-171 -- that was not sunk.
As the new research has revealed, U-166 was actually sunk on July 30, 1942, right after she destroyed the Robert E. Lee. About 45 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, the wrecks of the two ships have been discovered within one mile of each other, under 5,000 feet of water.
The passenger-freighter Robert E. Lee was on its way to New Orleans from Trinidad when it became the fourth victim of U-166. More than 400 passengers and crew were aboard, and when the ship was struck by a torpedo and went down, 25 lives were lost. Escorting the ship was U. S. Navy PC-566 that came to the rescue, attacked the U-boat with depth charges, and chased the submarine away. So they thought.
But now we know the real story. The crew of the escort craft PC-566 had actually sunk U-166, and the German submarine with 52 men went down with the Robert E. Lee. We know this because of work done by C & C Technologies Inc.
Last January, the company was conducting a deep-water pipeline survey for several oil companies using a fancy new machine, the Hugin 3000, the world's first autonomous underwater vehicle. They were surveying in the area where the wrecks of the Robert E. Lee and another vessel were supposed to be. Marine archaeologists for C & C studied the data collected by the crew of AUV and determined that the other wreckage could be U-166. Then on May 31 and June 1, further investigations provided evidence that the German submarine had been found.
