Photos of US army tanks and shipwrecks off the coast of Ireland

Following a 12-year survey of the offshore waters and coastal seas around Ireland

writes Irish Central's Dara Kelly,

the Irish government launched an illustrated book entitled “Warships, U-Boats & Liners - A Guide to Shipwrecks Mapped in Irish Waters.”

The coffee table book features stunning shots of wrecks on the seabed including the Lusitania off the Cork coast and US army tanks on the seabed 17 miles off of Donegal. Many of the 300 shipwrecks featured in the book where not known about before this survey.

The book [by Karl Brady, Charise McKeon, James Lyttleton, and Ian Lawlor] includes details on the background of the vessels alongside the photograph and sonar images.

The publication was launched in 2012 by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan TD, together with Fergus O'Dowd TD, Minister of State, Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

  … According to Minister O'Dowd, the collaboration has "truly made Ireland a leader in this field of endeavor."

 … [The Underwater Archaeology Unit (UAU)] have built an extensive database of shipwrecks, Afloat Magazine reported.