Wednesday, April 02, 2008

U-534 Sunk in Kattegat west of Sweden

No i didnt buy this on Ebay Germany... Amazing huh? Northwest of where i lived in Sweden this was scuttled. My interest in these uboats came from when i was a little guy fishing in the Kattegat and being told this story about a U-boat below us somewhere, See the map below.. for more amazing details on it, Google U534.. It was excavated from the sea bottom & taken to Birkenhead in the UK. Now its supposed to be section cut & moved to a new location..,Tragic,
no human remains in it , they survived.So not a iron coffin this time. One of four left in the world of some +1500 ww2 uboats produced, some 30,000 Kriegsmariners were on Uboats & less than 10,000 returned, The Uboat offensive wasnt as effective as people think. Early on massive allied losses, then the tide turned, Kriegsmarine was not a haven for warped nazis , they were real sailors w/out the psychotic ideology. Although Donitz inherited the mess , he wasnt a real war criminal like the rest. He surrendered the murderous empire to the allies & did 10 yrs in Spandau.









These are not U534, but you get an idea what it may have been like,

Cable or net cutter on the front, better snag a net or cable at the front than on the periscope.

Massive diesel engines to run on the surface...side by side,here you can see the 2 outer hulls, interior & exterior , run on batteries when submerged.
UPDATE, check out this fine website
this grand old uboat as fas as i'm concerned has been ruined by section cutting it, read more above...it wasnt mine so nothing i can do about poor decisions.