The Real Life Story
U-534 was used for training and weather reporting during the war. She did not sink any other vessels.On May 5th, 1945 U534 was underway in the Kattegat, north-west of Helsingor, Denmark.and although Admiral Donitz had ordered all his U-boats to surrender as from 08.00 May 5th, for some unknown reason U-534 refused to do so.
U534 was heading north towards Norway, when it was attacked by RAF aircraft.
U-534 took heavy damage and began to sink by the stern. Forty-nine of the fifty-two crew members survived including five who escaped via a torpedo hatch as she lay on the sea bed. A young 17 yr old forgot the golden rule and held his breath as he swam to the surface. He sadly died as his lungs burst.
In August 1993 the wreckage was raised from the seabed in the hope of finding hidden treasure on board. Nothing was found. However the mystery of why U-534 refused to surrender remains to this day.
The display was very interesting we looked around the submarine and read the information available. We watched the tale of the submarine being raised from the sea bed. I found the boat very claustrophobic. The exhibition is well worth a visit looking back at history created by the war. Below is a link to the web site :- http://www.u-boatstory.co.uk/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below are links to web sites about U Boats - http://uboat.net/boats/u534.htm
About the boat based at Woodside :- http://uboat.net/boats/u534.htm
History site Navy : - http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq97-1.htm
General info :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unterseeboot_534
No comments:
Post a Comment