The Wreck of the U-534

The menace of the unterseeboot (underwater boat) of the German navy in the First World War became one of the biggest concerns for the war at sea, even more so when the Second World War broke out in 1939. By this time Hitler’s military might had grown considerably and these formidable submarines were out in full force and already picking targets on their new enemy. 

The U-534 was one of these vessels, a Type IXC/40 submarine launched in September 1942 and in her first missions she was used as a data-gathering platform for weather conditions in the Atlantic Ocean. Hardly a life that would propel her into the history books, on 27^th August 1944 she was using a schnorchel for the first time when poisonous fumes consumed the sub and several crew members collapsed. Upon surfacing she was attacked by aircraft in which U-534 succeeded in shooting one down.  

On 5^th May 1945 Admiral Donitz agreed a partial surrender of all German forces in both their own country and Denmark, the U-534 sailed that day and headed north of the 56^th parallel where the surrender hadn’t come into effect. Not far from the island of Anholt she was spotted by two RAF Liberators who went in to attack her on the surface.

#While the submarine was able to shoot one of them down, the second one dropped depth charges which exploded and seriously damaged the stern of the vessel, forcing her to abandon their sub as it was now flooding and would not have long left on the surface. All 52 crew members managed to escape the sinking, but three of these would not make it to be rescued.

The wreck was discovered in 1986 at a depth of 67 meters by a Danish wreck hunter named Aage Jensen and soon after a team of salvors had sponsor from a media millionaire named Karsten Ree who funded an expedition to raise the sub in the hope that the rumours of lost Nazi treasure would bare fruit. 

On 23^rd August 1993 the Dutch salvage company Smit Tak finally brought the wreck of U-534 to the surface with cheers and headlines to capture the moment. But it may have been a complete waste of their time, for no treasure was found – instead they unlocked the secrets of a U-boat that was like a time capsule of World War II. An Enigma machine, sailor’s possessions, boots and even an ensign were among the things found, along with dozens of condoms. These were used to fill with air and let go attached to metal strips to confuse enemy detection equipment.

With no use for a rusty relic of the war, she was sold to a company in Liverpool which brought her to the UK on a barge in 1996 where she went on display in Birkenhead along with the Oberon class submarine HMS Onyx and the Rothesay Class frigate HMS Plymouth. In 2000 during a visit to the city I went aboard U-534 and was amazed at the condition she was in after almost 50 years submerged on the seabed. Entering through the hatch at the stern we moved forward as a group through the darkened compartments where no photographs were allowed until we had got right to the other end and exited back into the bright summer day. It was only a short visit but it was very much worth it.

So how sad it was that this company, Warship Preservation Trust, ceased trading in 2006 and all the hard work had to be disbanded. Plymouth was sent for scrap as was Onyx, but thankfully U-534 was saved and taken over to a specialist museum built just for this vessel. Cut up into five sections with two put back together, she was then placed in her four sections around a courtyard while a building told the story of her life and crew, displaying her artefacts. Each section of the wreck of U-534 was preserved with glass panels allowing the visitor to see inside the vessel, information boards pointing to areas of interest. 

My second visit to her was in 2012 and despite my misgivings about cutting up a piece of history they have done an excellent job of doing it in order to save her from the scrap yard. It is pleasing to see that such effort has gone into making sure this unique museum tells the story of the war at sea, especially since the very docks where you now stand were the destination of many a ship that they would never reach, the convoys becoming victim to the U-boats like the one right here. This is a story that continues to fascinate anybody interested in maritime history and it is a museum that I would highly recommend to all ages.

With 75% of Germany’s fleet of U-boats lost in the Second World War, bringing one back from the depths and telling her story is the best tribute that can be done for such a unique piece of history.