U-534. Taking a visit there tomorrow.

Timpo

Timpo

North Wales TRF
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I've not got a spare hour or two, so a friend of mine, who is a total WW2 nut, has suggested a visit to Woodside, Birkenhead, where U-534, a german WW2 U-boat is now resting. Well, almost!
She is now in four sections having been sliced to enable being made into a public spectacle.
So, I'll have a look tomorrow..........


T.
 
Post some piccies up Timpo, would be interested in seeing that.

ferret:thumb
 
Well worth the fiver......

OK, home now, and I've had a great day, and within 10 miles of where I live......
A visit to U-534 museum, chicken curry and chips for lunch, and two pints of bitter before my evening tea.

So, the thread is about U-534, and my intent to visit the display... Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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The museum is not full of bells and whistles, but portrays a dark, sinister insight into what it was like inside a U-boat, how the crews lived and how they operated.....

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The hull is sectioned and the severed ends are exposed behind glass viewing galleries. The displays were very impressive (I'm not sure if I really want to use that word), so shocking may be better suited.
Again, as I do after every WW1/WW2 site I visit, I thought how the hell did the blokes survive, mentally as well as physically?:eek:

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The outer hull has been shotblasted and painted, but the inside is as it was found, fifty years on from it's sinking....

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I tried to put myself in the pressure hull during a period of action..... but I couldn't quite get there. To try and help, I am going to watch Das Boot again tonight. Strange really as I worked at Cammel Lairds years ago on the 'U' Class submarines, but for some reason, it wasn't enough!:nenau

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So there it is, a site worth a visit if your in the Merseyside area...... I'm glad I went!:thumb2

Timpo.
 
Thanks Timpo, looks very interesting, must put it on my list of places to visit, its surprising how much there is on your doorstep that takes ages to get round and see, yet we travel miles to see other things?

ferret:thumb
 
That looks like an interesting exhibit worth a visit.

What is it with German machinery and corrosion?
 
Yes, it's well worth a visit - I went earlier in the year.
 
Mmm, not sure about this. Seems like sacrilege to cut up one of only four surviving U-boats :eek

I went on U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago in 2001 and it was a really claustrophobic experience, but extremely interesting. How 50 guys could live and work in there for a couple of months at a time is beyond comprehension - very brave men, whatever the your views on the morality of submarine warfare :bow

I wish I'd made the effort to see U-534 intact, but will go to see her anyway eventually - it'd be nice to see the Type XXI in Bremerhaven and the Type VII in Loboe at some stage too :)
 
Great pics & very interesting. I visited the Royal Navy Submarine Museum last year and it was fascinating to take the guided tour through HMS Alliance :thumb2

I know I could never have served in submarines so hats off to those guys wearing dolphins :bow
 
Twotter said:
Great pics & very interesting. I visited the Royal Navy Submarine Museum last year and it was fascinating to take the guided tour through HMS Alliance :thumb2

I know I could never have served in submarines so hats off to those guys wearing dolphins :bow
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Going to head down there again as soon as I have a free day. Brilliant museum and the guides - all ex-submariners - know their stuff. They've also got the blackest, darkest sense of humour I've come across. Not surprising really.
 
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