Inside A Real TypeII

[Mike 'Red Ocktober' Hense]

after having little success searching the web for pics of the insides of a TypeII, i decided on a different track... maybe there would be some info available about the Finish sub that was the prototype for the TypeII...

i was lucky enough to stumble upon this site...

http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/pictu...es_vesikko.htm

--Mike

[Happy Times]

Great find with these pics I was also looking for better pictures of the Vesikko..Im really concerned that its left in the outdoors It really should be conserved properly and put indoors.Is this the only suviving type II?

[Happy Times]

[Deamon]

A nice finde Mike.

Deamon

[cunnutazzo]

very interesting!

[Woof1701]

Originally Posted by Happy Times

Great find with these pics I was also looking for better pictures of the Vesikko..Im really concerned that its left in the outdoors It really should be conserved properly and put indoors.Is this the only suviving type II?

Yes it is. It's a great miracle that one of each major uboat types has survived:

- Vessiko - Typ II prototype in Helsinki (Finland) used by the Finnish Navy against Russia. Now a museum.
- U 505 - Typ IX in Chicago (USA) captured by US Forces near the African coast.
- U 995 - Typ VII in Laboe (Germany) interned in Norway after the war and used by the Norgwegian Navy. Later given back to Germany for use as a memorial.
- U 2540 - Typ XXI in Bremerhaven (Germany) scuttled by crew in 1945. Raised and restored by the German Navy and used as a modified test uboat.

Two Typ XXIII which also were scuttled by their crews in 1945 were raised in the 50s by the German Navy and used for testing (U-Hecht and U-Hai) But both sank trgically due to accidents. The small boats were prone to capsizing and unstable in high waves.

BTW: all boats except U 505 are kept in the open. U 2540 is even still afloat.

[SmokinTep]

Great find.......

[Akula_971]

Looks in good condition, bet it would not take that much to get her going again.
p.s don't forget U534

[kholemann]

Originally Posted by Akula_971

Looks in good condition, bet it would not take that much to get her going again.
p.s don't forget U534

Where is dat sub sha?

I would love to go on a U-Boat tour vacation package. My wife and kid would be bored to insanity but I would love it. Maybe there is such a thing.

[rik007]

Well. This is not the ship you would like to have on a patrol in the Channel in 1943.

[HMCS]

I remember reading somewhere that there were two Type XXI's in a sealed-up U -bunker somewhere - possibly near Hamburg. If memory serves, the bunker was sealed up with concrete after a young man was exploring the bunker and fell, and ended up getting himself killed.

edit - Ah yes, here it is - the Elbe II Bunker THREE Type XXI's are down there, still.

http://www.uboat.net/history/hamburg_elbe2.htm

http://www.uboat.net/flotillas/bases...rg_bunkers.htm

[GrimKnight]

Originally Posted by HMCS

I remember reading somewhere that there were two Type XXI's in a sealed-up U -bunker somewhere - possibly near Hamburg. If memory serves, the bunker was sealed up with concrete after a young man was exploring the bunker and fell, and ended up getting himself killed.

edit - Ah yes, here it is - the Elbe II Bunker THREE Type XXI's are down there, still.

http://www.uboat.net/history/hamburg_elbe2.htm

http://www.uboat.net/flotillas/bases...rg_bunkers.htm

The bunker is no more, it has been built over / razed in order to make room for a new container-terminal

[HMCS]

The bunker is no more, it has been built over / razed in order to make room for a new container-terminal

Hmmm. Kinda sad, in a way - that the boats were never salvaged. But I understand the need to develop, despite the historical artifacts in situ.

I imagine it is quite a balancing act in Europe - preserving historical sites vs. the need for appropriate land use. I understand that all over Belgium and Northern France there is quite a bit of development that is happening over the old western front battlefields. A number of the important ones are being preserved, but otherwise they are disappearing. The upside of the digging is that quite a few WW I dead are turning up and are being properly interred, even if they are unidentifiable.

That issue is also quite prominent in the Eastern USA where a number of Civil War battlefields are being 'developed'.