Inside
a killing machine: The ghostly century-old images of a German First
World War U-Boat raised from the depths of the North Sea after it was
rammed and sunk by a British warship
U-Boat
110 destroyed ten vessels before it was sunk by the Royal Navy
during July 1918
The
Royal Navy managed to surface the sunken u-boat and were planning to
return her to service
The
u-boat which had a crew of around 41 people only had nine survivors
when it was defeated in battle
The
vessel went down off the coast of Hartlepool in the north east of
England
By
Sam
Tonkin For Mailonline
Published:
04:37 EST, 19 September 2015 | Updated: 07:43 EST, 19 September 2015
These
ghostly century-old images show the inside of a German World War One
U-Boat which was raised from the depths of the North Sea after being
sunk by a torpedo boat destroyer.
The
twin-screw U-boat 110 was readying an attack on a convoy of merchant
vessels when her periscope was sighted, only 50 yards away, and she
was forced to the surface by Allied depth charges.
With
her forward diving rudders jammed in the up position and fuel tank
damaged, the submarine was then rammed twice by the H.M.S. Garry and
hit with several bursts of gunfire.
The
relentless attack caused the U-Boat to sink off the north east coast
of England, not far from the town of Hartlepool, on July 19, 1918.
Thirteen survivors were picked up.
Divers
were soon sent down to recover important documents and the U.B.
110, built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, was recovered in September
that year.
She
was taken to the Wallsend dry docks of Swan Hunter Wigham Richardson
Ltd with orders to restore her to working condition as a fighting
unit. However, the Armistice on November 11, 1918 caused work on her
to be stopped, and she was later dismantled and sold as scrap.
But
before this took place a series of photographs were taken providing a
rare glimpse of the U-Boat's mechanics and giving an insight into
what the cramped atmosphere would have been like for those serving
onboard the killing machine.
U-Boat
U-110 was attacked and sunk off the coast of Hartlepool by the
Royal Navy in July 1918 and raised to the surface two months later
The
U-110 was depth-charged and forced to surface allowing the crew to
escape before it sank to the bottom of the North Sea
Divers
refloated the submarine in September 1918 with a view to returning it
to service but the November armistice foiled the plan
The
submarine was towed to the Admiralty dock in Jarrow before taken to
Swan Hunter's ship yard to undergo a refurbishment
U-110
was built by Blohm and Voss in Hamburg and was rammed by HMS Garry
after being forced to the surface by depth charges
