.

[Irland-redaktion]

.

[Jonny]

Great thanks for sharing!


Regards

Jonny

[Tychsen]

These were taken by aircrew from Castle Archdale who visited Lisahally in Mid May 45.
What remains of the jetties are decayed and are quite dangerous - most of the base site has been cleared or have been given up to industry.

The differing sizes of the Type VII and the larger XI boats can be easily seen - the enlarged wintergardens and flak enhancements - in one photo the Type XXIII one of a few which became operational , a "two shot" boat for coastal use.
The Type VII's are all snorkel equipped something which could not save them.
Skeleton crews were retained for care and maintenance but as the months of inactivity passed the boats became increasingly unseaworthy and this was largely was responsible for many of them sinking under tow en route to the scuttling areas.

Conditions for the German crews were spartan and they traded much of what was on the boat for extra rations and creature comforts.
One U Boat man told me how they used to watch the girls at Thornhill College playing netball - Zeiss telescope zoom being put to good use.

Since this section came to be there has been much speculation regarding the raising of a U-Boat and its being put on display in Derry , this has now died a death - little wonder when the cost of recover arresting decay and display have been fully considered.
The Derry rate payer would not have been a happy camper.
The best view of the base can be had from the Foyle Bridge but getting a photo from a car will be a problem - the jetties are really not safe (IMO).

The radar fixed to the snorkels can be seen , also the "radar absorbing" coating applied to the "stove pipes"..

[Tychsen]

Some more views of boats on the way to the Foyle .
The view of the conning tower the UZO surface sight , the enlarged and armoured tower , the "mattress" the retractable radar on the port side of the bridge , housing for the "loop" the p[iping for the snorkel , twin 20mm and 37mm flak.
The 37 mm was prone to jamming - the 20mm lacked the punch alone to deal with a determined air attack.
Prior to the 37mm the quad 20mm alone was insufficient to deal with air attack.

The enhanced flak was if anything a forlorn hope - if the boat dived it would be sunk - if she stayed on the surface more aircraft were called up and with her fire divided she would be overwhelmed.
In darkness she could be found so day and night they were extremely vulnerable and by 44 the UBoat had largely been blunted as an offensive weapons system.

The Type XXI - she reminds me of the Panther - rushed into front line service before she was ready - time was not on their side - it had run out.

[dagda]

Excellent stuff gentlemen! any more pics,info??

[Tychsen]

Dagda , a fair bit but I will have to go look it out of storage.
In the meantime a Uboat related items which came to me late for Xmas - a tally from a submarine tender Saar.

The black flag - easy to see - the white one would have been missed against the seascape.
Will add a litle more over the next day or two.

Below Saar.

[Irland-redaktion]

You are quite right James, all the jettys from that period are heath hazard and should be avoided, in the past i have sailed solo many times the full length of the Foyle in my fathers boat, and i have watched those net ball games too . Did you visit the Polish submarine that visited Derry 4 or 5 years ago? it was berthed on the Foyle for a few days and i got a chance to get on board and get a walking tour of the whole ship by the captain, i even took a picture through the periscope.

[Tychsen]

Must admit I missed her
Sounds like it would have been a good day out.
If you have seen Lisahally from the water I think you have seen the place from the best view point.

That side on view of the Type VII is an impressive view , it has got that "been there look".

I have a few more photos lurking somewhere and some data accumulated from various sources but it will take a while to look it out.

I recall years ago watching my father look over the site from the lay by which is just past Thornhill Coll. , he was looking at what was - lost in his own thoughts and memories of the base when it was active and he was much younger. So much has gone never to return.
In terms of history it is pot luck - last year I found a set of Zeiss 8x60 in a local museum along with a fine life jacket - both wrongly or inaccurately described what remains in local hands one wonders......

[Irland-redaktion]

Speaking of antique shops, about 10 years a go I walked into one a found a large black and white photo of a u-boat in Derry and bought it for a few quid, I then had it framed and it has been hanging on the wall ever since. I then discovered much later that the photo was a copy and not an original and that it was widely available, the photo was of u-802 with boarding party on board, (it’s the 3 picture from the top of my opening thread.) at the time I researched the boats background and it's captain was Helmut Schmoeckel and the boat had one enemy kill to its name, this was still an achievement because at that late stage in the war the hunter became the hunted due to advanced British radar detection. After the war the captain wrote a book about his experiences that was sadly only printed in German.

[Tychsen]

The arrival of 802 was filmed and it has been used by BBC in its "The Secret War" series made in 1978.
The IWM holds photocopy on the photos from that reel and many of the commonly seen images of the boats at Lisahally and Loch Ryan.

My father told me of his being on a RN boarding party which took several boats from Scotland to the Foyle .
On one trip the crew were confined to the forward torpedo room and half way across the British sailors were invited to have "fruit cocktail" with their former enemies.
A huge steel bowl full of tinned fruit laced with wine , whiskey , brandy - anything which was on board was ladled out into large enamel mugs and as this was taken the ice melted.
The only people who did not partake were the officers both RN and German - the views of the ratings were identical - the war is over , we are alive and we want to get out of uniform and go home.
Many of the Germans had ear damage - the effects of "snorting" - if a wave closed the float in the snorkel the diesels sucked air from the boat - burst and damaged eardrums were common.

[Irland-redaktion]

Interesting story and a well deserved celebration punch by all parties.

Like yourself I have a keen interest in the battle of the Atlantic but I’m no where near the historian that you are on the subject. A life long friend of mine who’s grandfather was a fisherman from the Malin Head area told the story of a u-boat that surfaced near their boat and both parties exchanged food, the Germans supplied fruit to the Irish fishermen and they in return supplied them with fresh fish. The books that I have on my bookshelf on the subject could be counted with one hand, Convoy, Hirschfeld, & the Doenitz memoirs to name but a few, Many years before I joined this forum I frequently used u-boat net for research, anyway keep up the good work I’ve always appreciated what you’ve written in the past on this subject.

Ps; the best way these days to experience a u-boat is buy yourself a powerful DTS amp with at least 5.1 speakers (large ones), then pull the curtains, hit the lights and crank it up, Das Boot or U-571 does the trick, The death charges are fecking amazing, pictures hanging on the livingroom walls start shaking . (make sure its done in daylight hours or you'll be arrested for breaking the peace)

[Tychsen]

I mostly got the interest from my father and the occasional tale my grandfather told about seeing flying boats operating from Lough Erne......so often it was the aircrew who were the last to see U-Boats go down - U-297 sunk by a 201 Saunderland being a point in case.

My father took several prizes from a boat a set of CXN 8x60's and a P-38 - the binoculoars were sold for £40 to a yank in Glasgow - the P-38 was thrown into the Foyle from Craigavon Bridge .......the pistol he wanted rid of and he reflected it as being foolhardy to have taken it - the binoculars he always regretted selling but in post war GB - £40 was a lot of money for a soon to be demobed sailor to say no to.

A few years ago I saw a RK.flagge which was taken from a Lisahally boat sell for £1500 - a lot of money for a battleflag - on the base sets of Zeiss were commonplace changing hands for cartons of cigerattes....... my sole "Deadlight items a volt meter and a radio valve from a boat.

[Irland-redaktion]

A few years ago I worked along side a guy who told me that he believed there was a German helmet that came from one of those u-boats in his patents attic, said he would find out more about it but never did. Your father probably did the right thing with the p.38 and I would say its not the only gun that was chucked into the river over the years.

[Tychsen]

Your father probably did the right thing with the p.38 and I would say its not the only gun that was chucked into the river over the years.

I'd say a few more there besides
Last year chance I met an old man in "The Diamond" ( he recognised the binocular I had slung over my shoulder (having been in Northern Donegal for the day I was on the way home and was not going to leave it in my car so it went to the "Foyleside" with me) .
He recalled seeing sets of the same kind on the "UBoats" and was grateful for a chance to look through them again - he told me that "the diesel engines from the submarines" were removed before they were sunk.
When in Derry I always take a look around the small antique shop between the Court House and The Diamond ..... last time there saw two dress daggers a Herr and a Luftwaffe - at £600 a piece a little expensive for me , the gent minding the shop told me they had sold a Navy one a few days earlier something some one brought home......

[Irland-redaktion]

Had been in that shop a few times but gave up returning because its too expensive, anyway when the weather improves i'll take some pictures of the banks of the Foyle and Lisahally.