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Elusive U12 found at last
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The wreck of the German WWI submarine U12, which has evaded searchers for nearly 30 years, has been found off Eyemouth, in Berwickshire.
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The seven-strong dive team located the wreck in 50m of water, lying 'bolt upright' on fine sand. From what they saw, the wreck did not appear to have been visited before by divers, and there was no obvious disturbance of the site.
Defining features were the U-boat's four torpedo tubes, two facing forward and two aft; six portholes set into the conning tower; and damage to the port side of the hull, consistent with accounts of the sub's sinking in 1915.
U12 was sent to the bottom in an action with three British destroyers, HMS Ariel, HMS Acheron and HMS Attack. During the engagement, the U-boat was rammed by Ariel.
Of U12's crew of 29, ten were able to escape through two deck hatches. The others, including the commander, Hans Kratzch, went down with the vessel, unable to exit through the jammed conning tower hatch.
In 1984, American wrecks historian Clive Cussler claimed to have found U12, but his find turned out not even to be a submarine. Twenty-four years on, the U-boat was found a good 20 miles from Cussler's position, while Admiralty charting for the wreck also turned out to be inaccurate.
Research and searches were stepped up from 2003 by the nucleus of a group of local divers, Jim Macleod and Martin Sinclair, Marine Quest Dive Charters, and renowned wrecks researcher and historian Kevin Heath.
At the time of the find, others in the team diving from the Eyemouth-based North Star, run by Jim and Iain Easingwood, were Paul Dustan, Ann Dustan, Nigel Goodman, Derek Sutton and Graeme Govenlock.
The vessel is not to be confused with a WW2 U-boat also designated U12, sunk in 1939 in the English Channel. That vessel, though still not identified with a precise position, is included in the MoD's list of wrecks subject to diving bans as Controlled Sites under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, having been nominated by the German authorities to represent all other U-boats lost within British territorial waters.
The Eyemouth wreck is interesting in being a good surviving example of an early WW1 design. It was powered by a simple two-stroke engine, running on paraffin and driving two screws.
It has a particular claim to fame in having been probably the first submarine to mount a plane for launching at sea.
The arrangement was of limited potential, the seaplane simply sitting on its floats across the sub's foredeck. It could be carried only in fair weather, and submersion was impossible while the plane was aboard.
The team has informed the German Government of the wreck's position, and any further examination of U12 will have to be carried out on a look-don't-touch basis because of the U-boat's moral, if not legal, status as a war grave.
The light-coloured sand on which U12 sits 'bounces the light', says the team, making for 'year-round visibility in the region of 15m'. |
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