|
The U-Boat Wrecks of Operation Deadlight by Innes McCartney
The U-Boat Wrecks of Operation Deadlight by Innes McCartney
At the end of World War Two, the Royal Navy was set to dispose of 116 surrendered U-boats by sinking them in more than 100m off the north coast of Ireland by 15 February, 1946.
The plan was called Operation Deadlight. But the rough seas of the North Atlantic meant that exactly half of those U-boats foundered on tow on the way to the sinking grounds, or broke free and were gunned down in shallower depths.
Without those rogue U-boats, Innes McCartney would not have been able to make his latest video. For those 58 boats sank within diving reach of the Operation Deadlight expeditions, led by McCartney and videoed by him.
This is without doubt the best of McCartney's videos to date. He was aided by some magnificent visibility.
At more than 75m you can see the whole length of a U-boat lying on the bottom, and at the same time watch divers in total clarity at both bow and stern. This clearer-than-gin visibility meant that the camera could pick out each submarine's special features in fine detail.
The wide range of U-boats, nearly all in excellent condition, examined by the expedition divers and mostly identified by class and number, are shown alongside earlier German pictures of them in action. It makes first-class viewing for any diver.
McCartney has added details from his extensive research about each U-boat dived. For example, the voiceover by Patricia McCartney, which is, incidentally, nice and clear, tells us at one point that the wartime crew of HMS Norfolk should take great interest in the sight of U2511 on the seabed, because they didn't see her when she was lining up to torpedo them.
Only a last-minute order to the U-boat's captain to turn back to port following Germany's surrender saved the Norfolk from being one of the last ships sunk by a U-boat in the war!
Kendall McDonald
|
| The U-Boat Wrecks of Operation Deadlight by Innes McCartney (Periscope Publishing, 01736 330769). VHS/PAL, 30min, £16.80 |
|
|
Archive | 
