Wallasey: Mortar Mill Quay & U-Boat U534

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 17 Jun 2007

So, just how did a German U-Boat end up on a quay in Wallasey? Well, the submarine was discovered in August 1986 on the seabed in the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden, having been sunk by depth charges from an RAF aircraft on 5 May 1945, just hours before the German surrender. It was thought that she may have been carrying a fortune in gold, being transported to Japan or South America in the last days of the Reich. Because all the crew escaped, the submarine was not construed as a war grave, and a wealthy Danish publisher, Karsten Rae, funded a recovery operation. On 23 August 1993 the submarine was raised, but nothing of monetary value was found. Rae decided that Merseyside would be the ideal permanent home for the submarine, given that it was the main destination port for Atlantic convoys during the Second World War. It subsequently became part of the Historic Warships collection until the Trust running the exhibition went into liquidation in January 2006. Since the previous photographs of the submarine were posted on this site the boat has been moved some 200 metres to the east along the dock at Mortar Mill Quay, as it was in the way of the redevelopment of the former corn warehouses. Its fate remains uncertain.

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