IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Dock Road, CH41 1DU

Off Dock Road.

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.

Heading east towards Wallasey.

On the left is the (working) Scherzer rolling lift bridge across the link between the East Float and Alfred Dock. In the centre is the Birkenhead Tunnel ventilation shaft. On the right is the accumulator tower once used to provide the power to operate the lock gates, and to pump water between the docks. In the foreground is the site of the proposed "Wirral Manhattan".

Disused buildings on Dock Road.

U534 was the last U-boat sunk in the War, after the order for surrender had been given. Sunk off Anholt and her crew rescued to Aarhus. Found in 1986, recovered in 1993 and transported to the UK about 2 years later. Notice damage to the starboard shaft caused by the depth charge that led to her sinking.

Hopefully I've got the position right after nearly 20 years. Ben My Chree was one of the last side loading steam powered car ferries, built mid-60s for Isle of Man Steam Packet and scrapped not too long after I took its photograph. I never did get on board but it was probably similar to the Sealink vessels and I've done a very disreputable example of one of them.

Former grain warehouses built in 1868, now converted into apartments. Grade II listed (English Heritage Building ID: 443666 http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-443666-grain-warehouse-to-south-of-grain-wareho#.VbwFuHnbKHs British Listed Buildings)

Part of the enclosed dock system with the hydraulic pumping station and accumulator tower in the distance. The photograph is from the historic warships that were alongside the large corn warehouses. The photographer is on the submarine HMS Onyx and HMS Plymouth is alongside on the left. These two veterans of the Falklands War have now been scrapped.