Recommended: Photos from Inside Captured German U-110 (1918)

U-110 in Drydock Following Its Recovery

By Paul Gallagher,  Originally presented in Flashback, 

21 March 2016

Like the innards of some hellish behemoth gutted on the banks of the Tyne, these photographs show the cramped, claustrophobic interior of U-110.

On 19 July 1918, U-110 was making an approach on a convoy of Allied merchant ships off the Hartlepool coast when her periscope was spotted by H. M. Motor-Launch No. 236. Several ships within the convoy dropped depth charges. The U-boat was hit. Its forward rudders jammed in the up position. Her motor short circuited and the fuel tank was badly damaged.

As the submarine surfaced she was rammed twice by torpedo boat destroyer H.M.S. Garry. The submarine rolled over and sank. Thirteen crew died–as many as fifteen survived. In September, the U-boat was salvaged and then berthed at Swan Hunter’s dry docks. The shipyard had orders to restore the submarine as a fighting unit.

Compartment No. 6: A View of  Sleeping Berths
and Access to the Engine Room

When the Armistice was declared on 11 November 1918, work on the U-boat was halted.  On 19 December, the submarine was towed from Wallsend to the Northumberland Dock at Howdon. Here U-110 was sold for scrap.

Visit the full article HERE, where Paul Gallagher presents 21 interior and exterior photos of U-110 as well as some fascinating archival material about U-boats.