General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Germany Trip Report Part III
Posted by:
Captain Patrick Lane
()
Date: May 21, 2001 05:21AM
<HTML>After we finished with the Uboat Ehrenmal, we got into our car and started our drive further north on B502 the 5 km\'s that we were told the U-995 was at. Sure enough there was the sign. We turned left and drove a bit down the two lane highway. We hesitated for bit on the road because we saw to the left what was a parking lot similar to the one at the Moltenort locale, but curiously, there was no sign to any Uboat sight here. I told my friend to park in there as there were about two dozen other vehicles along with the proverbial tourist bus...so this must be it. We got out of the car and then there was a pathway/small road to walk down towards the water. It was on a slight decline and about 100 yards long give or take. I was again getting excited about seeing the U-995. Down the slight hill we could see the water ahead but no submarine. Where was it??? Then within about 50 feet a road going perpendicular to the one we were coming down....I could see the conning tower through some trees on my right. This was it!! I had finally arrived.
As we came to the end of the road, there was a larger road running perpendicular to us and parallel to the waters edge. As we came to that intersection, I looked to the right and there it was....just like in the pictures....on stilts looking freshly painted...with the two catwalks on either end, one for entry and one for exit....in all its grandeur. The Unterseeboot U-995.
My first thought at this point was.....it really looks out of place sitting where it sits. In the pictures, you see the boat with the water just behind it. That water is a public beach and I remember seeing quite a few beach goers in bathing suits not more than 30 feet away from U-995 seeminly oblivious to its presence, history and awesome power it once used. It just really seemed an odd place for the Uboat.
As I walked across the street to the water\'s side of the road and where the Uboat was located, I looked around at the small town around us. It was quite quaint and again didn\'t muster up any images of having a WWII power machine in its own backyard. In fact, just before you go down the path that leads to the entry catwalk, there is a small ice cream vendor cart with a student reading a book sitting there waiting for her next customer to buy ice cream. It just felt a bit odd to me. Anyway....
As we got onto the catwalk leading to the Uboat, I turned around and saw what was an incredible sight. The Memorial to the German Navy was right across the street from the Uboat. It was absolutely stunning. It has a very tall monument rising to 280 feet with an observation platform at the top. This is where the full view pics of the U-995 are taken when looking down with both entry and exit catwalks in view.
We arrive at the little booth along the catwalk just prior to the Uboat and pay our 3.50 DM (I think) and also I spot a ball cap that has the U-995 emblem on it so I pay another 6.50 DM and buy the ballcap. Just being an American tourist, that\'s all. So then we get up to the Uboat and the first thing I do is knock on the outside hull to feel its strength. I can tell it just had a new coat of paint as it looks pretty nice. Then I go inside and see basically the aft torpedo room. My friend continued up towards the bow while I just sat there in awe and looked around, got the feel and smell of things and then used my imagination as to how it must have been onboard at sea...hot diesel engines, never enough fresh air or food etc constantly pitching in the seemingly forever rough seas....Oh, if those walls could have talked....I\'d probably still be there today chatting!!
I then started forward coming to the Electric engine control room, then the Diesel engine room, then the Control Room. This was loaded with the compliment of valve handles doing so many various things. I saw the periscope, the navigators table which, unlike U-505 in Chicago, had no map laying on it. I believe the U-505 has the original map found on the boat when captured and its laying protected on the navigator\'s table. Moving forward were the cooks room which was incredibly small. I don\'t know how they did it...but they did. Captain\'s quarters and radio operators station. The captain\'s quarters had the desk area removed so tourists could get by easier. Forward, is an area where crewmen slept of course with the nice teak wood everywhere. Finally up to the forward torpedo room. All totalled, I spent about 25-30 minutes aboard and my friend was outside waiting for me.
At this point you can either walk the exit catwalk or step off the catwalk and walk around the entire boat as close to or far away from as you like. Guess which I chose to do??? :>)
I walked around the bow of the boat and they had a \"U-995\" name-plate sitting where most ships have their name...just behind the most forward point of the ship up on the bow. It is in the traditional Old German writing and is just for show as I\'m certain these weren\'t on the boats during wartime.
As I walked around the boat, I was only about 30 feet from the beachgoers when I got near the stern of the boat. Again, it just seemed kind of strange to me. At this point I stopped my tour of the exterior....because I ran out of film!!!
Next I went over to the German Navy Memorial. This Memorial is absolutely NOT TO BE MISSED!!! It is spectacular to say the least. It is a memorial and museum to all German Navy Personell...in fact I don\'t remember anything about Uboats in there. In the front is a high brick structure that can be seen for miles. I mentioned earlier it is 280 feet high. It is slightly angled forward toward the road. I don\'t know if you can still go up in its tower. As you look up at the top of this monument, you can see some barbed wire topping the fence up there so no one can climb over it and fall. I didn\'t see anyone up there while I was there so I didn\'t really seek to go up.
Anyway, to start with, from the submarine, you cross back across the street, going right by the Ice cream vendor cart...which I couldn\'t pass by this time, without getting a chocolate nutty buddy bar....about 2 DM. You then go to the pay booth and pay 5 DM, but I sweet talked my way into paying 4 DM....the \"group rate\". I think the cute girl who worked there appreciated that I tried to make the transaction in German so she gave me the better price. After this, you go thru a turnstyle up a slight incline of an asphalt pathway about 20 feet wide leading to the towering monument. About half way up the pathway on the right is an open area dominated by a large propeller on display and several plaques. The one plaque I had been looking for was located here. It was a memorial plaque to the US Navy and the U.S. subs lost during the war, of which I recall the plaque saying something about 52 of them lost and it also named each submarine lost. The caption read, \"Still on Patrol\". It was touching to see in a German Memorial. Just to the left of it, interestingly enough, was basically the same thing for submariners of Japan.
So you continue up the pathway and go to the base of the tower. Inside the tower is pretty much the same thing as was in the UBoat Memorial at Moltenort...some plaques and a few ribbons. After this, you turn around and go the opposite direction down a dimly lit hallway which is very beautiful. It is full of ribbons and flowers on both sides as you transit through on a slight downhill. I seem to recall these were flowers and ribbons honoring men on German Boats of all kinds through both WWI and WWII.
All of the sudden you come out into this great rotunda of a room. It is almost religious like because it is quite dark except for a large round stained glass at the top center of the ceiling letting the only light into that room. In the center of the room all by itself onthe floor is some type of memorial. It completely reminds you of something like the \"Tomb of The Unknown Soldier\" grave site. You can\'t get to it to see what it is because it is entirely roped off. All along the round walls of this room, which by the way probably measures about 80 feet across, are more beautiful flowers and ribbons and writings for people remembering their fallen loved ones, families and friends. What makes this so touching is the light that comes in thru this stained glass window in the ceiling....just stunning. Very moving.
After this experience, you end up at the other side of this rotunda room and go into what amounts to a museum with many large models of all types of German Ships both military and commercial freighter type. Some of these models were 10-12 feet in length. Very nicely done. There are also some wall maps here with some information about different occurences of wartime Germany and her past. There is also a small kiosk where some neat looking books are sold and other souvenier type things...At this point in time, I needed to find an ATM and ended up not buying a few thiings I really wanted to buy. Another reason/excuse to have to come back to Laboe!
So that is pretty much my trip to Germany with regards to the Uboat memorials and U-995.
One observation I made during my time in Germany was the number of German people I saw at these sights. More than I thought I would see. They were not laying flowers to honor anyone they might have known per se, but rather just for curiousity\'s sake. I had kind of thought that the German people didn\'t really like to \"relive their past\" when it came to the war. But I was pleasantly surprised to see quite a number of them at these sights....certainly not throngs of people but a far greater number than I thought I would see. It made me feel good to see them here enjoying and paying hommage to their fallen brothers.
And so ends my reports.
I hope you have enjoyed reading these as much as I had living the experiences I wrote about. If anyone has any questions, feel free to email me personally and I\'ll be happy to respond. It may take a few days because I may be on a 3 day trip when you write.
Once again, if anyone knows how to put pics onto our posts please let me know as I have quite a few to share with all of you.
Also here is the website I mentioned at the beginning of Report I about the Hitler\'s Lost Sub...It is truly a fun site as its interactive!
[www.pbs.org]
\"Good Hunting\"
Patrick Lane
737 Captain
American Airlines
</HTML>
As we came to the end of the road, there was a larger road running perpendicular to us and parallel to the waters edge. As we came to that intersection, I looked to the right and there it was....just like in the pictures....on stilts looking freshly painted...with the two catwalks on either end, one for entry and one for exit....in all its grandeur. The Unterseeboot U-995.
My first thought at this point was.....it really looks out of place sitting where it sits. In the pictures, you see the boat with the water just behind it. That water is a public beach and I remember seeing quite a few beach goers in bathing suits not more than 30 feet away from U-995 seeminly oblivious to its presence, history and awesome power it once used. It just really seemed an odd place for the Uboat.
As I walked across the street to the water\'s side of the road and where the Uboat was located, I looked around at the small town around us. It was quite quaint and again didn\'t muster up any images of having a WWII power machine in its own backyard. In fact, just before you go down the path that leads to the entry catwalk, there is a small ice cream vendor cart with a student reading a book sitting there waiting for her next customer to buy ice cream. It just felt a bit odd to me. Anyway....
As we got onto the catwalk leading to the Uboat, I turned around and saw what was an incredible sight. The Memorial to the German Navy was right across the street from the Uboat. It was absolutely stunning. It has a very tall monument rising to 280 feet with an observation platform at the top. This is where the full view pics of the U-995 are taken when looking down with both entry and exit catwalks in view.
We arrive at the little booth along the catwalk just prior to the Uboat and pay our 3.50 DM (I think) and also I spot a ball cap that has the U-995 emblem on it so I pay another 6.50 DM and buy the ballcap. Just being an American tourist, that\'s all. So then we get up to the Uboat and the first thing I do is knock on the outside hull to feel its strength. I can tell it just had a new coat of paint as it looks pretty nice. Then I go inside and see basically the aft torpedo room. My friend continued up towards the bow while I just sat there in awe and looked around, got the feel and smell of things and then used my imagination as to how it must have been onboard at sea...hot diesel engines, never enough fresh air or food etc constantly pitching in the seemingly forever rough seas....Oh, if those walls could have talked....I\'d probably still be there today chatting!!
I then started forward coming to the Electric engine control room, then the Diesel engine room, then the Control Room. This was loaded with the compliment of valve handles doing so many various things. I saw the periscope, the navigators table which, unlike U-505 in Chicago, had no map laying on it. I believe the U-505 has the original map found on the boat when captured and its laying protected on the navigator\'s table. Moving forward were the cooks room which was incredibly small. I don\'t know how they did it...but they did. Captain\'s quarters and radio operators station. The captain\'s quarters had the desk area removed so tourists could get by easier. Forward, is an area where crewmen slept of course with the nice teak wood everywhere. Finally up to the forward torpedo room. All totalled, I spent about 25-30 minutes aboard and my friend was outside waiting for me.
At this point you can either walk the exit catwalk or step off the catwalk and walk around the entire boat as close to or far away from as you like. Guess which I chose to do??? :>)
I walked around the bow of the boat and they had a \"U-995\" name-plate sitting where most ships have their name...just behind the most forward point of the ship up on the bow. It is in the traditional Old German writing and is just for show as I\'m certain these weren\'t on the boats during wartime.
As I walked around the boat, I was only about 30 feet from the beachgoers when I got near the stern of the boat. Again, it just seemed kind of strange to me. At this point I stopped my tour of the exterior....because I ran out of film!!!
Next I went over to the German Navy Memorial. This Memorial is absolutely NOT TO BE MISSED!!! It is spectacular to say the least. It is a memorial and museum to all German Navy Personell...in fact I don\'t remember anything about Uboats in there. In the front is a high brick structure that can be seen for miles. I mentioned earlier it is 280 feet high. It is slightly angled forward toward the road. I don\'t know if you can still go up in its tower. As you look up at the top of this monument, you can see some barbed wire topping the fence up there so no one can climb over it and fall. I didn\'t see anyone up there while I was there so I didn\'t really seek to go up.
Anyway, to start with, from the submarine, you cross back across the street, going right by the Ice cream vendor cart...which I couldn\'t pass by this time, without getting a chocolate nutty buddy bar....about 2 DM. You then go to the pay booth and pay 5 DM, but I sweet talked my way into paying 4 DM....the \"group rate\". I think the cute girl who worked there appreciated that I tried to make the transaction in German so she gave me the better price. After this, you go thru a turnstyle up a slight incline of an asphalt pathway about 20 feet wide leading to the towering monument. About half way up the pathway on the right is an open area dominated by a large propeller on display and several plaques. The one plaque I had been looking for was located here. It was a memorial plaque to the US Navy and the U.S. subs lost during the war, of which I recall the plaque saying something about 52 of them lost and it also named each submarine lost. The caption read, \"Still on Patrol\". It was touching to see in a German Memorial. Just to the left of it, interestingly enough, was basically the same thing for submariners of Japan.
So you continue up the pathway and go to the base of the tower. Inside the tower is pretty much the same thing as was in the UBoat Memorial at Moltenort...some plaques and a few ribbons. After this, you turn around and go the opposite direction down a dimly lit hallway which is very beautiful. It is full of ribbons and flowers on both sides as you transit through on a slight downhill. I seem to recall these were flowers and ribbons honoring men on German Boats of all kinds through both WWI and WWII.
All of the sudden you come out into this great rotunda of a room. It is almost religious like because it is quite dark except for a large round stained glass at the top center of the ceiling letting the only light into that room. In the center of the room all by itself onthe floor is some type of memorial. It completely reminds you of something like the \"Tomb of The Unknown Soldier\" grave site. You can\'t get to it to see what it is because it is entirely roped off. All along the round walls of this room, which by the way probably measures about 80 feet across, are more beautiful flowers and ribbons and writings for people remembering their fallen loved ones, families and friends. What makes this so touching is the light that comes in thru this stained glass window in the ceiling....just stunning. Very moving.
After this experience, you end up at the other side of this rotunda room and go into what amounts to a museum with many large models of all types of German Ships both military and commercial freighter type. Some of these models were 10-12 feet in length. Very nicely done. There are also some wall maps here with some information about different occurences of wartime Germany and her past. There is also a small kiosk where some neat looking books are sold and other souvenier type things...At this point in time, I needed to find an ATM and ended up not buying a few thiings I really wanted to buy. Another reason/excuse to have to come back to Laboe!
So that is pretty much my trip to Germany with regards to the Uboat memorials and U-995.
One observation I made during my time in Germany was the number of German people I saw at these sights. More than I thought I would see. They were not laying flowers to honor anyone they might have known per se, but rather just for curiousity\'s sake. I had kind of thought that the German people didn\'t really like to \"relive their past\" when it came to the war. But I was pleasantly surprised to see quite a number of them at these sights....certainly not throngs of people but a far greater number than I thought I would see. It made me feel good to see them here enjoying and paying hommage to their fallen brothers.
And so ends my reports.
I hope you have enjoyed reading these as much as I had living the experiences I wrote about. If anyone has any questions, feel free to email me personally and I\'ll be happy to respond. It may take a few days because I may be on a 3 day trip when you write.
Once again, if anyone knows how to put pics onto our posts please let me know as I have quite a few to share with all of you.
Also here is the website I mentioned at the beginning of Report I about the Hitler\'s Lost Sub...It is truly a fun site as its interactive!
[www.pbs.org]
\"Good Hunting\"
Patrick Lane
737 Captain
American Airlines
</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Germany Trip Report Part III
|
Captain Patrick Lane | 05/21/2001 05:21AM |
|
enjoyed reading ur report -ntx
|
ray.s | 05/21/2001 11:48AM |
|
RE: Germany Trip Report Part III
|
Fin Bonset | 05/21/2001 12:06PM |
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RE: Germany Trip Report Part III
|
Fin Bonset | 05/21/2001 12:15PM |
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RE: Germany Trip Report Part III
|
Chris Lee | 05/22/2001 05:12AM |
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RE: Malmenes Paratroop Memorial
|
Rainer Bruns | 05/22/2001 02:13PM |
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RE: Malmenes/war memorials
|
Chris Lee | 05/23/2001 05:02AM |
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RE: Malmenes/war memorials
|
Chris Lee | 05/23/2001 05:06AM |
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RE: Malmenes/war memorials
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Chris Lee | 05/23/2001 05:08AM |
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RE: multiple postings..sorry.
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chris lee | 05/23/2001 05:25AM |
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RE: multiple postings..sorry.
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Vin | 05/23/2001 06:02AM |
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RE: multiple postings..sorry.
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Chris Lee | 05/24/2001 01:53AM |
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RE: Malmenes/war memorials
|
Rainer Bruns | 05/23/2001 11:18AM |
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RE: Germany Trip Report Part III
|
Werner Frank | 05/22/2001 12:13AM |
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RE: Germany Trip Report Part III
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Joe Brennan | 05/22/2001 05:25AM |