General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: U534 - working party thoughts 2A
Posted by:
John Griffiths
()
Date: July 11, 2001 07:36PM
<HTML>MPC,
>>Just a small tip...... whenever you quote first then comment underneath all I get in the email is the quote. Dont know why but I have to come in here and look see as to what you said. Could you try the quote afterwards ?<<
Hmm....probably tired, mate. Been one of them 'you don't want to know' weeks...!
>>You a Kptlt? God man, the only way you would get in the wardrobe is by knocking at the door with a tray of drinks in your hand. There are \"us and them\" you know but, Queen Anne\'s Mansions aint for the likes of us. Having said that, perhaps we could wood-panel the wardroom of the U 534 then invite them wots lower deck to share our pot-mess.<<
Now that's typical ex squaddie, that is. An' it's a wardroom - a place for rug dancin' the matelots and cake and a**e partys for the officers! As for me not being a Kptlt...you'd see me in that uniform and you'd be eaten up with envy, you would - quite apart from being embarressed by the myriad hordes of full bosomed matrons that would swoon at my feet when I clicked my heels, bowed slightly and saluted, smiling with a twinkle in my eye....!
>>I reckon something could come out of all of this regarding getting U 534 somewhere near ship-shape, after all she is an extremely rare and valuable warship of the last war.<<
Mike, I wish! I seriously think that whilst there would undoubtedly be a will, there is - alas - no way. Just look at the hoo-ha about HMS Cavalier and the efforts to preserve her. Eventually, yes...but what a fight they had! I think that whilst U-534 would be ideally sited on Merseyside - home of the Battle of The Atlantic - she would require a great deal of money and work to get her to a preserved condition.
It would take a complete gutting, probably dry docking to settle the war damage. Steel plate work to replace corroded areas, a chippy - or ten - to re-sheath the decking. Electricians, riggers, steel erectors...painters....a historian...and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. We probably have the skills here on the forum - but the money? Consider a barge to get her into a dry dock - plus a tug and crew. Then a complete re-build ( which is what it would take ), docking charges and all that....we'd need a millionaire to back us!
I'd like to see her placed something like the Laboe boat, as a memorial to all - allied and axis - who died in the battle of The Atlantic. However, the truth is, she's an ex-German U-boat - one of 'the enemy' - and there is little interest in her despite the fact she would be the only preserved U-boat in the UK - a country whose maritime and naval fleets suffered terribly in the early days of the maritime war.
God sakes, we haven't got one example of a preserved wartime standard built merchant ship to show something of our past and remember the merchant seamen who died - never mind a U-boat!
Pity really. We are so slow to remember and too quick to forget.
In reality, we'd get some flak from the tree huggin', sandal wearing PC hippies who would see, in U-534, a reminder of National Socialism and Hitler...not the fact that many men died on all sides so that the right on brigade could have the freedom to protest!
I'm up for whatever we decide to do but the truth is, U-534 will end her days as scrap.
Considering our once proud maritime past, we just don't care as a nation.
Sadly.
Aye,
John</HTML>
>>Just a small tip...... whenever you quote first then comment underneath all I get in the email is the quote. Dont know why but I have to come in here and look see as to what you said. Could you try the quote afterwards ?<<
Hmm....probably tired, mate. Been one of them 'you don't want to know' weeks...!
>>You a Kptlt? God man, the only way you would get in the wardrobe is by knocking at the door with a tray of drinks in your hand. There are \"us and them\" you know but, Queen Anne\'s Mansions aint for the likes of us. Having said that, perhaps we could wood-panel the wardroom of the U 534 then invite them wots lower deck to share our pot-mess.<<
Now that's typical ex squaddie, that is. An' it's a wardroom - a place for rug dancin' the matelots and cake and a**e partys for the officers! As for me not being a Kptlt...you'd see me in that uniform and you'd be eaten up with envy, you would - quite apart from being embarressed by the myriad hordes of full bosomed matrons that would swoon at my feet when I clicked my heels, bowed slightly and saluted, smiling with a twinkle in my eye....!
>>I reckon something could come out of all of this regarding getting U 534 somewhere near ship-shape, after all she is an extremely rare and valuable warship of the last war.<<
Mike, I wish! I seriously think that whilst there would undoubtedly be a will, there is - alas - no way. Just look at the hoo-ha about HMS Cavalier and the efforts to preserve her. Eventually, yes...but what a fight they had! I think that whilst U-534 would be ideally sited on Merseyside - home of the Battle of The Atlantic - she would require a great deal of money and work to get her to a preserved condition.
It would take a complete gutting, probably dry docking to settle the war damage. Steel plate work to replace corroded areas, a chippy - or ten - to re-sheath the decking. Electricians, riggers, steel erectors...painters....a historian...and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. We probably have the skills here on the forum - but the money? Consider a barge to get her into a dry dock - plus a tug and crew. Then a complete re-build ( which is what it would take ), docking charges and all that....we'd need a millionaire to back us!
I'd like to see her placed something like the Laboe boat, as a memorial to all - allied and axis - who died in the battle of The Atlantic. However, the truth is, she's an ex-German U-boat - one of 'the enemy' - and there is little interest in her despite the fact she would be the only preserved U-boat in the UK - a country whose maritime and naval fleets suffered terribly in the early days of the maritime war.
God sakes, we haven't got one example of a preserved wartime standard built merchant ship to show something of our past and remember the merchant seamen who died - never mind a U-boat!
Pity really. We are so slow to remember and too quick to forget.
In reality, we'd get some flak from the tree huggin', sandal wearing PC hippies who would see, in U-534, a reminder of National Socialism and Hitler...not the fact that many men died on all sides so that the right on brigade could have the freedom to protest!
I'm up for whatever we decide to do but the truth is, U-534 will end her days as scrap.
Considering our once proud maritime past, we just don't care as a nation.
Sadly.
Aye,
John</HTML>
