Thank you Noel

There is absolutely no reason to think that MT will turn their back on the U-534. They have come too far and and are far too committed in her preservation for that to happen. The cost of the project is estimated at £2.5m, which is no small chunk of change! If she was going to be placed on another scrap of land and left to slowly rot (as she had been previously), then my opinions would be different. I am happy to say though, that this is just not the case.

I was originally against the cutting of the U-534 and it was me that started a couple of petitions that gathered 5000+ names (the original petition that ran to save the Historic Warships Museum only had half that amount and I think that ran for a couple of years!).

I am a realist though and speaking with MT, I soon discovered that there was just no other option. If these plans for the Visitor Centre had fallen through, the U-534 was as good as scrapped. It was just too late in the day to look down any other avenues. For my love and preservation of the U-534, I closed the petitions. I felt that the risk was far too great to keep them running and I did not want to jeopardise her future.

I have been privileged to have become involved with MT and they have been nothing but professional in both their approach and manner. Their enthusiasm for the project is second to none. The new Visitor Centre is going to be fabulous and I would encourage any one to visit when it is complete in the summer.

Of course it is a shame that you will no longer be able to experience the atmosphere of walking through the bowels of the boat, but that is not to say that this can not happen in the future. After the sections had been moved to the new location, two sections were placed back together and the join was almost milimeter perfect. Showing that she could be stitched back together in the future with relative ease.

Who knows what the next chapter of the U-534 story will bring, but I for one am so so pleased that she is still with us and will be for many many years to come.

Cheers!

Max
[www.atlantik-pirat.com]
(U-534 updates will be added frequently)