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And still continues..........
This is turning into an absolutely crazy situation that would make Ian Fleming confused. For those who are not familiar with this situation, here is a quick overview. The last moments of the war, U-534 was sunk by an RAF liberator and our Member (Nigel) was the bombardier. Many decades later, Sharkhunters Member and professional diver Aage Jensen found this boat. Another Member Lars Sunn Pedersen headed up the group that salvaged the boat, which was paid for and thusly owned by a wealthy Dane. So far - so good Eventually the boat went to the Nautilus Maritime Museum (or some such name) in Birkenhead near Liverpool, England. A few years ago, the warehouses along that part of the waterfront were bought with the intention of making them into upscale flats. This is done in cities all over the world - and the ships of this museum had to vacate.
The Royal Navy (and other) ships of the museum were floating and so there was no problem moving them to another location BUT U-534 was not floating - she was on concrete pads such as U-505 in Chicago or U-995 on the shores of the Baltic and thus, was not so easy to move and definitely not so inexpensively. So far, the information coming in here is pretty accurate......so far.
Sharkhunters attempted to effect a purchase of the boat but the guy who owned the boat put someone else in charge of the negotiations and we could not get along with him, so there was no deal. The days, weeks and months dragged on and still U-534 was sitting in the parking lot like a sad monolith with a seemingly bleak future.
Then, we are told, the owner of the property hit the Danish owner of the boat with a lien on the boat for some amount of money; we assume it was because the boat had been moved to a far corner of the parking lot and that isn't cheap. Then the stories began to flood the Internet. They include :
1. The boat was sold to the company that owns the Mersey River ferry to be moved to a ferryboat terminal and used as part of a museum there and that they paid some 2 million British Pounds Sterling for the boat.
2. The same story but the boat was sold for a token payment of only ONE British Pound.
In either case, the boat reportedly would be cut into 3 pieces for an easy (and less expensive) move and reassembled on site.
3. We are now hearing that there is no deal in place and that the boat could possibly face being cut up on the parking lot.
Naturally, there is panic in the U-Boat history world over the fate of this boat. In England, a former Member of Sharkhunters is reportedly organizing a petition for everyone to sign to preserve the boat. We were asked to publish this petition to all our Members in 74 countries, but we declined for several reasons including:
A. Only citizens of the UK (who can vote) would have their signatures count; all others would be merely for reference;
B. What would the British Government do in this situation - what COULD they do? In our opinion, they could and would do nothing. This is not a British memorial ship and it is not owned by England or any other country. It is privately owned and if the Mersey Transportation or any other company could buy it - it is a private sale between private persons. It is highly unlikely that the British Government will pop the money for a rusty old submarine of the former enemy. At this point in time, it is no different (although on a much smaller scale) than if we at Sharkhunters were going to sell one of our trucks to another company - the government has nothing to do with this and in our opinion, a petition handed to the British Government to save U-534 is a lot like trying to push a piece of string uphill.
So what is the REAL story with U-534? We have asked the Danish owner of the boat to give us the full details, but he has not replied. We know that he is totally fluent in English - maybe he is afraid to let us know what is really going on. Could it be that this boat was merely a rich man's toy and now that the problems are multiplying faster than rats, that he wants to wash his hands of this? This email will end up in his hands and so we ask again - will you tell us the real facts about U-534? We certainly do not wish to think that you are afraid of us if you really are not.
At any rate - when we have more information about U-534, we will post it again on our Sharkhunters HOT MAIL.
SHARKHUNTERS - Official Worldwide Publication of U-Boat History
www.sharkhunters.com
This is turning into an absolutely crazy situation that would make Ian Fleming confused. For those who are not familiar with this situation, here is a quick overview. The last moments of the war, U-534 was sunk by an RAF liberator and our Member (Nigel) was the bombardier. Many decades later, Sharkhunters Member and professional diver Aage Jensen found this boat. Another Member Lars Sunn Pedersen headed up the group that salvaged the boat, which was paid for and thusly owned by a wealthy Dane. So far - so good Eventually the boat went to the Nautilus Maritime Museum (or some such name) in Birkenhead near Liverpool, England. A few years ago, the warehouses along that part of the waterfront were bought with the intention of making them into upscale flats. This is done in cities all over the world - and the ships of this museum had to vacate.
The Royal Navy (and other) ships of the museum were floating and so there was no problem moving them to another location BUT U-534 was not floating - she was on concrete pads such as U-505 in Chicago or U-995 on the shores of the Baltic and thus, was not so easy to move and definitely not so inexpensively. So far, the information coming in here is pretty accurate......so far.
Sharkhunters attempted to effect a purchase of the boat but the guy who owned the boat put someone else in charge of the negotiations and we could not get along with him, so there was no deal. The days, weeks and months dragged on and still U-534 was sitting in the parking lot like a sad monolith with a seemingly bleak future.
Then, we are told, the owner of the property hit the Danish owner of the boat with a lien on the boat for some amount of money; we assume it was because the boat had been moved to a far corner of the parking lot and that isn't cheap. Then the stories began to flood the Internet. They include :
1. The boat was sold to the company that owns the Mersey River ferry to be moved to a ferryboat terminal and used as part of a museum there and that they paid some 2 million British Pounds Sterling for the boat.
2. The same story but the boat was sold for a token payment of only ONE British Pound.
In either case, the boat reportedly would be cut into 3 pieces for an easy (and less expensive) move and reassembled on site.
3. We are now hearing that there is no deal in place and that the boat could possibly face being cut up on the parking lot.
Naturally, there is panic in the U-Boat history world over the fate of this boat. In England, a former Member of Sharkhunters is reportedly organizing a petition for everyone to sign to preserve the boat. We were asked to publish this petition to all our Members in 74 countries, but we declined for several reasons including:
A. Only citizens of the UK (who can vote) would have their signatures count; all others would be merely for reference;
B. What would the British Government do in this situation - what COULD they do? In our opinion, they could and would do nothing. This is not a British memorial ship and it is not owned by England or any other country. It is privately owned and if the Mersey Transportation or any other company could buy it - it is a private sale between private persons. It is highly unlikely that the British Government will pop the money for a rusty old submarine of the former enemy. At this point in time, it is no different (although on a much smaller scale) than if we at Sharkhunters were going to sell one of our trucks to another company - the government has nothing to do with this and in our opinion, a petition handed to the British Government to save U-534 is a lot like trying to push a piece of string uphill.
So what is the REAL story with U-534? We have asked the Danish owner of the boat to give us the full details, but he has not replied. We know that he is totally fluent in English - maybe he is afraid to let us know what is really going on. Could it be that this boat was merely a rich man's toy and now that the problems are multiplying faster than rats, that he wants to wash his hands of this? This email will end up in his hands and so we ask again - will you tell us the real facts about U-534? We certainly do not wish to think that you are afraid of us if you really are not.
At any rate - when we have more information about U-534, we will post it again on our Sharkhunters HOT MAIL.
SHARKHUNTERS - Official Worldwide Publication of U-Boat History
www.sharkhunters.com
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