Type VII U-boats - reference photos

[steveuk]

Thanks Jeff. You're so knowledgeable

Thanks Jeff. You're so knowledgeable about these things!

Did you go to see U995 at Laboe yet

[JWLaRue]

Would you believe that I

Would you believe that I was in Germany last week on business....but didn't have the time to go visit the U-995? Talk about frustrating!

-Jeff

[steveuk]

Well Germany is a big

Well Germany is a big place. If you were no where near Kiel I can forgive you, but if you weren't...

I went some years ago when I was visiting friends in Hamburg. I was sorry to see that the U-boat had already been renovated. I wouldn't mind if they did a good job, but authenticity was not a top priority, sadly . As a consequence the area around the bow tube doors is just not right anymore. Instead there were some crude plates just welded over, and all of the flood holes are gone - I guess they patched up most of the bow. Fortunately there are pictures of U995's bow before that work was done.

I took some photographs whilst I was there. I'll see if I can find them.

One of the funny moments was during the 'tour' inside. I lurked around at the back of the group waiting for the others to all pass forward so I could spring my master plan into action - before anyone noticed I would quickly climb the ladder up the tube and into the conning tower when, Darn it! ...I discovered a metall grid blocking my route. Must have been others who tried the same trick in the past. So, I didn't get to climb into the conning tower.

[JWLaRue]

Yea, it's a shame that

Yea, it's a shame that the U-995 has not been restored to a condition that is representative of the 1940's. I've never been able to find out if some of the changes were done by the Norwegians while they had her in service after the war or afterwards as part of getting her ready for display at Laboe.

Perhaps the excellent refurbishment that was done to the U-505 will serve as an incentive to do the same for the U-995.

-Jeff

[steveuk]

I've never been able to

I've never been able to find out if some of the changes were done by the Norwegians while they had her in service after the war or afterwards as part of getting her ready for display at Laboe.

The answer to that is, unequivically the work was done some time after she had been converted to a museum exhibit and was already sited on the beach at Laboe. - I have some postcards from the museum with some great images of U995 at Laboe with her bow area all as original - including flood holes, proper bow doors etc. The replacement plating must have been added some time between then and now. It's hard to know weather she simply suffered from the elements and age or if she had been vandalised in some way.


I will find the pictures and scan them in for you... It's worth seeing her as she originally appeared.

[steveuk]

Here are the postcard images,

Here are the postcard images, first two show U995 exhibit originally as she appeared - note the flood holes around the torpedo tube doors. Also note the colours, kind of flat blue/greys..I like these better than the new monotone gloss grey

...the last image is a photo of how she looks now with the over plated repairs, partial pic of the bow showing the two torpdo door plates which almost look painted on. Notice also the diagonal line of flood holes at the top of the bow has been partly plated over, with just three original holes remaining.

(edit: added clickable thumbnails instead as the scanned pics got resized smaller on this board for some reason)

Hope you enjoy these pics Jeff.

Click image to enlarge

Postcard 1


Postcard 2


Bow today

[JWLaRue]

Steve,

Many thanks for posting those

Steve,

Many thanks for posting those images......that really clears up that question! It really is too bad that the U-995 has been allowed to deteriorate that badly.

-Jeff

[steveuk]

Glad you appreciated them. http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_smile.gif

Glad you appreciated them.

It wasn't all bad. I did get some interesting shots of other parts that haven't been altered. Would you like me to post them here

Also I downloaded some images of U995's wooden deck (which I personally couldn't get to!!)..I can't remember where I got them from, might even have been from here.

[JWLaRue]

Steve,

Yes...please do post them! They

Steve,

Yes...please do post them! They would be excellent reference materials.

-many thanks,

Jeff

[don prince]

Hi Jeff,

I got a DVD

Hi Jeff,

I got a DVD from Amazon that has many good photos and mini movies of various interior sections of U-995. In addition, there is a CD of 18 U-Boat Songs, and 1 Panzerlied song...

U-995 German Type VIIC U-Boat: Illustrated Gallery of the Last Surviving Type VIIC U-Boat in the World.

Regards,
Don_

[JWLaRue]

Hi Don,

....what do you think

Hi Don,

....what do you think of the DVD? Worth the price if one has the VOZM (and other) books?

-tnx,

Jeff

[steveuk]

Ok, here are photo's I

Ok, here are photo's I took during my visit to U995. This was about 10 years ago, (I could ask my wife for an exact date ), she could have changed appearence again by now! (..U995 that is. )

Hope you enjoy and find them usefull.


Click on image below for full size view

[steveuk]

and here are some more

and here are some more images I found on the net, can't remember exactly where, might have even been from these boards somewhere.
(If someone recognises these pics I would be happy to stick your name to them. Thank you whoever you are for sharing these cool photo's on the net...)

I always wanted to see what U995's deck looked like but there were no ladders or high vantage points at the museum site.

So, all those who also wanted to see what U995's deck looks like

click on image below for full size image

[mylo]

Steve,

You've posted these pics

Steve,

You've posted these pics somewhere before, because they are the reference photos that I have been using, in particular to create my masters for my deck molds. I do have these photos saved on my desktop and I KNOW I didn't hack into your computer, but I'm not sure where I got them from, maybe a website ?? There was quite a few of them and they are all excellent reference photos.

Mylo

[anonymous]

Here some more:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o205/gantu/U-995_001.jpghttp://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o205/gantu/U-995_002.jpg
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o205/gantu/U-995_003.jpghttp://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o205/gantu/U-995_

Here some more:













Gantu