German submarine U-534

German submarine U-534 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. She was built in 1942 in Hamburg-Finkenwerder by Deutsche Werft AG as 'werk' 352. She was launched on 23 September 1942 and commissioned on 23 December with Oberleutnant Herbert Nollau in command. The U-boat is one of only four German WWII submarines in preserved condition remaining in the world, the only other IXC boat being GERMAN SUBMARINE U-505 in Chicago, USA. This boat was used mainly for training duties, and during her life sank no other ships. A Royal Air Force bomber sank her on 5 May 1945 in the Kattegat some 20 kilometers northeast of the Danish island of Anholt. U-534 was salvaged in 1993 and since February 2009 has been on display in Birkenhead as part of the U-boat Story.

Wartime history
After commissioning, U-534 was assigned to the 4th U-boat Flotilla for training purposes and weapons testing, including the new acoustic torpedo Zaunkoenig T-5, until February 1944. She was then reconfigured (main gun removed, flak added) and in April transferred to the 2nd flotilla. Her first war patrol was plagued by an oil leak and bad weather in the North Atlantic and all that was accomplished was collecting weather data. On the second patrol, from 25 August 1944 to 24 October, the boat had to escape the Allied blockade of Lorient in France get back to a friendly port. Again, no ships were sunk, but an attacking Vickers Wellington bomber of 172 Squadron RAF was shot down on 27 August. U-534 was then transferred to the 33rd U-boat Flotilla and put out of duty until 1 May 1945. On the 5th, she was on her last wartime patrol, when the captain was notified of Admiral Dönitz's order to surrender.

Incidents leading to sinking
On 5 May 1945, for unknown reasons, the captain of U-534 ignored the surrender order and set course for Norway instead. To this day, mystery still surrounds U-534's refusal to surrender, although numerous theories exist. What seems to be established fact is that U-534 was sailing on the surface of the Kattegat, together with three other U-boats, when British Liberator aircraft attacked. The crew managed to shoot one bomber down, and nine depth charges from the bombing runs missed, but then the boat received a direct hit. U-534 began to take on water as a result of the damage to her aft section by the engine rooms, and sank north-east of Anholt. The shot-down B-24 must have come down nearby, all crew on board the plane were lost.



U-534 had a crew of 52 men, all of whom escaped and 49 survived. Five were trapped in the torpedo room as she began to sink but escaped through the torpedo loading hatch once the boat had settled on the sea bed. One of these crewmen, 17-year old radio operator Josef Neudorfer, failed to breathe out as he was surfacing from depth and died from damage to his lungs. The other two deaths were caused by exposure.

One plausible explanation for U-534's refusal to surrender lies in the discovery of three experimental T11 torpedoes found in the aft section of the vessel. Only 38 of this type were built, and they were unique in that they had acoustic homing systems which were developed as a countermeasure to the British Foxer decoy system.

The vessel's commander, Kapitänleutnant Herbert Nollau, committed suicide in 1968.

FLAK weaponry
U-534 was mounted with the rare Twin 3.7 cm Flakzwilling M43U on the LM42U mount. This was one of the best AA weapons used by the Kriegsmarine during World War II. It was mainly used on the Type IX as it was rather too heavy for the Type VII U-boats.

Salvage
U-534 lay on the sea bed for nearly 41 years until she was found in 1986 by the Danish wreckhunter Aage Jensen, nicknamed "THE RAT" and "Dynamite-Aage". Shortly after Lars Sunn Pedersen presented the idea to Danish media millionaire Karsten Ree who then sponsored the raising of the submarine amid rumours of Nazi gold and intense media coverage. Hopes of gold treasure proved unfounded, as the ship contained nothing extraordinary.

Museum ship
Transported to Birkenhead, England, in 1996, the vessel formed part of the Warship Preservation Trust's collection at Birkenhead Docks until the museum closed on 5 February 2006. On 27 June 2007, the Merseytravel transit authority announced that it had acquired the submarine to display at the Woodside Ferry Terminal.

For technical reasons and to facilitate economical transportation to its new site, the vessel was cut into five sections, two of which were subsequently re-joined. It is now displayed in sectioned form to allow visitors better visibility without entering the U-boat. Merseytravel said that preserving the hull intact would have created prohibitive transport costs. Engineers began a month-long operation to cut up U-534, using a diamond wire cutter, on 6 February 2008. Beginning on 10 March 2008, the sections, each weighing up to 240 tonnes, were transported by floating crane over a number of days.

"The U-Boat Story" exhibition opened on 10 February 2009.

Surviving U-Boats

 * GERMAN SUBMARINE U-505
 * GERMAN SUBMARINE U-995
 * GERMAN SUBMARINE U-2540

Other

 * List of German U-boats
 * GERMAN SUBMARINE U-778