Nazi Germany’s European U-boat Bases and Pens after the War
by: Raul Colon
The end of hostilities in Europe also marked the end of the U-Bootwaffe’s hold on some of Europe’s most important naval bases. Of all the pens and bases utilized by the once powerful U-Bootwaffe fleet. Some of those bases were demolished, others were used for a transition period and some are still in operation today. This article attempts to shed light into the fate of some of the Kriegsmarine’s most important submarine bases. Below is a detailed list of all the major U-boats pens and their history once they were captured by the advancing Allies armies. First on the list is Hamburg.
1. Hamburg
When hostilities ceased in 1945, the famous Elbe II Bunker fell to the British armies racing across the fatherland. On the 11th of November 1945, Royal Engineers from the Imperial British Army detonated several well placed sets of explosives (mainly discarded Luftwaffe ordinances) in an attempt to implode the whole complex. The resulting explosions shocked the dividing wall between the two pens weakening it to the point that a few minutes after the main explosion, the complete wall collapsed and the structure’s roof partially caved in. As a result of the collapsing wall, the pens’ roof collapsed crushing the Type XXI U-boat U-3506. Two additional boats, U-2505 and 3004, although sank by the incoming roof, survived the crash almost intact. In 1949, the first official salvaged operation commenced. The three boats were pumped dry and stripped of their cells accumulators, copper wiring and diesel engines. U-2501, which had been sunk by the collapsing rooftop in May 1945, was raised and scrapped in the early 1950s. At the same time, the 2505 and 3004 boats were partially torn apart.
In the early years of the 1960s, attempts were made to clear the dislodge bunker area. Although some success was achieved during these clearing projects, the ever escalating cost of the program dampened further development. It was not until 1995 when the decision was made to permanently shutdown the pen area. By October of that year, a survey found that the two U-boats (2505 and 3004) were completely submerge in a seas of sand and debris which they could not be salvage. As for the bunker structure itself, no serious effort was made to clear the debris. The cost associated to the program was cited as the reason to terminate the effort. Today the surviving bunker structure lies near the main port Hamburg, on the south bank of the River Elbe.
2. Bremen
The huge U-boat bunker at Bremen was one of a number of German-built structures that were use by the victorious allies as practice target areas. Both, the Royal Air Force as well as the United States Air Force used the Bremen pen area as one of their main practice facilities in Europe after the war. The Bremen structure is unique to most of the German U-boat pen in the fact that the occupying British forces made no effort to demolish or destroy the bunker. Between March 1945 and the spring of 1946, the bunker suffered many bomb hits from low-flying RAF and USAF bombers and although some damage was done the outer structure, the complex remained almost unscratched. No effort was made to destroy the facility in the Allied occupation years. The pen was officially returned to the German forces in the autumn of 1964. The Bundesmarine still operates the facility today.
3. Bergen
After the collapse of Nazi Germany, the British Royal Engineers Corps proceeded to demolish a large part of the Bergen bunker. But by the summer of 1949, the Royal Norwegian Navy refurnished the structure and refitted its dry dock facilities. As of today, the Norwegian Navy still operates the facility.
4. Helgoland
The Helgoland facility remained almost intact after the war. On the day of cessation of hostilities in Europe, this impressive facility was occupied by almost 4,600 German military personnel as well as a number of civilian workers. In August 1945, a group of German demolition experts commandeered by the British Royal Navy began the process of preparing the whole complex for demolition. By April 18th, 1947; with all the chargers and explosives in place, the British detonated them causing what was at the time, the largest non-atomic explosion in history. Almost nothing remains of the once powerful symbol of Nazi power. The only semi-structure still standing, a partially completed observation tower, serves today as a light house.
5. Trondheim
Trondheim’s main bunker facility, the Dora II complex, was completely destroyed by the British Royal Engineers Corps after the end of the war. Only a small workshop still remains of the once vaunted complex. On the other hand, the Dora I survived the war effort almost intact. It was taken over by the Royal Norwegian Navy which continued to use the facility as a submarine pen until the spring of 1954. In 1955, the complex was decommissioned by the Navy and handed over to the Norwegian civilian authorities. In 1988 a permanent parking lot was erected on the roof of the bunker. Today, the U-boat pens can be accessed with relative ease by tourist.
6. Kiel
In September 1945, the main facility of the Kiel bunker complex, the Kilian pen area, was prepared for demolition by the British Royal Engineers Corps. Un-used Luftwaffe free-fall bombs were employed in the effort. The resulting explosion collapsed the main diving wall between the two major pen structures. As the roof collapsed, the sole submarine, a Type XXI boat, U-4708 which was seated inside the pen, was crushed by the caving roof. The boat’s remains, as well as that of the structure itself, laid there until 1959 when a major effort to clear the bunker was undertook. Although much of the remaining debris from the bunker was cleared out during the late 1950s and early 1960s, some structures still remains visible today. The roof and walls are gone and the pen area is flooded, but the silhouette of the pen’s pillars is still visible. Today, visitors can see what a German submarine pen was like in the 1940s just by visiting the Dora I remains.
The other bunker of the Kiel complex, the Konrad, was blown up in the fall of 1946. The remains were finally cleared by the mid 1960s. Nothing of the Konrad bunker remains today.
There are many other German-utilized submarines pens around Europe. Most of them inside occupy France. Those will be discussed on a further piece. For today, let us look at a different time and see what happen to those once powerful symbols of Nazi Germany’s domination in the early 1940s.@
Raul Colon
e-mail:rcolonfrias@yahoo.com
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