The German submarine U-672, which disappeared during World War Two, was undisturbed for more than 80 years
(Image: Dom Robinson / SWNS)
A German submarine has been discovered 82 years after it was attack by the Royal Navy. The vessel, that sank during the Second World War, was undisturbed on the seabed approximately 230ft (70m) beneath the surface off the Devon coastline but has now been rediscovered.
During the summer, divers established it was a German U-boat. The following month, Plymouth dive team Gasperados identified the U-672 roughly 20 miles off Salcombe, Devon.
HMS Balfour had attacked the submarine in July 1944, and its 52 crew scuttled it and survived. The wreck remained hidden for more than eight decades because of “a clerical error in the documents”. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here
German Second World War historian Dr Axel Niestle said the mistake recorded the vessel’s position at a point 46 miles away from where it was actually sunk.
Gasperados diver Dominic Robinson described it as “fantastic” to uncover “another underwater mystery”, adding that locating the snorkel proved a crucial clue in identifying the U-boat, reports the Express.
He said: “Once we started moving around it and I started seeing the individual features – I saw the snorkel, I saw the conning tower, all those kind of things – I knew that we were going to get the video needed to identify it, so I was really pleased about that.”
He further noted the wreck contained several remarkable features, including a steel propeller and “the early Schnorchel system and the remains of the German Aphrodite radar decoy equipment”. Following the attack, the U-boat was left taking on water beneath the surface.
Its commander, Ulf Lawaetz, held out for as long as he could before ordering the tanks to be blown, bringing the submarine to the surface to give its crew a final chance of survival.
“They were bobbing around in the sea and then the very next day they were found by British aircraft, British vessels and then taken away to the prisoner of war camp,” he said. The surviving crew members made their way back to Germany once the war had ended.
Following the discovery, Commander Lawaetz’s family got in touch with the divers, expressing their delight that the wreck had at last been located and identified.
The family showed the divers a small numbered tag that Mr Lawaetz had kept for the remainder of his life.
