Belgian finds German WWI submarine
‘Flemish Indiana Jones’ suspects 23 bodies inside intact U-boat
When Tomas Termote, a marine archaeologist, plunged 100 feet into the sea near Belgium this summer, he could barely believe his eyes: In front of him was a German submarine from World War I, with two of its hatches closed and, he suspected, 23 bodies inside.
“I immediately realized this was a German U-boat, and was elated,” said Termote, a 42-yearold World War I buff and wouldbe “Flemish Indiana Jones” who has made more than 5,000 dives in the North Sea in search of shipwrecks.
“The submarine was remarkably intact and covered in seaweed, marine plants, and orange, red and yellow flowers with fish swimming by,” said Termote.
Termote said in an interview that the search for the wellpreserved mystery vessel began three years ago, when he noticed something peculiar in the murky image of a shipwreck off the coast of Ostend, West Flanders. The wreck had been identified 30 years earlier as a World War II-era craft used to transfer soldiers and equipment to land controlled by enemy forces.
But to Termote’s trained eye, the craft’s angular shape looked more like a submarine.
Termote said his suspicions were confirmed in June, when he was granted permission to dive in a busy area of the North Sea and observed that the vessel was, in fact, a UB-II submarine.
Carl Decaluwé, the governor of West Flanders, said that he had notified the German government about the discovery and that the submarine would be declared a war grave.
He said that German authorities would determine what to do with any remains on the submarine.
Termote said the complexity involved in moving such a fragile structure meant that it would most likely stay where it is.
“We are not revealing the precise location of the ship to avoid looters,” Decaluwé said. “We must show respect for the crew because this is a human grave.”
The submarine, the 11th found off the Belgian coast, was one of dozens used during Germany’s occupation of Belgium during World War I.
The identity of the vessel — and how it was immobilized — remain a mystery.
Two of the vessel’s torpedo tubes were destroyed and found lying a short distance away, but a lower tube remains intact.
Two of the hatches are still closed, but one was open; Termote said it had allowed him to see that the submarine was filled to the ceiling with sand.
After carefully examining the evidence, Termote said the damage to the vessel suggested that it had probably escaped after being bombed by British forces and was on its way back to the German naval base in Bruges when it hit a British mine and sunk.
Another hypothesis is that it was sunk by a depth charge, an explosives-filled canister dropped from the stern of a ship to destroy a submarine.