U-776 visits Blyth

Blyth shipping past and present

U-776 visits Blyth

Postby Whickham » Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:12 pm

When the war against Germany ended in May 1945 the Allies gained control of some 156 U-boats which had either surrendered at sea or which they had captured in ports across Western Europe. A few of these were shared out between the USA, the UK and the Soviet Union for use in their own navies or for testing purposes, but the vast majority of them were simply not required. Therefore the Royal Navy was left with the responsibility of disposing of the remaining 116 boats without exception as soon as possible after the war ended. A plan was formed called Operation Deadlight which consisted of gathering the remaining U-boats together, towing them out into the deep waters around the coast of Northern Ireland and sinking them.

The British Admiralty felt that there would be significant public interest in viewing up close these extraordinary submarines which had posed such an enormous threat to the survival of the British nation, and they felt that it could be an excellent opportunity to raise money to help some of their many victims. Therefore it was agreed that two of the many captured boats would be chosen to take part in a nationwide publicity tour so that the general public could have a unique opportunity to inspect them and make donations to the King George’s Fund for Sailors, a charity set up after the devastation of the First World War to help people affected by the war at sea.

While the other captured U-boats were being transported for destruction U-776 was temporarily commissioned into the Royal Navy and given the pennant number N65 in preparation for her return to sea. The scheduled tour of ports on the east coast was to last for 60 days with U-776 spending a few days in each location. U-776 headed east around the UK visiting London, Southampton, Dover, Chatham, Harwich, Great Yarmouth, Hull, Grimsby, Middlesborough, Sunderland, Newcastle, Blyth, Edinburgh, Rosyth, Dundee, Aberdeen, Invergordon, Kirkwall and finally Lerwick before sailing on to Loch Ryan near Stranraer to be destroyed.

U-776 was a Type-VIIC U-boat, the most produced and most successful U-boat design of the war, popularly known as the ‘workhorse of the Kriegsmarine.’ She began life at the Kriegsmarinewerft at Wilhelmshaven in northwest Germany and was one of 27 U-boats built there between 1940 and 1944. Her keel was laid on the 4th March 1943 and she was launched exactly a year later on the 4th March 1944 and commissioned the following month under the command of Kapitanleutnant Lothar Martin, a 27-year old from Engelsdorf near Leipzig.
U-776 was Martin’s first command and it would be several more months before the new U-boat and her crew would be ready to go out on a combat patrol. The crew required training and the new boat had to be tested and made ready for war service. Therefore it was not until early 1945 as the war was drawing to a close that U-776 was finally ready to go into active service

They departed Norway and headed west into the North Sea, sailing north of Shetland and then around the coast of Scotland to the Atlantic. But as their hunt for merchant shipping to attack was just beginning, the war in Europe was rapidly coming to an end.

When Germany surrendered in May 1945 all operational U-boats still at sea were ordered to surface immediately and fly a black flag of surrender before setting a course to a designated Allied port. Kapitanleutnant Lothar Martin surfaced his boat as ordered and eventually surrendered to two Royal Navy frigates which escorted the U-boat to Weymouth on the south coast of England. They arrived there on the 12th May and U-776 was impounded while the crew immediately became Prisoners of War

After the promotional trip U-776 was one of 86 U-boats that were gathered at Loch Ryan in the aftermath of the war and between the 27th November and the 30th December 1945 they were all taken out and sunk in the deep waters around the coast of Northern Ireland. On the 3rd December the tug Enforcer towed U-776 out from Loch Ryan and headed to the open sea. At around 1855 hours when they were in position 55.08N x 05.30W, a point about midway between Scotland and Ireland and about 15 miles south of the Mull of Kintyre, they let the tow lines go and U-776 began to founder. Having never had the chance to fulfill the role for which she was built, U-776 slipped beneath the waves for the last time.

Extracts from: "From London to Lerwick: The final voyage of U-776" by John Peterson.

U776-1.jpg


U776-2.jpg


U776-3.jpg


Photographer unknown
Dave
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Re: U-776 visits Blyth

Postby magoonigal » Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:48 pm

Very good defective work!! (Hint of Goons!)

Ned seagoon plays ace "Underfloor Heating defective."

;)
Paul Hood. + WSS Tyneside Branch Hon Sec.
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Re: U-776 visits Blyth

Postby creemaster » Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:25 pm

Looks like either a Comben Longstaff or Dorey boat in the background on the 'round end'

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Re: U-776 visits Blyth

Postby simonships » Sun Nov 25, 2012 3:24 pm

Hi,

Interesting post, my late Dad assisted with the pilotage of U776 when she visited Hull. He was a pilot apprentice at and just finishing off his time when the visit took place.

Regards
Simon
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