This German U-Boat Was Captuered During WWI But The British Didn’t Want To Scrap It But Rather Use The Sub Against The Germans

By Mark McConville

REMARKABLE photographs have revealed the time a German U-Boat was salvaged in Newcastle during World War One a hundred years ago with a view to restoring it as a fighting unit.

The incredible images, as revealed by website Retronaut, show the U-Boat in its entirety in a dry dock as well as a close-up view of its exterior.

Other striking shots uncover the inner workings of the German submarine with hundreds of control dials along the walls, four torpedo tubes and a narrow passage running from room to room.

The photographs shown here are of U-Boat 110, a German Submarine that was sunk and raised in 1918.

They are taken from an album of photographs found in the Swan Hunter shipbuilders’ collection at Tyne & Wear Archives.

The album is from 1918 and documents the U.B. 110 before she was scrapped on the dry docks of Swan Hunter Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend. The twin-screw German submarine U.B. 110 was built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg.

On the 19th July 1918, when attacking a convoy of merchant ships near Hartlepool, she herself was attacked by H.M. Motor-Launch No. 263 and suffered from depth charges. Coming to the surface she was rammed by H.M.S. Garry, a torpedo boat destroyer, and sunk.

In September she was salvaged and placed in the admiralty dock off Jarrow slake. She was then berthed at Swan Hunter’s dry docks department with an order to restore her as a fighting unit.

The Armistice on 11th November 1918 caused work on her to be stopped. She was towed on the 19th December 1918 from Wallsend to the Northumberland Dock at Howdon and was subsequently sold as scrap.

The album of photographs, taken by Frank & Sons of South Shields, documents the U.B. 110 in extensive detail. The photographs provide an insight into the mechanics and atmosphere of the raised German submarine.