Divers have found a well preserved wreck of a German submarine sunk during World War I in the North Sea which may have the bodies of its crew still on board, Belgian officials said yesterday.
A diver who has explored the wreck, lying in 30m of water off the port of Ostend, said the good condition of the submarine suggested the remains of its 23 crew could still be inside.
It is the 11th German submarine from the 1914-18 war to be found in Belgian waters and the best-preserved example to date, Thomas Termote, a diver and expert in marine archaeology who found the wreck this summer, told AFP.
“We thought that all the big wrecks had already been discovered so this was a total surprise,” Termote told AFP.
Its exact location is being kept secret to deter treasure-hunters.
He said that the wreck – a UB-II type torpedo armed boat – was 27m long with the rear end partly detached.
“The submarine is very intact, everything is still closed – that’s what he (Termote) saw during his first visit this summer,” Jan Mees, head of the Flanders Marine Institute told AFP.
The submarine would have had 22 crew and a commander on board, West Flanders provincial governor Carl Decaluwe told De Standaard newspaper.
“All the hatches are still closed. This suggests the wreck has not been discovered before and moreover the 23 crew members are still inside,” Decaluwe said.
The German embassy in Belgium had been informed, Belga news agency reported.
During WWI, the German navy used the Belgian port of Zeebrugge as a base for its submarines, known as U-boats, to attack shipping in the North Sea.
The wreck of a World War I submarine, possibly still containing the bodies of 23 crew members, found off the Belgian coast, is seen in this handout picture provided by KB Vlaanderen.
WWI
