A German U-Boat. - FactzPedia

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A German U-Boat.

 

A German U-Boat.


In 1919, with the First World War having recently drawn to a close, the residents of the English town Hastings woke up to a bit of a shock one morning when they found a full German U-Boat beached on their shores.

Back in these days, for most about everyone, a U-Boat was something they’d only ever heard about and never seen, so they were all pretty excited!

So much so, that the town clerk started charging people to have their picture taken on the deck!

Two coastguards even started giving important people tours on the interior, until they became very ill and died shortly after.

It’s believed that leaking chlorine gas from the U-Boat’s batteries was what caused their deaths.

So how did this weapon of war end up on the sleepy Hastings beachfront?

With the end of World War I’s hostilities, the Imperial German Navy was surrendered to the allies, including this particular U-Boat, U-118. U-118 was to be transferred to France and broken up for scrap.

However, as it was being towed through the English Channel towards Scapa Flow, stormy weather caused its tow-ropes to become broken, leaving U-118 floating about aimlessly in the sea before washing up on the Hastings coast.

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