Wreck of WWI U-Boat Raised From the Wadden Sea

After a challenging salvage operation, the Dutch crane vessel Matador 3 has raised part of the German WWI-era submarine U16 from the waters off Germany's North Sea coast. It is unusual for a wreck of this vintage to be raised to the surface, but despite its rarity, the salvors do not have plans to preserve it.

U16 was built in 1911 and fought throughout World War I, sinking nearly 30 vessels and surviving about one dozen combat patrols. The vessel went down in 1919 off the coast of Scharhorn, a German-administered island at the mouth of the Elbe. At the time of the sub's loss, it was under way on  a delivery voyage to Britain, where it was to be handed over as part of Germany's postwar reparations. All crewmembers are believed to have survived the sinking. (A local historian, Jann M. Witt, told Tageblatt that it is likely that they scuttled their sub rather than hand it over to the British; another German sub met with the same fate earlier that year.) 

The wreck stayed at the bottom of the North Sea for more than 100 years before the decision was made to remove it. It has been surveyed more than once, and the latest visit was in 2023, when a vessel of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) passed over the site. The sub's wreckage is within the Elbe federal waterway, according to NDR, and belongs to the Federal Directorate of Waterways and Shipping (WSV). It is not considered a protected war grave for legal purposes.  

The wreck's other half sits at a depth of about 60 feet of water, and is slated for removal this week, weather permitting. The wreckage itself is likely headed for demolition, despite the WSV's early attempts to find a new home for it. Parts of the sub may be preserved by German museums, but none have stepped forward to take the entirety of the wreck, NDR reports.