The interior of the tower has exhibits on the bottom few floors. “Reichskriegsflagge” (imperial war flags) used by the German military between 18 hang on display at the memorial, including one personally designed by Adolf Hitler (second from the front on the left). A room just inside the main entrance to the memorial tower lists the numbers and classes of every single German ship lost during both world wars – a wall for each war. ![]() German naval mine on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial, Germany The memorial plaque “Still On Patrol” commemorates US sailors lost. The mines were detonated when an object hit a depth charge floating just below the water’s surface.Īfter the war, teams of mine sweepers painstakingly cleared the seas of bombs. Hundreds of thousands of naval mines were anchored in the Baltic and North Seas during WWII. One of the Prinz Eugen’s propellers stands on display at Laboe Naval Memorial. When she later capsized in the Pacific, the US returned one of her still-intact propellers to Germany, where it now stands on display at the Laboe Memorial. The Prinz Eugen, Germany’s “lucky” warship, was not only one of two to survive WWII, but she then withstood two detonations during atomic testing by the US Navy. The towering 85-meter tower of the Laboe Naval Memorial resembles the conning tower of a submarine. After the Second World War, in the wake of waning German nationalism as the country struggled to reconcile the horrors of the early 20th century, the memorial was expanded to honor sailors from all countries who died during both world wars. Completed in 1936, the imposing 279-foot tower was originally intended as a memorial to German sailors killed during WWI. Just across the road from U-995 is the Laboe Naval Memorial. A channel was dredged in Kiel Fjord to allow beach access for the boat’s delivery, and U-995 was officially laid to rest where she’s remained since 1972. The German Naval Authority claimed ownership of the U-995, making arrangements to transport the submarine via a massive floating crane from Norway to the northern coast of Germany. Norway then offered to return U-995 to Germany as an act of reconciliation. The Royal Norwegian Navy refitted the submarine and put it into service for the next twenty years. ![]() Put to sea in 1943, U-995 successfully sank several warships and cargo vessels before surrendering off the coast of Norway in 1945. U-995 is a German submarine, class VIIC/41. Visitors can visit the remaining two in Germany: U-2540 in Bremerhaven and U-995 in Laboe. ![]() One is in Chicago while another is in Liverpool, though it was scuttled and later salvaged and is no longer intact. Allied forces captured only six at sea.Īstonishingly, out of all the U-boats the Germans put to sea during the war, only 5 remain today, four of which are on display to the public. Naval officers surrendered another 200 or so to the Allies after the war, most of which were subsequently torpedoed to a watery grave at the bottom of the ocean. Over 200 were scuttled by their German crews. Of these deadly hunters, about 800 were destroyed during the war. ![]() Typically referred to in English as U-boats, their name was derived from the German origin, Unterseeboot – literally “under sea boat.” Windsurfers and kiteboarders take advantage of the strong winds funneling through Kiel Fjord.ĭuring WWII, Germany launched over 1200 submarines to prowl the seas in search of Allied targets. A nature trail follows the Baltic Sea near the beach-side resort town of Laboe. We would have hustled out of camp earlier had we known that a town just 2 kilometers up the coast also offers pretty beaches, along with the Laboe Naval Memorial, home to the last surviving German submarine of its kind – U-995. We lounged around on our Family Fun Blanket, sipping coffee and devouring nearly an entire loaf of raisin bread until the morning had long passed. Instead of motivating us to get out and explore nearby sites, it was all we could do to tear ourselves away from the sand, sun, and surf. Sunday brought glorious sunshine to the beautiful stretch of white sandy beach on the Baltic Sea of Germany where we were camping.
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