Achtung U-boat!

A sunken German U-boat lying on the seabed off Inishowen has become the subject of worldwide interest. Salvage plans are being drawn up to assess whether the World War II vessel can be raised and brought ashore. Derry City councillor Shaun Gallagher first put forward the motion recommending that council officers investigate the possibility of raising the wreck. There have been discussions with Donegal County Council on accessing national, international and cross-border funding, and the formation of a roundtable discussion with other interested parties. U778, which lies 70m down 16 miles northwest of Malin Head, is in pristine condition. Filming and surveying by local divers will take place on September 17 and 18, as this is when the tides suit best. “This is a technical dive and we have to use mixed gasses for breathing as ordinary air would be fatal and that depth. We just hope the weather holds out for those dates,” said Geoff Millar of northwest diving association Dive North. The dive should last over two hours, with half an hour at the wreck and a further couple of hours to surface. U778 was built towards the end of the war and did not actually see any active service. It was sunk as part of Operation Deadlight, the last act of World War II, when 116 U-boats were scuttled in the waters of Inishowen. U778 is in such good condition as it sunk when the chain towing it snapped before it could be destroyed. “As a result, it is like new although rusted,” said Mr Millar. “There’s been massive interest from all over the world…the fortunate thing is that there was no loss of life during its sinking and it is not a war grave,” he said. Mr Millar said there is a wealth of other wrecks that in the waters off Inishowen, including the Harland and Wolfe-built super-liner HMS Justacia. It took three U-boats to sink her. He said: “There are more ocean liners sunk off the Malin Head coast than anywhere else in the world and 99 per cent of these were sunk during the two wars.” Derry City Council has written to Dublin’s Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (National Monuments Section) regarding the raising of U778. Any proposals are dependent on the department’s response. The Discovery Channel and the National Geographic network have been approached by Derry City Council to make a documentary about the raising of the U-boat. A report last week in Inish Times’ sister newspaper, Derry News, said the US TV giants were just two of many companies – including RTÉ, Channel 4 and UTV – who are keen to film any future salvage operation. Anyone interested in finding out more, or who would like to see footage of wrecks, they can visit www.divenorth.com