In the North Sea, near Ostend, the wreck of a German submarine was found. More than likely, the bodies of all 23 crew members are still on board.
Shortly before the summer, underwater scans revealed that there was possibly a submarine in the vicinity of Oostende. The location was scouted by scuba divers and the investigation showed that it is a German UB-II boat. The boat is on the starboard side at the bottom of the sea.
Particularly, the wreck with a length of 27 meters and a width of 6 meters is almost intact. It is the best-kept wreck of this type. Only the fork lacks two meters, but the torpedo tubes are still intact. Equally unique is that all the shutters are still closed, which indicates that the wreck has not been discovered before and shows that the 23 crew members are still in the wreckage.
What kind of submarine it is exactly is still unclear. It may be the UB-27, the UB-29 or the UB-32. The Flandern Flottille had 19 of these submarines, 15 of which were sunk. Together the U-Flanderen Flottille were responsible for sinking 2554 ships during World War I
This is the eleventh submarine that was found in the North Sea. The lists of crew members have already been requested. As soon as confirmation comes, the 23 missing people will be officially known. That has never happened to such a find in the North Sea.
How the boat is sunk is still unclear, but the damage on the bow indicates that a blast of a contact mine on the top of the submarine could be the cause. Where the submarine is found, scientists and governors do not want to say. This to avoid adventurers. In the meanwhile, the German embassy has been informed and a dossier is being drafted to protect the wreckage.
State Secretary for the North Sea Philippe De Backer must ensure that it gets officially recognized. He waits for the complete research report, but in any case he has the intention to protect this unique finding. This allows the wreck to be explored by officials, but closes other activities on the site such as fishing. There have already been eight shipwrecks with this special status.
