St Nazaire

Posted on by aspqrz

The site of some of the German WW2 U-Boat Pens … so big and made of such thick concrete that they are still there … too bloody hard to demolish!

The U-Boat Pens from the entrance to the inner harbour.
The Espadon (Swordfish) a French Diesel-Electric submarine of the postwar period. And bloody cramped inside, like all such boats.
Look cramped? If you’re tall, you have to duck … a lot … and it’s barely enough to squeeze through.
One of the control positions … compare this with le Redoubtable, the SSBN at Cherbourg. Like I said, huge difference.
The Helm – note how cramped it is compared to le Redoubtable – the reason I took the photo from such a close angle is that there wasn’t any space to do any different!
Cramped? Bloody hell yes. And these are the officer’s quarters!
The Galley – hardly bigger than a closet … yet to cook had to prepare meals for 65 crew!I seriously doubt they had fresh Lobster except on the first night out! If ever.
The Head. ‘Nuff said.

You seriously wouldn’t want to suffer from even mild claustrophobia if you had to travel or work in one of these things … or any of the WW2 or immediately post WW2 diesel-electric subs. SSNs and SSBNs, however, are a different kettle of fish … as Le Redoubtable (Cherbourg) shows.

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