The U-853 Part 2
Conning Tower. I really can’t tell you much about the Conning tower as I have never been in it (or the conning towers of the U-85 or U-352). Nor have many others. The two hatches into the Conning tower are: 1) The hatch from outside on top that you should have seen on your swim around the outside and 2) The hatch down into the Control room. As you will find, both hatches are only about 20-24 inches wide. The divers that have been inside the Conning tower have reported it very tight with the periscopes taking up almost all the room just aft of the entry. The divers I know tell me that there was only room to turn around in. Please note, these divers took their tanks and fins off and had support divers to help them in and out. In all cases the diver penetrating the Conning tower used a 30 or 40 pony/stage for the penetration part of the dive. An experienced team of wreck divers should have at least 3 divers – the penetration diver, one to help the penetration diver into and out of his tanks (and fins, the amount of movement to get through the hatch with fins on would completely spoil the vis inside), and one to aid the penetration diver into and out of the hatch and hand in/out any camera/video units. The conning tower is no place for any diver who A) does not have years of experience and B) a support team dedicated to his/her safe entry and exit.
The interactive video on the U-505 site referenced earlier will give you a much better picture of what is in the Conning tower then I can.
Diesel Engine and Electric Motor Rooms. If you decide to penetrate into the diesel engine room, you will be entering one of the tighter and furthest away compartments of the wreck. Once inside you will have to pass through one compartment and at least one hatch to reach an easy exit both ways. The area between the diesel engines is also the tightest passage that you will have to do in the boat.
There are three exits in the diesel engine room, the round hatch from the control room, a rectangular hatch into the electric motor room, and a crews hatch to the outside that is at the forward end of the diesel engines. This hatch will exit next to the 37mm anti-aircraft mount on the exterior of the boat. It is tight, larger divers and almost all divers with dry suits will have to take their tanks off to get through it.
As you enter the diesel engine room, you will be in one of the larger areas in the room. In front of you are the two engines and right above you are the main induction valves that let in air to run the engines on the surface or when using the snorkel. To your right you may see some white round objects on the floor, these are glass electrical fuses. If you look carefully at the front of the engines you may be able to see the remains of the start/stop and throttle stations. But these stations are much deteriorated. On top of the engines you will see the valve rocker arms and springs. A good viewing of the movie Das Boat (The Boat) will go a long way in helping you visualize this area, even if the boat in that movie was a Type VII.
About 4 or 5 feet past the very front of the engines and above them is the crews hatch to the outside. The hatch is tight, but smaller divers can make it out with tanks on, but only with effort and there is a combing of about 20” that you have to pass through. All of the other hatches on the boat are thin in section and once you pass the thickness of the hull you are done. This hatch is more like a short tunnel. When passing between the engines you only have about 24” of clearance between the engine blocks, it is tight. Take careful notice of the diesel fuel feed lines that run the length of the engines right where you want to go. I find that I have to keep my shoulders above these lines to pass through. The good news is that they do make good hand rails to pull yourself along with.
When you have passed the engines you will be in a larger area where you can stop and have a good look at the back of the engines. On the bulkhead right in front of you facing aft is the rectangular hatch, or really a door, to the Electric motor room. Passing through this hatch is fairly easy, but I find getting my arms and shoulders through first and pulling through works well. You are now in the Electric Motor Room.
Electric Motor Room. As the name implies, this is where the electric motors are. This compartment has 3 exits, the rectangular hatch to the Diesel Engine Room, a round hatch into the After Torpedo Room, and a large bomb hole on the Starboard side aft (the diver left side heading aft) in the compartment. The electric motors were used when the boat was submerged. The motors themselves are mostly under the decking as they were directly attached to the propeller shaft, but you can see the curve of the top of both of them. This compartment is perhaps the easiest and most “clean” of all the intact compartments and easiest to penetrate. Besides the top of the motors, there is not a lot to see, but as it is clean. The bomb hole is big enough to easily get though, but you need to take care os the edges which can be sharp. Other then the large bomb hole forward of the conning tower, this is the easiest entry into an intact compartment on the wreck.
I would recommend that newer divers spend some time in here just looking around, let the sound track of Das Boat play in your head, and perhaps say a prayer for the crew who still remain on the boat. Most were less then 22 years old and most knew that by that time in the war, they were on a suicide mission, but went anyway and died for their country.
Penetration dives of the wreck.
I want to go over some easy penetrations and how you might want to work up to them. But most important, it will greatly speed your practical education if you can find a good boat and a diving mentor who will show you the ropes, and the wreck.
I’m not going to go over the After Torpedo Room in any depth as I think I did that well enough in the 1st post. Here I’m going to talk about penetration routes.
#1) The easiest route is from the open after torpedo room forward through the large round bulkhead hatch into the Electric Motor room, then out the bomb hole on the wrecks right hand side. You can go forward and have a look through the rectangular hatch into the Diesel Engine room, but don’t go in on your first trip, just get used to the insides of the boat. You may want to do a few entries and exits on this route to get used to passing through the hatch.
#2) A simple in and out of the control room through the forward bomb hole and the round hatch in the control rooms forward bulkhead. Just go in and stop and look around, study the photo’s from the U-505 and try to superimposed your mental image on what you see. After a while, the wreck will start to come alive for you. On your second or third time in the control room, work your way to the after hatch into the Diesel Engine room, then back out through the control room and forward bomb hole.
#3) You should now be comfortable in both the Control room and the Electric motor room, time to put them together. Pass through the Control room and into the Diesel engine room, move slowly and work your way between the engines and back to the hatch into the Electric motor room. Then out the aft bomb hole or through the hatch to the after torpedo room. I find that it is easier to go from the control room aft then to work forward from the electric motor room.
#4) Move forward from the forward bomb hole into the crews spaces. Don’t go far and don’t go past the galley. Just get used to the space and what is there. Then turn around and back out the bomb hole.
#5) If you want to go into the forward torpedo room, practice going through the after torpedo loading hatch. The hatch just leads to the open areas of the after torpedo room, so it is almost like jumping through a hoop. Get used to getting into the area from on deck and from the room area back out through the hatch. When you are both proficient and comfortable doing this, you should be ready for the forward torpedo room. If you go into the forward torpedo room, remember the I-beams are your highway, use them if you are at all unsure.
#6) If you are comfortable in the forward torpedo room, perhaps it is time to head aft into the crews quarters. But don’t do it just to do it and don’t let anyone push you to do it. Many, if not most divers will never go into the forward torpedo room, and even fewer will head aft into the crews quarters. For this route, it is in the forward torpedo loading hatch, back through the crews quarters, past the galley, and on to the forward bomb hole.
#7) The grand tour, In the forward torpedo loading hatch up to the forward torpedo tubes, back into the crews quarters, to the bomb hole, into the control room, then the diesel engine room, on to the electric motor room, and out the after torpedo room. This final dive takes me about 15 minutes to slowly make my way and not stirring up the bottom passing through 7 hatches along the way.
I have specifically not gone into gear, equipment, gasses, tanks, running lines, etc. These are for you to decide on with your training and practical experience. But I would make an observation about lines in the wreck. Just about all the routes I have laid out go in one hatch or area and out another. If you run a line, you will either have to reverse your full trip to reel it up or cut it off. Cutting off a penetration line is not only bad form as far as littering the wreck, but you have just left an entanglement hazard for the next diver/team. For this reason, I do not run a line inside the U-853.
Pete Johnson