Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker.
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4./Ma.Fl.A 820.
1 x SK/M19 Maschinengranatwerfer bunker.
1 x Vf Tobruk.
4 x Flakstellung
1 x SK/MG.
1 x SK/Skoda
1 x 5cm M19 mortar.
1 x 4.7cm Pak K.36.
Pos 8.8cm S.K./35 ships gun.
SK/MG.
A close support Tobruk with a machine gun was up on the top..
SK/M19 Maschinengranatwerfer bunker. The bunker set into the U-Boat bunker may have been a little like an R633 type.
428P01 M19 steel dome where a stream of 5cm mortar rounds could fire out.
4.7cm Pak K.36 Skoda (t).
Building of the Submarine Pen.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015 ----- ÜBERSICHTSPLAN d ERWEITERUBG St Nazaire. Overview plan of Enhancement St Nazaire [MFQ 1/308 St Nazaire]
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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The first U-boat to reach St. Nazaire was U-46under Oblt. Engelbert Endrass on 21 Sept, 1940. Later this base was the home for two U-boat Flotillas, the 7th which moved from Kiel to there January to June 1941 and the 6th which came from Danzig in February 1942. The base was in full use from October 1942 and reached its peak of activity in July, August and September 1943. Also 30 air-attacks of RAF and USAAF brought only 18 slight hits on the bunker, but 62 aircraft lost. So until July 1944 Saint-Nazaire had been pounded with over 2000 tons of allied bombs, almost wiping out the town but not touching the U-boat bunker to speak of. After the allied landings in Normandy in June 1944, the 6th Flotilla was disbanded in August and the 7th Flotilla was moved to Norway. The base was declared a fortress and held out under the command of Generalleutnant Hans Junck until all German forces surrendered on May 8, 1945. Most of the remaining boats left in August and the last two in September, U-267 being the last but one on Sept 23rd. November 1944 the BdU sent two support U-boats (U-722 and U-773) to St. Nazaire. They were only armed with one torpedo for self defence and were packed with a lot of important goods and ammunition. The two boats left St. Nazaire on Dec 7th. The next two support boats were U-868 in February 1945 and U-878 in March 1945. Also U-275 stayed for two weeks in February 1945 in St. Nazaire for a Snorkel repairs.
The last boat in the base was U-255 which had some damages and was in 1944 not able to leave the base. But in October 1944 a Heinkel 115 aircraft brought some spare parts and in March 1945 came the new commander Oblt. Heinrich with U-878 to St. Nazaire. The boat then made in April a patrol to La Pallice for some fuel and on the 30th April laid a mine barrier by Les Sables d'Olonne. U-255 left the base on 8 May and surrendered at sea 4 days later.
When the base was entered the Type IXC boat U-510 was discovered there, having just returned from the Far East on the 23th April 1945. She was in excellent shape and was commissioned into the French Navy as S-11 Bouan in 1946 and was to remain operational until 1963.
Today the bunker is mostly in private use but the Tourism office can also be found inside it.
Plan.
U-Boats in the bunker.
Air photo of the bunker.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
Air 40/1502
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Tactical target St Nazaire area by the Allies. The targets were the Ecluse sud & est where U-Boats had to enter and exit the U-Boat bunker.
Ecluse sud..
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
ÜBERSICHTSPLAN d ERWEITERUBG St Nazaire. Overview plan of Enhancement St Nazaire [MFQ 1/308 St Nazaire]
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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First Floor ------Barracks & Lavatories.
Ground Floor --Offices, Laboratories, Apparatus Room for Personnel (underwater escape apparatus), Guard Room, Oil Research Room.
Momsen lung.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
Allied intelligence photo.
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Allied bombing of St-Nazaire.
RAF Lancaster‘s.
RAF Halifax..
USAAF Liberator..
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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North west back of the bunker.
U-Boat crew.
Inside.
Rommel visiting the pens.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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South west rear of bunker.
Constructed between January 1940 and December 1941 by the Todt organisation..
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Rear of the bunker.
Christmas 1941.
Plan.
Parade of U-Boat crews.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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The roof.
Plan.
U-Boat conning tower.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Camouflage and the thickness of the rear wall now cut away. Note the camouflaged outer wall.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Rear of the bunker.
Plan.
Construction on the land side.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Rear back wall.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Camouflage on the rear wall.
Being made with its camouflage painted on.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Coming inside.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Passage to allow a railway to deliver sparers and equipment to each pen when needed. There were 62 workshops for torpedoes, engines, welding steel, periscope repairs etc, 97 warehouses for spare parts, 150 offices for supplies, 92 dormitories and rooms for crew along with kitchens, bakeries, hospitals, toilets, shower rooms etc.
This is the passage.
The engine may have been a small steam shunter or a diesel shunter.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Inside and WoW what a bunker. A 11 B pen. pen.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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11 A pen.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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A 11 B pen.
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Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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11B pen.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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A 11 B pen.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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A 11 B pen. the view across the Bassin.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Where the U-Boats would have tied up.
Vizeadmiral Dönitz at the opening ceremony the bunker.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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The pens steel roof.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Its called 'Furniture'. The different types of bollards used to tie up U-Boats.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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A 11 B pen. looking outside.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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B 9 A pen.
B 9 A pen.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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The roof support.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Steel tie ring.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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B 11 A pen.
B 11 A pen.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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B 11 A Pen.
U-Boat in side a dock.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
BA
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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How it looked in here. The structure housed two flotillas of submarines and contained 14 cells, each cell allowed up to three submarines to dock. Five of the cells were also dry docks where the water could be pumped out to inspect and repair the underside of the boats.
Working on a submarine.
Wet & Dry dock.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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B 9 A pens.
Three in one large pen.
U-Boat on an Atlantic cruise.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Made in Paris this winch probably was bought from a French company stocks.
Tied up.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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The port.
Heading into a dock.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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B 8 A pen, this one is right under the central flak tower.
One of the dry docks with a steel shutter that can close off the entrance.
Three submarines in a dry dock.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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B 8 A pens shutter and runners.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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B 9 A pen.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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South side.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Walking up on the roof.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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The roof.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker "Fangrost"
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This complex of massive, interlocking concrete beams "Fangrost" was to allow heavy bombs to explode on them or ricochet of and onto the roof, thus taking a lot of energy away from the bomb. We saw no damage marks at all to the structure.
Plan.
RAF Lancaster bomber.
B17's of the USAAF.
Bombs increased in size from 2,000Lbs to 22,000Lps.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker "Fangrost"
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Looking under the "Fangrost" reinforced beams and as you can see, a ricochet would burst with a lot less energy.
The red area is where the beams have been finished.
The blue area only
where only five were placed.
The rest has no beams on them at all.
The layout of the roof "Fangrost".
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker "Fangrost"
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Here are where only five "Fangrost" were placed and thee more should have been placed between them.
The red area is where the beams have been finished.
The blue area only
where only five were placed.
The rest has no beams on them at all.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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The basins entrance into the the open sea ahead where all the U-Boats came into the pens.
Plan.
Wn Nz104/Nz105 avant port rive ouest.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Plan of the defences around the U-Boat bunker..
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Track fittings of a crane that ran along the roof.
Plan.
Plan of where the Flak was laid out.
The crane on the roof.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Flak.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Flak.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Flak.
2cm Flak 38 Vierling.
2cm magazines.
Flak.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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The steps running up to the flak position.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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The door into the crew room and the ammunition magazine for the flak gun.
Stack of ammunition boxes.
The ammunition bunker would have been stashed full of 2cm and small arms ammunition for any machine guns that were up here on the roof.
2cm Flak ammunition magazines.
Moving heavy ammunition.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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All ammunition would have to be brought up these steps.
Details2
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Flak position.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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I have tried here to show how it may have looked with a 2cm Flak
It may have been a 2cm 38 Vierling (quadruple).
It may have been a 2cm 38 Vierling (quadruple).
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015 Pete
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker N/W corner.
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Rear corner
Flak tower on the corner.
Plan of the Flak bunker on the roof under the flak position.
As seen from above.
2cm Flak 30.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker N/W corner.
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015 Pete
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker N/W corner.
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This shows that this portion has not been completed and the steel rods are there ready to have another layer of concrete added over it.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015 Pete
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker N/W corner.
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A well defended corner.
Plan.
Plan.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015 Pete
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker N/W corner.
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7P7 plate set into the wall. Behind would have been a fighting room (gun room), ammunition and a crew room.
This is how it may look inside.
Large slot for the gun and the smaller for the guns commander to site through.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015 Pete
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker N/W corner.
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Details
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015 Pete
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Flak tower on N/W corner.
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Flak tower on N/W corner.
2cm Flak 38 Vierling position on roof.
2cm Flak 38 Vierling.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
03 November 2015 Pete
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The armoured dome on the Northwest corner
Details
749P3 steel turret.
Position of armoured dome 749P3 type.
749P3 steel turret.
Where the machine gun fits.
Inside a steel dome turret..
Mg34 fitted into a fortress type mounting.
Fitting a steel turret in place.
Nz406 BSM U Bunker
St Nazaire archives
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Nz406 BSM U Bunker north face of bunker.
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A very good picture showing the massive bomb damage to the houses here and on the left is the old railway station.
France
Great Britain
