In mid-May, there will be a rare spectacle on the Rhine from Cologne via Bonn and Koblenz: A decommissioned German Navy submarine is on its way from Kiel on the Baltic Sea to Speyer on the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The vessel in question is the U17 - an almost 50-metre-long type 206A naval submarine that displaces around 500 tonnes when submerged. However, it will not be travelling through the Rhine itself, but will be transported on a floating pontoon from Kiel to Speyer in Rhineland-Palatinate. There it will be refurbished at the Technik Museum Speyer and will probably be moved to the Technik Museum Sinsheim a year later, where it will be on public display.
The itinerary
The submarine was loaded onto an 85-metre-long floating pontoon by a heavy gantry crane in Kiel on Friday, 28 April 2023. U17 then had to be secured to the pontoon. The following day, the convoy, towed by the Dutch tug Teddy, set sail in the Kiel Fjord. On the floating pontoon, U17 first travels through the Kiel Canal, past the East Frisian Islands and further along the coast of Holland until it is towed through Rotterdam on 1 May. The convoy then moors for a longer stop in Dordrecht. From there, it will continue on the Dutch Waal on 12 May - and back to Germany on the Rhine. According to the current schedule, the submarine is expected to arrive in Cologne on Saturday, 13 May. On the following day, U17 will pass Bonn and Koblenz and dock in Lahnstein in the evening. From there, it will make several stops on the way to Speyer, where it is scheduled to go ashore in the natural harbour on 17 May. U17 will be transported to the Technik Museum by heavy goods vehicle. The exact transport plan is as follows:
U17 on the hook above the pontoon. Photo: Technikmuseum Speyer Sinsheim
3 May: Nijmegen
12 May: Duisburg
13 May: Cologne
14 May: past Bonn and Koblenz
15 May: Lahnstein - Mainz
16 May: Mainz - Mannheim
17 May: Arrival at Speyer natural harbour
Remaining in the museum
In the long term, the submarine will be housed in the Technik Museum Sinsheim. Before that, however, some work still needs to be carried out on the submarine, which the workshop at the Speyer site will carry out. If everything goes according to plan, U17 will ultimately be on display at the Technik Museum Sinsheim in 2024. Museum Sinsheim and thus made accessible to the public. The Technik Museum Speyer already has a submarine, U9, which was transported across the Rhine to Speyer in 1993 on a similar route to the U17.
Background: History of U17
U17 (hull number S196, type 206) was in service from its commissioning on 28 November 1973 - with a conversion to type 206A - until it was decommissioned in 2010, first with the German Navy and then with the German Navy after reunification. In 35 years of service - the majority of which was during the Cold War - the boat and its 23 crew travelled countless diving trips over many thousands of miles under and above water. Conscripts, regular and professional soldiers - crews, non-commissioned officers and officers - have experienced many good and also many serious things on board, endured hardships and mastered difficult situations. There were also special experiences: Together with U26, U17 was the first German post-war submarine to sail across the Atlantic to complete an extensive military training programme in the Caribbean and on the east coast of the USA.
Tow train with U17 in front of Holland. Photo: Technikmuseum Speyer Sinsheim
After being decommissioned in 2010, it initially lay in the Wilhelmshaven naval arsenal for eleven years before being transferred to the naval arsenal in Kiel for the purpose of upgrading weapon systems and batteries. Before it could be transported by sea to a civilian future, U17 first had to be finally "demilitarised" in a shipyard in Kiel. For this reason, U17 left the naval arsenal at the beginning of April and was lifted into a dry dock by a gantry crane in the German Naval Yards Kiel harbour. There, the hull was freed of algae, mussels and barnacles and the diving cells were also drilled - after all, nobody should be able to go on an unauthorised diving trip with it later! At the end of April 2023, it was finally declared unseaworthy and was now clean enough to embark on its last great journey to Speyer. Books could be written about life on board - everything else is documented in the ship's diaries of U17. They can be found today in the Federal Archives-Military Archives (BArch-MA) in Freiburg im Breisgau.
The "Auto-Technik-Museum e.V." association, which operates the Sinsheim and Speyer technology museums, had already registered its interest in the submarine with the Bundeswehr in 2017. The then Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen finally agreed. This was good news for the museum, as other metalworking companies were naturally also very interested in the steel of the hull and various materials on board. This would have meant scrapping the boat and losing it for good. On loan from the Defence Technology Study Collection of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), it will now become part of the exhibition holdings of the Technik Museen Speyer Sinsheim.
Worth seeing photo gallery in the GA !!!
An extensive and up-to-date photo series can be found in the Bonner Generalanzeiger at:
https://ga.de/fotos/news/u17-u-boot-faehrt-auf-dem-rhein-an-bonn-vorbei-bilder_bid-89290967#0
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German
There is nowhere to be found when the submarine leaves Mannheim so that I can be at the track in time
Dear Mr Christiannsen
You are absolutely right, there are enough comrades who could still drive this "barge" and would maintain it if they were allowed to do so. There are enough examples from the past! Just think of the Leopard 1, Spz Luchs, the BO 105 and the venerable TransAll. These are all systems that were available in abundance! Reservists would have been happy to keep them in "reserve" for a few more years!
It would have been better to make it fit for our navy again, the 100 billion will soon be gone, the rest will go to Ukraine and we'll be left really bare. Not meant entirely seriously, just wanted to make you think.