Characteristics

Length 138 m
Width 120 m
Height 18,5 m
Thickness of the roof
 3,5 m
Thickness of the walls
 2,4 m

 

The pens

Of the 8 pens in K2, only 7 are for housing submarines, one is for housing the 2 transversers. The seven submarine pens have the same dimensions and facilities as those in K1 except that each has two bridge-cranes. The transverser pen is split into two sections , the upper section being 17m wide and the lower one being 13.66m wide. At 8.75m, this pen is taller than the others but the floor is 2m lower hence the roofline remains the same. This pen is 119.4m long but 11.4m is taken up with accommodation. The upper portion of the pen is also taken up with stores and accommodation.

This block is currently being used as a warehouse by the company Plastimo and has been extensively modified to make it more suitable as such.

 

Photos

History

Since septembre 1940, before the construction of the Keroman uboat pens, the Germans had started the construction of protective structures in Lorient to protect uboats from english bombings. Two protective pens were constructed on the left side of the Scorff river. This structure was able to house up to 4 submarines.

 

Map

Map of the Scorff bunker (Lorient)

Characteristics

Length 170 m
Width 135 m
Height 20 m
Thiskness of the roof
 7,4 m

 

The pens

It is under this bunker that is the operational fleet of the Admiral Doenitz. These submarines being even more vulnerable with their ammunition, they had to be protected to the maximum. It is what did the Todt Organization by reinforcing the roofs in 2 successive roofs separated by 1 m from air being used as combustion chamber with the large bombs. A bomb of 5,5 tons fell on the block not generating any damage inside this one.

This block contains 7 cells. Those are either of the wet docks or of the dry docks. This kind of block is more traditional than the technique of the slipway evoked previously. One will meet it in all the underwater bases of the Atlantic. At the bottom of the cells are stores and workshops. Each cell is equipped with a traveling bridge.

 

Photos

Characteristics

Outside length 191 m
Inside length (-> gate locks) 169 m
Length of the slope 158,6 m
Width 12 m
Max. height of a ship using the slpiway 13,75 m

 

Operation of the slipway

  1. A traveling dock travels along the 10% slope to the bottom of the slipway. The lock opens and the submarines enters inside the canal.
  2. The lock is closed and the water pumped. The submarine is now supported by the travelling doc.
  3. The dock (+ the submarine) goes up and is placed between the Kéroman 1 and Kéroman 2 shelters on the rolling bridge
  4. The bridge moved toward the selected u-boat pen
  5. The dock (+ the submarine) enters the selected pen.

 

The operation lasted 15 minutes including 10 minutes outdoor. It was the only place of the base where the u-boat was vulnerable and could be attacked from the air. This is why there were 3 anti-aircraft guns on the roof of K1 and balloons maintained on the ground by steel wire ropes. There were no damages on this quay level and no submarine was destroyed during these operations.

 

Photos

This photos show the different steps explained above, from the exit of the submarine ANDROMEDE from the pen to the entrance inside the slipway.

 

 

Page 2 of 3