Davie Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Lying about a mile out on the sandy bay at Aberlady in East Lothian, and only visible at low tide, are the remains of two mini submarines. They are in fact X T craft, which were the training version of the X craft. X craft were used in the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz. The X T craft were towed to Aberlady Bay in 1946 and use for target practice by the RAF. Afterwards they were left to rot. Corrosion and bomb damage have not been kind to the submarines, most of the outer casing has disappeared, and there are large holes in the pressure hull. The engines are still inside, they are Gardner engines of the type that were fitted to london buses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferrettkitt Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Thanks for posting the pictures they look to be to far gone to be saved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Id have that out of there in a jiffy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Rimmer Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 It's not the getting it out,it's the long term conservation and housing which is often the difficult part!. Are there any craft of this type preserved in a museum?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver99 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Duxford has one of the original Tirpitz action, one that sank. And pretty sure one at submarine museum portsmouth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Crosbie Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm sure the submarine museum in Gosport has one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hasn't Chatham got one as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Garner Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Really interesting stuff, thanks for sharing. Any Scammell owners willing to go up there with a big tow rope? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Rimmer Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 (edited) So several are preserved in the UK. I wonder if Historic Scotland are aware of these?. Edited June 2, 2011 by M.Rimmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxy Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 NO !! Under OSA it is still a top secret.. http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/X-Craft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver99 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 So several are preserved in the UK. I wonder if Historic Scotland are aware of these?. They have been known about for ages. As mentioned earlier, conservation being a issue they will stay there until... Or thinking about starting a Military Archaeology Museum.:undecided: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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