View source for Operation Deadlight

{{Short description|1946 UK operation to scuttle German U-boats}}
[[Image:HMS Ferret surrendered Uboats.jpg|thumb|right|Forty-two surrendered U-boats moored at [[Lisahally]], Northern Ireland, June 1945]]
[[File:The Polish Navy during the Second World War HU55913.jpg|thumb|Polish Navy destroyer [[ORP Krakowiak (L115)|ORP ''Krakowiak'']] towing German Type XXIII U-boat ''[[German submarine U-2337|U-2337]]'' out to sea for scuttling on 28 November 1945]]

'''Operation Deadlight''' was the code name for the [[Royal Navy]] operation of November 1945 – February 1946 to [[scuttling|scuttle]] German [[U-boat]]s surrendered to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] after the defeat of [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] near the end of [[World War II]]. After the surrender, political discussions continued between the Allies concerning the final disposal of the surviving German naval vessels, the result of which was an agreement to retain 30 U-Boats in total, to be divided equally between the UK, the USA and the USSR. The remainder would be scuttled.

== Operation ==
Of the 156 U-boats that surrendered to the allies at the end of the war, 116 were scuttled as part of Operation Deadlight.<ref name=Waller>{{cite web |url= http://uboat.net/articles/84.html |title       = Operation Deadlight |last= Waller |first= Derek |website= German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net |access-date=7 November 2010|url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101112011008/http://www.uboat.net/articles/84.html |archive-date = 12 November 2010 |df= dmy-all}}</ref> The Royal Navy carried out the operation, and planned to tow the submarines to three areas about {{convert|100|mi|km}} north-west of Ireland and sink them.<ref name=Paterson161 /> The areas were codenamed XX, YY, and ZZ.<ref name=Paterson161 /> They intended to use XX as the main scuttling area, while towing 36 boats to ZZ to use as practice targets for aerial attack. YY was to be a reserve position where, if the weather was good enough, they could divert submarines from XX to sink with naval forces.<ref name=Paterson161 /> Submarines that were not used for target practice were to be sunk with explosive charges, with naval gunfire as a fall-back option if that failed.<ref name=Paterson161>{{cite book |title=Black Flag. The Surrender of Germany's U-Boat Forces 1945
 |last=Paterson |first=Lawrence
 |year=2009 |publisher=Pen & Sword books
 |isbn=978-1-84832-037-6 |pages= 161–163}}</ref>

When Operation Deadlight began, the navy found that many of the U-boats were in poor condition from being [[moored]] in exposed harbours while awaiting disposal.<ref name=Paterson161 /> These issues, combined with poor weather, sank 56 of the boats before they reached the scuttling areas, and those that did reach the area were generally sunk by gunfire rather than explosive charges.<ref name=Paterson161 /> The first sinking took place on 17 November 1945 and the last on 11 February 1946.<ref name=Paterson161 /><ref name=Paterson174>{{cite book |title=Black Flag. The Surrender of Germany's U-Boat Forces 1945 |last=Paterson |first=Lawrence |year=2009 |publisher=Pen & Sword books |isbn=978-1-84832-037-6 |page=174}}</ref>

==U-boats excluded from Operation Deadlight==
Several U-boats escaped Operation Deadlight. Some were claimed as [[prize (law)|prizes]] by Britain, France, Norway, and the Soviet Union. Four were in East Asia when Germany surrendered and were commandeered by Japan. {{GS|U-181||2}} was renamed ''I-501'', {{GS|U-195||2}} – ''I-506'', {{GS|U-219||2}} – ''I-505'', {{GS|U-862||2}} – ''I-502'', and two other boats, {{GS|U-511||2}} and {{GS|U-1224||2}}, had been sold to Japan in 1943 and renamed ''RO-500'' and ''RO-501''.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://uboat.net/fates/after-dl.htm |title=Fates – U-boats after World War Two |last= Helgason|first= Guðmundur |website= German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net |access-date= 12 February 2009 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090204072447/http://uboat.net/fates/after-dl.htm |archive-date = 4 February 2009 |df= dmy-all}}</ref> Two U-boats that survived Operation Deadlight are today museum ships. {{GS|U-505||2}} was earmarked for scuttling, but American Rear Admiral [[Daniel V. Gallery]] argued successfully that she did not fall under Operation Deadlight. [[United States Navy]] [[task force|Task Group]] 22.3, under then-Captain Gallery, had captured ''U-505'' in battle on 4 June 1944. Having been captured, not surrendered at the end of the war, she survived to become a war memorial at the [[Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)|Museum of Science and Industry]] in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]]. {{GS|U-995||2}} was transferred to Norway by Britain in October 1948 and became the Norwegian ''Kaura''. She was returned to Germany in 1965, to become a museum ship at [[Laboe Naval Memorial|Laboe]] in October 1971.<ref>Gallery, Daniel V. (1965). ''Eight Bells and All's Well''. W.W. Norton & Company. p. 248. {{LCCN|6518021}}.</ref>

==Salvage proposals==
In the late-1990s, a firm applied to the British Ministry of Defence for salvage rights to the Operation Deadlight U-boats, planning to raise up to a hundred of them. Because the U-boats were constructed in the pre-atomic age, the wrecks contain [[low-background steel|metals that are not radioactively tainted]], and are therefore valuable for certain research purposes. The ministry awarded no salvage rights, due to objections from Russia and the U.S., and potentially from Great Britain.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/20/secondworldwar.northernireland|title=Raise the U-boat: council plans to put Nazi sub in maritime museum|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831225711/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/20/secondworldwar.northernireland|archive-date=31 August 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> {{irrelevant citation|date = January 2020|reason = Article references a different salvage}}

Between 2001 and 2003, nautical archaeologist [[Innes McCartney]] discovered and surveyed fourteen of the U-boat wrecks;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uboat.net/gallery/DivingE/
 |title=Operation Deadlight Expedition phase 1 |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |website=German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uboat.net/gallery/DivingF |title=Operation Deadlight Expedition phase 2 |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |website=German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net}}</ref> including the rare [[Type XXI U-boat]] ''[[U-2506]]'', once under the command of [[Horst von Schroeter]]; the successful [[Type IXC/40 submarine|Type IXC U-boat]], {{GS|U-155|1941|2}} commanded by [[Adolf Piening]] and ''[[U-778]]'', which was the most promising salvage.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Budanovic |first1=Nikola |title=‘The Most Intact U-Boat Wreck I’ve Ever Seen’ U-Boat Hunter Dr Innes McCartney |url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/u-778-the-story-of-submarine.html |access-date=27 September 2024 |work=War History Online |date=25 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2007, [[Derry City Council]] announced plans to raise ''U-778'' to be the main exhibit of a new maritime museum.<ref name="Bowcott">{{cite news |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |title=Raise the U-boat: council plans to put Nazi sub in maritime museum |work=The Guardian |date=20 August 2007 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/20/secondworldwar.northernireland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831225711/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/20/secondworldwar.northernireland |archive-date=31 August 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> On 3 October 2007, an Irish diver, Michael Hanrahan, died whilst filming the wreck as part of the salvage project.<ref>{{cite news |title=Team to recover U-boat diver body |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=3 October 2007 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7025213.stm |access-date=21 November 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227103651/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7025213.stm |archive-date=27 December 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In November 2009, a spokesman from the council's heritage museum service announced the salvage project had been cancelled for cost reasons.<ref>{{cite news |title=Costs sink plan to raise U-boat |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=12 November 2009 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/8356157.stm |access-date=25 November 2009}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Operation Deadlight U-boats]]
* [[HMS Ferret (1940 shore establishment)]]
* [[Operation Regenbogen (U-boat)]]
* [[Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|last=McCartney|first=Innes |author-link=Innes McCartney |title=Operation Deadlight U-boat Investigation|journal=After the Battle|date=February 2002}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat|Operation Deadlight}}
* [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1945/1945%20-%202512.html "Operation Deadlight"] a 1945 ''Flight'' article

{{Uboat}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}

{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deadlight, Operation}}
[[Category:Operation Deadlight| ]]
[[Category:U-boats]]
[[Category:Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ship disposal]]