John Chatterton explores the U-869. Pause the video at 3:37 to see the easy lobster he missed. Sheesh!Sectional drawing of a Type IX u-boat. Enlarge.The U-869 as it lies on the bottom. Note the extensive damage.
At the widest point, the pressure hull is slightly less than 5 meters in diameter and tapers to both ends. In the video, Chatterton enters through the blast hole amidships and moves forward to the torpedo room.
Looking aft in the control room of a Type IX u-boat. This is where Chatterton enters the wreck, but on the U-869 it is blown wide open.Moving forward to the Officer's mess.An internal hatch of a Type IX u-boat, the U-505, preserved in Chicago.
This hatch leads to the aft torpedo room, which also served as crew berthing. In the event of damage, these hatches would be closed to seal off the watertight compartments. Whatever happened to the U-869 must have been immediate and catastrophic, as all the hatches appear to be wide open.
Looking forward in the Petty Officers' quarters on a different Type IX, with a closed hatch leading to forward torpedo room.The forward torpedo room of the U-505. As the U-869 may never have fired a shot, there is probably several thousand pounds of touchy old explosives in her torpedo rooms. Be careful, John!Backtracking from the torpedo room to the Petty Officers' quarters.Looking aft into the extremely tight electrical room.
Once you get there, suit up at your car and walk down the small stretch of beach till you get near the jetty. Enter the water at your leisure. Once in the water, you can swim north along the jetty to the tip. You may see fish, lobster, crabs and the sort. There are large openings in the rocks that form the jetty. Large enough in fact that you can almost swim into one. I don't advise doing this because getting stuck might be a frightening experience.
