The foldable chairs have already been set up, Speyer - Technology aficionados! The submersible transport will begin its journey toward Speyer on the Rhine on May 11.
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| German submarine U-17 |
It is moving slowly down the home stretch and the Rhine. The U17 class 206 A submarine's remarkable transit to the Technik Museum Speyer (Rhineland-Palatinate) is the event in question. The U17s will continue their journey on Thursday, May 11, after safely crossing the North Sea, and should arrive at the museum on Sunday, May 21, as planned.
U17 on the way to Speyer: Mastering the North Sea stage
The U17 team has already finished the first phase with success. The 500-ton colossus set sail for the last time on Saturday, April 29. The more than 50-year-old submarine left the Kiel Fjord after being perfectly positioned and attached in the transport and lifting construction on the 85-meter-long ocean-going floating pontoon.
The convoy, being towed by the Dutch tugboat Teddy, swiftly crossed the choppy North Sea at eight to nine knots (14 to 16 km/h) after passing the Kiel Canal.
U-boat sailed across the North Sea to Holland
On May 1, the Dutch neighbors received U17, a loan from the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information technological, and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), a repository for military technological studies. It traveled smoothly to Dordrecht on the Waal. The museum staff and Spedition Kübler GmbH prepped the submarine for further transit on the grounds of the logistics company Van der Wees Groep BV.
This begins on Thursday, May 11, at 6 a.m., with Nijmegen serving as the halfway point. U17 spends the night in the landing stage at the Bastei as the pusher PIETER Van der Wees travels south via the "Rhein-Passage" the following day, passing through Duisburg, Düsseldorf, and Cologne. Before reaching Speyer on Wednesday, May 17, the boat swims past Koblenz's renowned Deutsches Eck and along the fabled Loreley rock in the direction of Mainz.
Until the date that U-Boot U17 will formally be housed in the Technik Museum Sinsheim
If all goes as planned, the submarine is transported to the Technik Museum Speyer by the Spedition Kübler GmbH, which also assumes responsibility for the final heavy road transfer. The transit will be streamed live on the institutions' social media accounts, allowing visitors and museum enthusiasts to follow it.
Online at www.technik-museum.de/u17 is a full travel map with arrival timings. To avoid missing the drive-by, interested parties can use live tracking to follow the position. The intended exhibition location, the Technik Museum Sinsheim (Baden-Württemberg), 40 kilometers distant, won't get it until 2024.
There is still a lot to be done before it can be moved further by road, though. The tugboat is due to arrive at Speyer's natural port on May 17 at around noon and be anchored right away. This activity is hidden from the public since this anchorage is a part of a natural reserve. In order to make room for the undersea transit, a number of trees and shrubs were removed from the Rhine's banks, prompting the Green Party to formally protest.
Then, using a 200-ton crane, Scholpp GmbH sets to work building a ramp from the land to the pontoon. The 25-member workshop crew from the museum then started removing the lashings after arming themselves with a flex, torch, and plasma cutter. Throughout the sea journey, these kept the boat in position. They must descend since the almost 500 tons are being raised once more.
There are eight hydraulic cylinders, each with a 100-ton capacity. The lifting framework is pushed up by 15 centimeters using these pistons, which are positioned underneath. Then everything is constructed. Until the construction is elevated to a height of at least 1.40 meters, this process is repeated.
The project poses a significant challenge for the crew. As soon as the necessary height is attained, the Spedition Kübler low-loader is employed. In order to put down, the 30-axle vehicle drives onto the pontoon and through the building. The submarine may be brought ashore once it has been sufficiently secured from the workshop. On Sunday, May 21, beginning at 8 a.m., the last road conveyance to the Technik Museum Speyer will take place. You may follow this all the way to the museum grounds.
Before the conveyance comes the after: The museum administrators have a good year to prepare their new display for the transfer to the Technik Museum Sinsheim while keeping it always accessible to visitors and yet properly protected. The forthcoming chores involve, among others, taking out the massive batteries and rotating the boat, which is the only way to reach U17 on the Neckar beneath Heidelberg's Old Bridge.
Source: Peter Keifer/Ludwigshafen24