Museum Ship
Transported to Birkenhead, England, in 1996, the vessel formed part of the Warship Preservation Trust's collection at Birkenhead Docks until the museum closed on 5 February 2006. On 27 June 2007, the Merseytravel transit authority announced that it had acquired the submarine to display at the Woodside Ferry Terminal.
For technical reasons and to facilitate economical transportation to its new site, the vessel was cut into five sections, two of which were subsequently re-joined. It is now displayed in sectioned form to allow visitors better visibility, but not entry into the U-Boat. Merseytravel said that preserving the hull intact would have created prohibitive transport costs. Engineers began a month-long operation to cut up U-534, using a diamond wire cutter, on 6 February 2008. Beginning on 10 March 2008, the sections, each weighing up to 240 tonnes, were transported by floating crane over a number of days.
"The U-Boat Story" exhibition opened on 10 February 2009.
Read more about this topic: German Submarine U-534
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