Shipwrecks
diving into history
Diving the
Dellec Wreck
In
the quiet bay of Dellec, fringed with a beautiful rock shoreline and only a
stone’s throw from Brest harbour, lay the remains of an unidentified wreck
from World War Two. The wreck in question is that of a 22-metre long barge,
armed and positioned by German occupation authorities as part of Brest’s
defences against Allied sea borne assault. After repetitive dives on the site
she has yielded information which points strongly at the reason of her
stationing in Dellec Bay, and even strong possibilities of how she met her end.
However the exact identity of the sunken vessel remains an enigma.
The
wreck is located between 8 and 11 metres depth, depending on tidal state.
Largely intact, she rests upright on a sandy bottom, with small clumps of debris
sprinkled on all sides. The small pieces of surrounding fragments yield several
interesting pieces half submerged in the sand. Atop the hull the decking has
disappeared, leaving an exposed metal framework as a skeleton above the
wreck’s interior, hinting at wooden deck plating rotted away during over fifty
years of submersion. Indeed on the seabed amongst the nearby litter are large
pieces of old wood, half covered in the sand, perhaps from this destroyed deck
plating. Thick links from her anchor chain can be found to both bow and stern.
These were probably used to hold the barge in position as a floating battery.
Aboard her stern are also large rolls of the impressive chain, while her bow
holds only fragments.
At
either end of the hull are bridge/weapon control stations. However the crowning
glory -
and most spectacular feature of this site -
rests upon a huge swivel base almost amidships of the hull. Four huge and
imposing 533.4mm (21 inch) G7a torpedo tubes on a now encrusted mounting point
menacingly towards the waters of Brest’s narrow entrance channel (Goulet
de Brest). The designation G7a is broken down thus: “G” stands for the
normal torpedo diameter of 533mm (21 inch), “7” means the weapon was seven
metres long, while “a” states that it was
the first variant of weapon created in this class. One of the tubes has broken
in half and the detached end rests in the sand below. At the breech of the port
tube is a small brass plaque attached to what seems to be the brass ranging
mechanism, inscribed with the number “808”.
Interior
access is easy through the skeletal deck, the easiest entry to be had next to an
intact crew ladder. Inside, amidst much scattered debris, can be found rotting
planks (deck?) and huge rolls of cables, pipes, conduits and the detritus of a
shattered weapon of war. Beneath the stern “control station” rests a huge
Junkers compressor that would have supplied the compressed air for torpedo
launch, as well as large loops of communications wire, various control panels.
In the port area of the stern are the remnants of the crew’s washroom, intact
stone washbasins and enamel jugs.
There
are also what appear to be the remains of the propeller shaft, hinting that the
screw itself could be buried in the sand. Exit is easiest via the stern end of
the vessel, through the decking next to another ladder. The
entire wreck has become a haven of life. Crabs, lobster, eels and other fish
have colonised the artificial reef, itself covered in marine fauna that sways in
the tidal flows.
What do we
know about this ship? So far we
have only scant hard facts. It is German. Or in fact more likely of French
manufacture and requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine in Brest for military service.
It would be highly unlikely that Naval authorities would deem it worthwhile to
transport a humble barge from Germany, or any other occupied area, when there
were plenty to be had in the Brest area or slightly further South. The type of
torpedo tubes installed above deck, and Junkers compressor below, point vividly
to German origin for the vessel’s armaments. A process of elimination
regarding French defensive weaponry for Brest harbour aids this conclusion.
In Brest’s excellent Naval library there are comprehensive catalogues of
French Naval installations and weapons used before German occupation in June
1940. The nearby forts of Dellec and Portzig were equipped with various calibre
weapons, but there was no torpedo equipment stationed in Brest other than those aboard
submarines and destroyers. On the other hand German
authorities did construct at least one purpose built torpedo bunker on the
shores of the Goulet facing Dellec Bay
during their years of occupation.
Currently
the most plausible theory for the vessel’s presence goes as follows. All of
Germany’s U-boat bunkers constructed in occupied France -
at Brest, Lorient, Saint Nazaire , La Pallice and Bordeaux -
were heavily defended against aircraft attack and virtually impregnable. A unit
based at each submarine complex named Marine-Nebel-Abteilung
was created to operate land and water borne equipment that covered the base with
a smoke screen in the event of attack. However a successful British commando
raid on Saint-Nazaire’s massive dry dock during the night of 28th March 1942
raised the possibility of further waterborne commando raids against the
all-important submarine bases.
As
a result of this courageous British operation defences before other vulnerable
harbour installations along the French Atlantic coast were ordered thickened by
a shaken Marinegruppenkommando West.
Along the waterline fringe of the Goulet
de Brest’s southern shores were constructed solid concrete bunkers. Inside
these impregnable shelters were torpedo tubes manned by Kriegsmarine
artillerymen, ready to repel any possibility of sea borne attack. Facing them,
the northern shores had no such suitable site for construction at the water’s
edge. To counter this problem requisitioned French vessels, armed with similarly
formidable torpedo tubes, were grouped together to complete the last line of
defence before thesubmarine
pens. This rather motley collection of small French boats and barges,
again manned withKriegsmarine men, was situated in bays on the northern side of the Goulet
de Brest. One such bay, slightly West of Brest’s torpedo net barrier,
near to the Luftwaffe flak batteries of Portzig and a stone’s throw from the
U-boat pens, is Dellec Bay. Records of Brest’s defences were unfortunately
destroyed on the eve of the German surrender, so firm information is at best
difficult to find.
That
perhaps explains the presence of the weapon in the first place, but how did she
sink? There are several possibilities. Vessels in this area would have been easy
targets for Allied air attack at later stages of the war, and it is possible
that this barge was a victim of just such an attack. Likewise during the
September siege of Brest by American infantry, Dellec Bay and the surrounding
installations and German ships were the targets of American artillery fire from
the dominating Plougastel Peninsular. It is possible that she was shelled and
sunk. However, an equally plausible scenario and the author’s personal theory,
is that she was scuttled to prevent capture -
explaining the lack of apparent damage above the waterline and her bolt upright
resting position.
While
diving the wreck there is a noticeable lack of waterline damage. The structure
is largely intact and there is no evidence of blast damage. However, internally
the bottom of the wreck has a thick layer of sand covering any traces of a
floor. If it were removed there is the possibility that damage to her bottom
would be visible, or even that open seacocks, frozen in place by seawater
corrosion, would show that she had been deliberately sunk.
The
mystery of her life and death stay unsolved for this little barge. Piece at a
time her history starts to take a firm shape, the main difficulty for
researchers being to separate fact from theory when sifting the evidence.
Pending more positive identification, she remains named the Dellec
Wreck by BMRS members attempting to firmly establish who she really is, and in the quiet bay she remains a reminder that shipwrecks don’t have to be
of epic proportions to hold fascinating histories locked inside their silent
steel skeletons.