HMS Alliance

HMS Alliance

Then as I had completed the Mary Rose, Victory and Warrior it was only remaining the tour of HMS Alliance, the most modern exhibit of the ships displayed. It being a submarine I was in totally unfamiliar territory, knowing only what I had seen on "Das Boot" movie, highly recommended, fantastic acting. For the Alliance one needed to get over to the Gosport side with a small ferry departing next to HMS Warrior and the Gunwharf shopping mall. Once at the submarine one goes in one end and out the other in single file. 

Torpedo tube

Depth indicators

I had in 1987, years earlier, visited the U-2540 submarine in Bremerhaven, Germany. She is intact and from same era and launched only a year apart at same time as the HMS Alliance. I could confirm it is equally cramped in both the British and German design. I have also in Jan 2020 seen the German U-534 in Birkenhead that was salvaged in her resting place at 67 meters depth NE of the Danish Anholt Island by the Dutch salvage company Smit Tak in 1993. Basically same design as the U-2540.

Telegraph, equipment and dials galore for engines

As an interesting footnote: U-534 had lain on the sea bed for nearly 41 years, until she was discovered in 1986 by a Danish wreck hunter, Aage Jensen. U-534 had phonograph records which were able to be played after conservation.

Lathe (green) in workshop

The U-534 was 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. In 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.

Propulsion engine

It is now displayed in sectioned form to allow visitors better visibility without entering the U-boat. Merseytravel said that preserving the hull intact would have created prohibitive transport costs. Engineers began a month-long operation to divide U-534, using a diamond wire cutter, on 6 February 2008. On 10 March 2008, the sections, each weighing as much as 240 tons, were transported over several days by floating crane.

Bunks & messroom

The U-boat Story exhibition opened on 10 February 2009 and closed in 2020. Interestingly I did see her in 2020 when I was doing the refit of St Helena, must have been just in time before they closed. To be honest she was not much to write home about as she was laid out in 3 sections behind plexi-glass walls, one could look inside and see the jumble of pipes, cables and insulation, only the outside shell was worth seeing. There was displays of German WW2 material they had found and the history of the sub.

Captain's room

Pump & valves station

Chartroom

Propulsion monitoring

Radar

HMS Alliance is the only surviving British submarine from the Second World War era still on display today. Though she arrived too late for active combat in WWII, her story is one of record-breaking endurance and preservation.

Radio station

Crewmess

Origins (1945–1947): Laid down in March 1945, she was designed for long-range operations in the Pacific. After the war ended, she was commissioned in May 1947 and immediately made history by staying submerged for 30 days during a "snort cruise" off the coast of Africa to test new snorkel technology.

Depth sounders and sonar

Torpedo tube

Cold War Service (1950s–1973): She spent nearly 30 years on patrols and intelligence gathering. In the late 1950s, she underwent a major refit to become more streamlined, losing her deck gun for a time to gain a taller, enclosed "fin". In the 1960s, she saw action during the Indonesian Confrontation, landing special forces on the shores of Borneo.

Petty officers mess

The bog

Training and Preservation (1973–Present): After being decommissioned in 1973, she served as a static training boat at HMS Dolphin in Gosport. In 1981, she opened to the public as the centerpiece of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.

Engine top

Galley

Restoration: Following decades of exposure to salt air and nesting pigeons, a massive £7 million restoration was completed in 2014, securing her place as a permanent memorial to the "Silent Service".

Hatch up to the conning tower