U boat pens at St. Nazaire

Susannah moored by the U-Boat pens

St. Nazaire
Originally uploaded by Yacht Susannah

WEDNESDAY 25 JULY 2007

ST. NAZAIRE

The anchorage was very rolly, possibly caused by some of the large boats and tugs going in and out of the St. Nazaire docks. The locks open every two hours, so we went in on the 10.00 a.m. lock. A large customs vessel was also waiting to enter – the same men who had boarded us last night! There was some confusion as to who should enter the lock first, but eventually they went in and we tied alongside them as they were bigger than us. We moored by some local yachts right outside the World War II German U boat submarine pens.

We wandered around the pens, most of which have been left exactly as they were. The British had tried to destroy them during the war, but when they failed they flattened St. Nazaire instead. We visited the Espadon on the other side of the Bassin. The Espadon is a French submarine built in 1958 and was used for the first underwater tour of the arctic in 1964. The tour was fascinating, but I would much rather have the comforts of Susannah.