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Submarine U16: 100-year-old wreck breaks apart during spectacular salvage!
After more than 100 years, the submarine U16 was salvaged in the North Sea, but broke up during salvage. More details about the story and challenges.
Submarine U16: 100-year-old wreck breaks apart during spectacular salvage!
On the night of Monday, September 2, 2025, a submarine that was over 100 years old was recovered off the island of Scharhörn in the North Sea. This significant event marks the first recovery of a submarine of its kind. The boat in question, known as U16, was built in Kiel in 1911 and sank in 1919 during a delivery voyage to Great Britain, as NDR reports. However, during the salvage process, the wreck broke into two parts, with one half having already been brought to Cuxhaven, while the other half remains in the North Sea and is due to be lifted soon.
The rescue proved to be extremely challenging as it depended on the weather conditions and the tides. A Dutch floating crane, the “Matador 3”, took on the task with an impressive lifting capacity of 1,800 tonnes. Before the actual lifting, a suction excavator had to uncover the wreck by removing silt and sediment. Several experts, including Jörg Fräßdorf from the Elbe-Nordsee Waterways and Shipping Office, said that the submarine should now be scrapped because no museums would finance its restoration. Welt also emphasizes that the submarine no longer had any ordnance on board and that the batteries were disposed of properly.
The History of the Submarine
U16 belongs to the Imperial Navy and is a two-hull boat with a length of 57.8 meters, a width of 6 meters and a draft of 3.36 meters. In 1914 and 1915 it carried out patrols and sank between ten and eleven merchant ships. Interestingly, it was converted into a school boat from October 1915 and remained in the training flotilla until the end of the war. The last documentary report on the wreck is from July 18, 2023; The first records have been around since 1960. The location of the wreck is about 20 meters deep north of the island of Scharhörn in the mouth of the Elbe, as Ingenieur explains.
U16 did not sink due to enemy action, but rather during a ferry trip in 1919. It is assumed that the crew was able to leave the boat in time, but information about the condition of the interior is still missing to this day as no detailed investigation has yet been carried out. The salvage is carried out for safety reasons, as such wrecks can pose a potential danger to shipping.
View of the second rescue
The part of U16 that has already been recovered is now lying on a pontoon in Cuxhaven, where the metal is partially deformed and is not immediately recognizable as a submarine. Preparations for the recovery of the second half are already underway as they want to ensure that the wreck does not pose a danger to passing ships. According to Fräßdorf, the wreck could be moving on the seabed, which underlines the need for salvage efforts.
Although salvage would be of greater interest for maritime history research, U16 is expected to be released for scrapping due to financial and risk considerations. This is the first time in history that Germany has carried out such a salvage operation of a submarine wreck, a fact that could potentially set a precedent in the future.