German U boat - or not?

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 May 2010 11:32

1940 - This is the approximate site of a German U boat sunk on Easter Monday by Skipper George Lilley RNR (latterly DS0).   The submarine surfaced suddenly in front of his vessel and he put a shot into her.   “The bows rose vertically some 10 feet out of the sea.   He fired another shot into the bows and the submarine sank like a stone.  He regretted not being able to capture her whilst disabled but he felt he could not risk her getting away.   There were no survivors.”  [The Gower Coast, George Edmunds.]  

This account is disputed.   There is a claim, based on the proposition that U boats were not operating that far up the Bristol Channel at that time, that what was shot at was possibly the bow of an underwater wreck, surfacing unexpectedly ... (Ref: 084)