Operation Deadlight was the code name for the Royal Navy operation of November 1945 – February 1946 to scuttle German U-boats surrendered to the Allies after the defeat of Germany near the end of World War II.
Forty-two surrendered U-boats moored at Lisahally, Northern Ireland, June 1945
Polish Navy destroyer ORP Krakowiak towing German Type XXIII U-boat U-2337 out to sea for scuttling on 28 November 1945
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. The term is an anglicised version of the German word U-Boot, a shortening of Unterseeboot, though the German term refers to any submarine. Austro-Hungarian Navy submarines were also known as U-boats.
U-995, a typical VIIC/41 U-boat on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial
The first German submarine, the SM U-1.
The German submarine U-14, showing the kerosene vapour trail.
Sea mines are loaded in a UC coastal submarine in the harbour of Zeebrugge