Keroman Submarine Pen K3

France / Bretagne / Lorient / rue Ingénieur Romazotti
 Second World War 1939-1945, submarine, bunker
Lorient was the location of a German U-boat (submarine) base during World War II. Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz decided to construct the base on 28 June 1940. Between February 1941 and January 1942 three gigantic reinforced concrete structures were built on the Keroman peninsula. They are called K1, K2 and K3. In 1944 work began on a fourth structure. The base was capable of sheltering thirty submarines under cover. Lorient was heavily damaged by Allied bombing raids, this naval base survived through to the end of the war. Lorient was held until May 1945 by the Nazi German army, even though this city was surrounded by the American Army, since the Germans there refused to surrender.

Since they could not destroy the base and its submarine pens, the Allies had decided to flatten the city and port of Lorient, in order to cut the supply lines to the U-boat bases. Without fuel, resupplies of weapons (e.g. torpedoes), and provisions, it became impossible for those U-boats to return to war patrols in the Atlantic Ocean. Between 14 January 1943 and 17 February 1943, as many as 500 high-explosive aerial bombs and more than 60,000 incendiary bombs were dropped on Lorient. The city was almost completely destroyed, with nearly 90% of the city flattened. Thousands of French civilians, as well as German military and naval men, were killed.

Presently, the former U-boat base of Keroman is open to the public, and it can be visited year-round. During the tours, the submarine pens of block K3 can be seen. Its roof (3.40 m to 7.0 meters, (15-30 feet of steel-reinforced concrete) can be visited, as well as a former anti-aircraft tower on top of the U-boat base. The tower affords an excellent view of the harbor and of the former headquarters of the Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz of the Kriegsmarine (Nazi German navy) across the bay at Larmor-Plage.

After the war the base was taken over by the French Navy and was used up to 1997. It was base was renamed after Jacques Stosskopf in July 1946. He had been the deputy director of naval construction at the base and gave valuable information to the Allies during the war.


uboat.net/flotillas/bases/lorient_bunkers.htm
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Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keroman_Submarine_Base
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Coordinates:   47°43'38"N   3°22'3"W

Comments

  • This is the Keroman III U-boat bunker. Keroman III had five dry & two wet pens, which could hold a maximum of 12 U-boats.
  • more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorient and specifically about the submarine base (in French): http://perso.orange.fr/sous.marin/index.htm
  • http://www.uboat-bases.com/fr/pagesfr.php?bsm=2&article=2
This article was last modified 6 years ago