Tuesday 7 December 2021

Skulferatu #52 - XT-Craft Midget Submarine Wrecks, Aberlady Bay, East Lothian

 

About a mile away from the picturesque village of Aberlady, there is a rather lovely walk through a nature reserve that stretches along the coast on one side of Aberlady Bay.  The path through this takes you through a wooded area and out onto a stretch of land covered in sea grasses and reeds.  From there it leads onto some huge sand dunes and a gorgeous sandy beach that seems to stretch out forever at low tide.  Today, I walked out there from Aberlady.  The sun shone through a wind that howled in from the sea and it was both warm and freezing at the same time.  Typical British beach weather basically.

 

As I made my way out along the beach towards the retreating sea, I took off my socks and shoes and walked though pitted puddles in the sand to the watery graves of two submarines. 

 

A picture of the skeletal remains of a wrecked submarine lying on the sands of the beach at Aberlady Bay, East Lothian.  In the distance can be seen the concrete block it was tethered to, along with the remains of another submarine.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Remains of one of the submarines with the other away in the distance

 

These are not as you may think German submarines sunk during World War II but are rather a couple of British mini submarines that were used by the RAF for target practice.

 

A picture of the remains of one of the wrecked XT-Craft midget submarines lying on its side in the sands at Aberlady Bay.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Remains of one of the wrecked XT-Craft midget submarines

 

They are the remains of two XT-Craft midget submarines.  These are training versions of the X-Craft submarines which were built in Britain during the Second World War and were designed to defend harbours and attack targets.  They were used on the attack of the German battleship Tirpitz in 1943 and were used during the D-Day landings to carry out beach reconnaissance and act as navigational beacons.

 

A picture of the rusting and seaweed covered remains of the hatch of one of the wrecked submarines.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
The hatch of one of the wrecked submarines

 

A photo of a rusting metal tower on the wrecked remains of the submarine.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Detail of one of the wrecked submarines

 

A photo of the skeletal and rusting remains of one of the submarines with the metal ribs of the vessel on show.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Rusting remains of one of the submarines

 

A photo of the inside of the rusting remains of one of the submarines.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Inside view of one of the submarines

 

A photo of one of the wrecked submarines in silhouette with clouds above stretching off into the distance.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View of one of the wrecked submarines on the beach

 

In 1946 these two submarines were towed out to Aberlady bay and moored to concrete blocks.  They were then used to test the effectiveness of 20mm cannon shells, which were fired at them by RAF aircraft.  The film of these tests taking place is available on YouTube at –




After the tests were completed the damaged remains of the submarines were left to rust away in the sea.

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on my walk in a hole in the rusting interior of one of the submarines.

 

A photograph of a small, ceramic skull (Skulferatu 52) being held in a hand with one of the wrecked submarines lying on the beach in the background.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #52

 

A photograph showing the rusting and barnacle covered interior of submarine where Skulferatu 52 was left.  There is a small, round hole in the centre of the rusting metal.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Interior of submarine where Skulferatu #52 was left

 

A photograph of the small, ceramic skull (Skulferatu 52) lying in the small hole in the rusting metal of the wrecked submarine.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #52 inside the wreck of one of the submarines

 

TomTom Map showing location of Skulferatu #52
Map showing location of Skulferatu #52

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 56.022681

Longitude -2.880941

 

I used the following sources for information on the submarines –

 

Canmore

X-craft: Aberlady Bay, Firth Of Forth | Canmore

 

Aberlady Heritage

Midget Submarines, Aberlady Bay, Summary Report by Alison Boutland

 

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