The wreck of a German submarine has surfaced off the northern French coast. The rusty remains of the submarine can be seen at low tide in front of the seaside resort of Wissant west of Calais, said the tourist guide Vincent Schmitt. The UC-61 boat had sunk there more than a hundred years ago during the First World War.
According to Schmitt, the sea clears two pieces of wreckage about eight and three meters long at low tide.
The submarine of the imperial navy was originally about 50 meters long and came in July 1917 before the French Opal Coast on the English Channel. According to historian Isabelle Delumeau, it was commissioned to sink merchant ships.
"It has even sunk a warship," she says. After the U-boat was raised by the French, the approximately 20-member German crew blew it up.
"All residents of Wissant know that there is a submarine here," says tourist guide Schmitt. "But most of the time, the wreck is in the sand and therefore can not be seen, it's the first time it's been exposed so far."
The authorities do not want to recover the submarine. It poses no danger to the population there, said the prefecture.