"Unearthed Secrets: Abandoned Submarine Bases and Mysterious Shipwrecks"

Abandoned Submarines and Naval Bases That Will Give You Goosebumps

Each military vehicle has its own story to tell, and it's no wonder that abandoned submarines pique our interest. If only these submarines could speak, their tales would be beyond belief. The creation of these machines was anything but simple, and they were built to accomplish astonishing feats. Some of these vessels have experienced fascinating chapters of history! Read on to learn more.

Soviet Naval Base on Simushir Island

Simushir Island, part of a volcanic island chain about 250 miles off the coast of Japan, conceals a surprising secret. One would never imagine that this lonely island is filled with rusted machinery and remnants of the past.

The northern part of the island served as a top-secret base for Soviet submarines after the Soviets blasted a channel through it and into Broutona Bay in the late 1970s. A city of up to 3,000 people was built around this base. The area included submarine docks, one of which remains intact to this day. These submarines were used for laying explosives and mines in the waters north of Japan. The base also functioned as a radar station. Today, only traces of this once-thriving naval base remain.

The Sub-Marine Explorer

The Sub-Marine Explorer has a much more tragic history than the other submarines on this list. Conceived by a German inventor named Julius H. Kroehl and an American inventor named Ariel Patterson, it was a project for the "Pacific Pearl Company" in Brooklyn and was not intended for military use.

Unfortunately, the inventors were unaware of the decompression effects on the human body, and the venture ended in disaster. Crew members suffered from "the bends" and lost their lives. Kroehl himself was the first casualty after the testing process. The submarine was abandoned until archaeologist James Delgado discovered its ruins in Panama.

German U-Boat U-352

The German U-Boat U-352, also known as a Type VIIC U-Boat, embarked on its military career in 1942 as part of the "Wolfpacks" during the Battle of the Atlantic. Later, it arrived in North Carolina, where it unsuccessfully attempted to sink the SS Freden. Its luck ran out on April 7, 1942, when it mistakenly attacked a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, thinking it was a merchant ship.

Today, the wreck of the U-Boat is still visited by deep-sea divers. The tragedy was survived by Heinz Kalr Richter, who told the Discovery Channel that the captain tried to sink as many ships as possible to receive the "Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross" medal. Some of the artifacts recovered from the wreck can be seen at the North Carolina Aquarium.

"Guzz" - Abandoned Naval Gravesite in Plymouth, England

Outside Plymouth, England, lies an abandoned military graveyard known as "Guzz," and it is quite a spectacle. The site contains advanced naval vehicles that once formed part of the nuclear submarine fleet during the Cold War. Today, "HMNB Devonport" is home to dozens of submarines, including the HMS Courageous, HMS Victorious, HMS Vanguard, HMS Tireless, and the Conqueror.

Remarkably, the nuclear reactors of these submarines are still intact. England needed a place to store the decommissioned submarines, but nearby residents are concerned about potential hazards. These powerful machines were once crucial to the Navy during the Cold War as defense systems and now pose potential health risks.

Hara Submarine Naval Base

For forty years, this location served as a heavily visited military outpost for the Soviet Union. Since then, the Hara Submarine Naval Base has been abandoned and subjected to vandalism. Today, rusty metal structures and an old lighthouse, built by the Russian military in the 1960s for Soviet Union operations and the blockade of Estonia, stand as remnants.

It's hard to imagine that hundreds of military personnel were once stationed here. The base was constructed using stones from the surrounding area. After enduring years under Soviet rule, Estonia joined forces with its neighbors and dismantled the base in 1989. The Soviets were forced to leave the facility after the collapse of the USSR.

USS Ling

Commissioned in 1945 under the command of George Garvie Molumphy, the USS Ling was a high-speed submarine designed to combat German U-boats during World War II, though it never saw combat action. In 1946, it was moved from the Naval Submarine Base New London to the Panama Canal Zone. The following year, it was decommissioned and transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

The USS Ling found a new purpose as a training ship and was taken to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York, where it was classified as a submarine reserve. Today, this 2,500-ton submarine rests in the New Jersey Naval Museum in Hackensack, New Jersey, but is not accessible to the public. Despite efforts to restore it, there were never enough funds to do so, and the submarine suffered damage during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Quester I

What do the Coney Island Submarine Wreck, Quester I, and the SS Andrea Doria have in common? The Italian cruise ship was dubbed the "Titanic of the 50s" and sank off the coast of Massachusetts after colliding with the MS Stockholm, claiming the lives of 46 people and carrying treasures worth millions of dollars.

Upon hearing about it, Brooklyn salvage worker Jerry Bianco built a 45-foot submarine from salvaged metal to recover the treasures. He named his submarine Quester I and painted it yellow. Unfortunately, the submarine got stuck when the operator didn't follow instructions. Since then, it has remained among two dozen other vehicles at the ship graveyard in Coney Island Creek.

SFRY Submarine Tunnels

Along the Adriatic coast, there lies an abandoned and eerie system of submarine tunnels. These tunnels in Croatia were once a strategically vital military position for those fighting for the independence of Vis Island during the German siege in World War II. They were the first modern military tunnels built into the hills of Vis.

The island has always been shrouded in mysteries due to this network of tunnels used by the Yugoslavian military. The bunkers were deeply embedded in the mountain and served as a significant military asset until they were abandoned during the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Today, the tunnels are only visited by tourists.

The May Island Disaster

The Battle of May Island ranks among the worst military disasters in history. It was so embarrassing that the public remained unaware until all relatives of the deceased had passed away. You might have heard about it, but were you aware that no enemy ships were involved?

It involved a battlecruiser and three British Royal Navy K-class submarines. On January 13, 1918, in the middle of the night, these submarines collided after changing their course en route to Scapa Flow, Scotland. They had noticed they were approaching mine-sweeping trawlers but collided with each other instead. Two submarines sank, and all crew members on K4 perished, while 51 of the 59 crew members on K17 were also killed. The submarines now rest a hundred meters apart at a depth of 50 meters on the seafloor.

XT-Craft Midget Submarines

At low tide, you can see the corroded and destroyed remains of the Royal Naval XT-class midget submarines from World War II. Specifically, the wreckage lies on the east coast of Aberlady Bay, Scotland. These submarines were originally part of training ships built by Vickers' Armstrong Ltd. in the early 1940s.

In September 1943, the submarines were used for a daring operation against the German Kriegsmarine battleship Tirpitz. The mission was successful, and the Royal Navy, along with the Air Force, sunk the Tirpitz the following year. The submarines were then taken to Aberlady Bay and used for testing by the RAF.

Sazan Island

Sazan is a small island off the Albanian coast that once served as the homeport for Soviet Whiskey-class submarines. Later, the Soviet Union operated biological and chemical weapon factories there, though Albania later captured the base after withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact in 1968.

This significantly expanded its navy, but by the 1990s, the submarines were outdated, neglected, and eventually abandoned along with the base. It comes as no surprise that there are plans to transform it into a tourist destination in the future.