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U-Boat project 1914-18: Commemorating the war at sea
The U‑Boat Project 1914‑18: Commemorating the War at Seawas a two‑year partnership supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Bangor University and the Nautical Archaeology Society.
The project connected Welsh communities with coastal war history through cutting-edge imaging of the remains of 17 British sea vessels which lie on the seabed off the Welsh coast, sunk by U-boats in the First World War. The project told the forgotten stories of those involved and contributed to a previously under-researched area. A marine geophysical survey was undertaken by the Centre for Applied Marine Sciences at Bangor University and captured high resolution data on the 17 wrecks. Additional survey work involving the Nautical Archaeology Society included underwater video footage of five of the wrecks, which when combined with other data created 3D inter-active digital models for use on the website and a touring exhibition. The exhibition visited 18 Welsh maritime museums in 2018 and 2019. Each host museum delivered a programme of community engagement events to involve people of all ages and backgrounds to explore, reveal and tell the stories of the people who served on the 17 vessels, and those affected by the sinking of the ships. There were 21 community partners across Wales, many of whom focussed on delivering engagement and outreach activities through the arts.
Left: The ‘Criw Celf’ art club designed and produced an installation for an exhibition at Storiel, Bangor. Led by artist Tess Urbanska. It it was an installation to commemorate the ships lost at sea around the coast of Gwynedd by U-boats during the First World War. It consisted of a ghost ship with bottles with messages in representing the sea and lives lost. The installation was created by a team of 3 teenage girls. © Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales Right: This piece depicts fragments of a Saint John Gospel (given to servicemen in the First World War) with oil and blood floating in sea water © Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales The local community project partners were able to decide on the relevant activity. In total almost 2,000 volunteer days were contributed to the project, and as well as being part of the Cymru’n Cofio Wales Remembers 1914-1918 Programme it was also part of the 2018 Year of the Sea celebrations in Wales. In addition, a two-day conference was held in November 2018 to showcase and discuss the project’s research. See: uboatproject.wales
