ianstone
10-07-2010, 08:54 AM
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1:02pm UK, Thursday October 07, 2010
Andy Winter, Sky News Online
A retired fisherman has spent £50,000 turning a canal barge into a replica of a German U-boat.
It looks just like one of the feared attack vessels that sank 3,000 Allied ships during the Second World War.
Cyril Howarth kitted it out with with torpedo tubes and a periscope and launched it on the Leeds-Liverpool canal at Botany Bay in Lancashire.
Half the money was enough to buy a narrowboat, before the rest went on transforming it to resemble the deadly submarine.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Oct/Week1/15753794.jpg
Flabbergasted anglers have been falling over their fishing rods as the 70ft vessel bobs past them.
But they need not worry about manning the machineguns - although it looks mean, the vessel is still a narrowboat.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Oct/Week1/15753795.jpg £50,000 was spent transforming a run-of-the-mill barge. Photo: Warren Smith
Its top speed is 3mph and the only way it would be able to dive is by springing a hole in the side.
Cyril, 78, from Chorley, said: "'It is the culmination of a 12-month dream. I have always studied naval history, in particular the role of the submarine.
"You should have seen the faces of the locals when they woke up and found a battleship-grey German navy U-boat in their midst."
Speaking from beside the craft, Sky's Tessa Chapman said: "We've seen a number of narrowboats going past with their cameras out taking a look at this new tourist attraction."
Onlookers have been reacting with a mixture of shock and awe to the incongruous sight.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Oct/Week1/15753851.jpg An original German u-boat captured in 1941
Tom Martin, who walks his dog by the canal every day, told Sky News: "It's most unusual, I was quite surprised.
"I hear the chap who owns it always wanted a submarine."
Bradley Crapton, a narrowboat owner, added: "I've never seen anything like it - except in war films of course."
Another dog walker, who did not want to be named, said: "Good luck to him, he's done a remarkable job."
However, although Cyril may not have to contend with [URL="http://www.uboat.net/allies/ships/hunter.htm"]Allied hunter-killers (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Replica-German-U-Boat-Launched-On-Leeds-Liverpool-Canal-Craft-Made-In-Lancashire-By-Cyril-Howarth/Article/201010115753806?lpos=Strange_News_First_UK_News_Fe ature_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15753806_Replica_German_U-Boat_Launched_On_Leeds-Liverpool_Canal%3A_Craft_Made_In_Lancashire_By_Cyr il_Howarth#comments), he could yet face a broadside from British Waterways (http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/).
A spokesman has confirmed the craft needs a licence and will be checked to ensure it won't sink other boats by mistake.
1:02pm UK, Thursday October 07, 2010
Andy Winter, Sky News Online
A retired fisherman has spent £50,000 turning a canal barge into a replica of a German U-boat.
It looks just like one of the feared attack vessels that sank 3,000 Allied ships during the Second World War.
Cyril Howarth kitted it out with with torpedo tubes and a periscope and launched it on the Leeds-Liverpool canal at Botany Bay in Lancashire.
Half the money was enough to buy a narrowboat, before the rest went on transforming it to resemble the deadly submarine.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Oct/Week1/15753794.jpg
Flabbergasted anglers have been falling over their fishing rods as the 70ft vessel bobs past them.
But they need not worry about manning the machineguns - although it looks mean, the vessel is still a narrowboat.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Oct/Week1/15753795.jpg £50,000 was spent transforming a run-of-the-mill barge. Photo: Warren Smith
Its top speed is 3mph and the only way it would be able to dive is by springing a hole in the side.
Cyril, 78, from Chorley, said: "'It is the culmination of a 12-month dream. I have always studied naval history, in particular the role of the submarine.
"You should have seen the faces of the locals when they woke up and found a battleship-grey German navy U-boat in their midst."
Speaking from beside the craft, Sky's Tessa Chapman said: "We've seen a number of narrowboats going past with their cameras out taking a look at this new tourist attraction."
Onlookers have been reacting with a mixture of shock and awe to the incongruous sight.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Oct/Week1/15753851.jpg An original German u-boat captured in 1941
Tom Martin, who walks his dog by the canal every day, told Sky News: "It's most unusual, I was quite surprised.
"I hear the chap who owns it always wanted a submarine."
Bradley Crapton, a narrowboat owner, added: "I've never seen anything like it - except in war films of course."
Another dog walker, who did not want to be named, said: "Good luck to him, he's done a remarkable job."
However, although Cyril may not have to contend with [URL="http://www.uboat.net/allies/ships/hunter.htm"]Allied hunter-killers (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Replica-German-U-Boat-Launched-On-Leeds-Liverpool-Canal-Craft-Made-In-Lancashire-By-Cyril-Howarth/Article/201010115753806?lpos=Strange_News_First_UK_News_Fe ature_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15753806_Replica_German_U-Boat_Launched_On_Leeds-Liverpool_Canal%3A_Craft_Made_In_Lancashire_By_Cyr il_Howarth#comments), he could yet face a broadside from British Waterways (http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/).
A spokesman has confirmed the craft needs a licence and will be checked to ensure it won't sink other boats by mistake.