A journey from museum to museum
The story of the submarine’s road trip is no fictional tale; it happened recently in Germany, when a U17 needed to be moved from one museum to another. This extraordinary journey not only highlighted the technical prowess of the transport teams but also brought communities together in celebration of a unique historical exhibit.
The submarine in question was launched on 10 October 1972, it was commissioned on 28 November 1973, and it was subsequently decommissioned on 14 December 2010. It spent over 37 years in service with the German Navy, and – during its “career” – it travelled 201,152nm (= 372,533.504km), of which 80,105nm (148,354.46km) were submerged.
Recently, the “old-timer” needed to be moved from the Speyer Technology Museum to its sister museum in Sinsheim. The museum raised the required funds (the €2 million) and appointed the Kübler haulage company to manage this complex task. (This was not Kübler's first foray into transporting something quite so complicated; previously, it transported a Concorde and an Airbus A380 on behalf of the museum.) Kübler used 30 Scheuerle InterCombi axle lines from TII Scheuerle to transport the German sub. There were lots of “firsts” during the journey – the first-ever rotation of a submarine on a modular transporter, for instance.
Work behind the scenes
There was a huge amount of work done behind the scenes. For instance, the project managers had to obtain permits, check and verify the statistics pertaining to the bridges, close the Neckar River, close two railway lines and raise the overhead lines, close the A6 motorway (twice), close country roads for days, switch off and dismantle power and telephone lines, cut down trees on the route, fix tight curves and islands with load distribution plates, and dismantle many traffic signs and crash barriers.
Spectacular sight
The submarine’s journey took four weeks and, during this time, tens of thousands of people followed its spectacular journey from Speyer to Sinsheim. The incredibly complicated trip involved navigating under low bridges and high-voltage power lines, and through the narrow streets of the hilly Kraichgau region. To safely pass these obstacles, the submarine had to be rotated 70 degrees or more around its longitudinal axis using specialised equipment. This manoeuvre reduced the height of the load. In total, the submarine was turned 14 times on the route.
River journey: balancing and levelling
Before the actual road trip came a journey on the Rhine and Neckar rivers, starting from Speyer and passing through Mannheim to Haßmersheim. Initially, the submarine was loaded onto a river pontoon positioned on 30 InterCombi axle lines. This was a tricky process, because the entire load weighed around 500 tonnes, and so it required careful balancing. The 66-metre long, 11.5-metre wide pontoon had to be constantly relevelled to adjust to the changing load.
As the Scheuerle modular transporters moved the submarine forward centimetre by centimetre, the Kübler crew monitored the 240 wheels of the InterCombi. They ensured the pontoon and submarine were balanced using ballasting and 650 millimetre high axle compensation. After three hours, the roll-on was completed, and the pontoon – provided by the Defense Technology Study Collection of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support – was ready to travel at about 10km/h.
Landing requires precision and teamwork
Before the roll-off in Haßmersheim, the various technical experts from Kübler, Fischer Kran Transporte, Van der Wees, and the Sinsheim-Speyer museums had to work together to lift the U17 to a height of 1.4 metres using eight hydraulic cylinders. This allowed Scheuerle InterCombi axle lines to drive under the submarine.
Precise balancing of the pontoon and axle lines was essential, especially with the strong current of the Neckar posing an additional challenge. The modular platform vehicles moved carefully over ramps onto the pontoon and under the U17, then back onto land. "It's finished. The submarine is back on land. Now we have to combine all our efforts because the road transport begins tomorrow,” noted Frieder Saam, professional driver and transport manager at Kübler, at the time.
Navigating the Kraichgau
The route through the hilly Kraichgau region in northwestern Baden-Württemberg presented significant challenges. The first major obstacle was passing under a cement conveyor belt near Neckarmühlbach. For this, the U17 had to be tilted hydraulically (in one of the 14 such moves).
Overland journey
In Bad Rappenau, tight bends, turns, and traffic islands awaited the transport. The route along the closed A6 expressway from Bad Rappenau towards Sinsheim, accompanied by a police escort, was tricky! For instance, the U17 had to be rotated again to avoid high-voltage lines. To exit via the Sinsheim/Steinsfurt motorway slip road, Saam had to move onto the opposite carriageway, driving the wrong way at a maximum speed of 15km/h.
Before crossing a railway line near Ittlingen, the submarine had to be tilted to pass under overhead power lines. The convoy then made its way to the town centre, with the heavy-load transport navigating past house facades just centimetres away. In the Sinsheim neighbourhood of Hilsbach, Saam had to manoeuvre the U17 through a tight intersection between a church wall and a residential building, then down a challenging zig-zag route to the TSG Hoffenheim sports facility.
Triumphant arrival
The final kilometres to the Sinsheim Technology Museum were marked by bands and thousands of onlookers. Local mayors welcomed the convoy, with clubs and beer gardens getting in on the action by providing catering. Kindergartens and school classes used the event as an educational trip, delighting U17 commander Jürgen Weber, who accompanied the submarine on its journey, and shared his experiences of life on board the vessel. "The interest of the spectators made us feel good, it was an unforgettable experience for the whole team, and we are proud that the U17 is being kept open to the public,” Weber said.
Saam made the last turn onto the museum grounds to lots of applause, parking the exhibit in front of its future home. The first visitors will see the U17 at the museum next year – and they may well have absolutely no inkling of the incredible journey it undertook to get there.
