'The mystery over the fate of a German First World War U-boat has been resolved a century after it went missing – after its wreck was discovered by offshore wind farm developers.
The SM U-31 submarine disappeared after setting off from Wilhelmshaven in January 1915 on routine patrol, with 4 officers and 31 men on board.
Although it was widely believed to have struck a mine and sunk, it was the subject of an unsubstantiated war legend – apparently begun by the commander of another U-boat – claiming it had washed ashore in eastern England six months later with all the crew dead on board.
The tale – which suggested the crew might have been poisoned by an on-board gas leak – appears to have finally been debunked after the discovery of its wreck, 55 miles off the coast of East Anglia.
Energy companies ScottishPower and Vattenfall, which were carrying out seabed surveys in order to plan the construction of proposed offshore wind farms, first discovered the uncharted submarine wreck in 2012.
It was initially thought it could be the Dutch Navy’s final missing World War Two submarine – but divers have now confirmed it is the missing U-31 submarine.
Mark Dunkley, marine archaeologist at Historic England, said: SM U-31 was commissioned into the Imperial German Navy in September 1914. On 13th January 1915, the U-31 slipped its mooring and sailed north-west from Wilhelmshaven for a routine patrol and disappeared.
It is thought that U-31 had struck a mine off England’s east coast and sank with the loss of its entire complement of 4 officers, 31 men. After being on the seabed for over a century, the submarine appears to be in a remarkable condition with the conning tower present and the bows partially buried.'
