She was completed shortly before the end of World War II.
It was scuttled at the end of the war, having never gone on patrol
In June 1957, after more than 12 years on the floor of the Baltic Sea, U 2540 was raised and overhauled at Howaldtswerke, Kiel.
The submarine was commissioned as a research vessel in the Bundesmarine, serving from 1 September 1960 until 28 August 1968 as a test boat (class 241).
On relaunch she was renamed Wilhelm Bauer, after the designer of the first German U-boat, Brandtaucher, built in Kiel by August Howaldt in 1850.
From May 1970 she again entered service, this time with a civilian crew and served as a testbed for the technical innovations of the class 206 U-boat.
After an underwater collision with the German destroyer Z-3 (D172) on 6 May 1980 Wilhelm Bauer was discharged from use at Eckernförde on 18 November 1980 and finally released from service on 15 March 1982.
U 2540 was put on sale by the Ministry of Defence and acquired by the board of trustees of the German Maritime Museum Association and the German Maritime Museum.
The boat was restored to its original World War II configuration after its transfer in August 1983 to the Seebeck yard, opening on 27 April 1984 as a museum ship, now sponsored by the Wilhelm Bauer Technology Museum association.
It has imitation twin 30mm cannon and the bridge is not glazed as it was during service with the Bundesmarine.
It can be visited in Bremerhaven (Germany) |
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