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Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:46 am

i have heard that a cargo ship back during the war carrying a load of vw beetles shipwrecked near germany- has anyone else heard of this and possibly know where i can find any info on this
i have done loads of searching but to no avail
any help would be greatly appreciated
thanks

mark

Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:13 am

There were only 600-odd Beetles built through the course of the entire war. Hardly enough to fill a ship.

This sounds like an urban legend.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:42 am

I roughly remember to have seen a documentary about a during wartime sunken ship wich was loaded with supporting goods for the troops in Africa. I do not really remember if it was an american or an english ship but as far as I remember it was not a german one. In the docu they dived into the ship and showed long rows of military motorcycles and some small tanks and other military vehicles that where still in the loading area. Visually in not a very worse shape after all the years. If there is not much oxigene the stuff stays quite well under water.
Maybe you heard of that ship? It layed in the mediteranian sea or in the atlantic. I guess the only VWs that where shipped anywhere, where Kubels to Africa. If any beetle bodies like 82e where shipped down there, it can only be very few, if there where any at all. A ship full of beetles during wartime did not exist.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:38 pm

thanks for the replies guys
i believe the first wreck you mentioned is the thistlegorm which is a fantastic dive at about 110-160' in the red sea and it has rows of harleys still fastened to the deck, tanks and armoured vehiches still on it-no bugs-trust me i looked and i spent 2 days on it
it would make sense if perhaps if the mystery beetle ship sank after the war when vw started making bugs full time again because according to my buddy there were over a thousand -several thousand bugs -i believe destined for the US
and it was apparently just about 50 miles from hamburg= im assuming they meant lubeck or kiel
i know kiel is filled with sunken subs and that lubeck well was a big port near hamburg
thanks for your time
mark

Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:49 pm

I believe it was mid to early sixties and I was told it was off the west coast of British Columbia Banana split might know more . But I have also heard a similiar story So mabye urban legend

Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:17 am

All those cars were in air tight containers and are just waiting to be lifted to the surface.

Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:34 am

Middle of Norway, May 1946:
The Germany Army has surrended and is leaving Norway. Any and all German military item left in the country is by default now the property of the Norwegian Army and any abandoned vehicle is to be handed in to the Government. A group of 4 young Norwegian soldiers gets the task of guarding a warehouse full of German military vehicles during the "crazy" libartion days in May. One sunny afternoon, they get bored and there are no intruders nor officers in sight. The first car behind the warehouse doors is a VW Schwimmwagen. They all jump in..head for the fjord and set out into the calm sea. They idle straight out, smoke an illegal cigarette, stop, undress and leave their uniforms and weapons... They want to cool off and take a bath. They jump off from the same side of the Schwimmer and it flips....and sinks... and the 4 young men swim back to shore.

I brought one of the survivors down to the same beach some years ago and he marked where they headed out and on a map approximately where the Type 166 sank. About 35 meters deep. So - "vwdiver" - if you ever make it to Norway, I have a task for you!

Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:18 am

Outkast wrote: I believe it was mid to early sixties and I was told it was off the west coast of British Columbia Banana split might know more . But I have also heard a similiar story So mabye urban legend

When I worked at a VW dealership here in Canada about 20 years ago, 2 of the oldest mechanics there (Manfred and Adolf) both remebered hearing about a ship full of new Beetles sinking in one of the Great Lakes along the Canada / US border. They said it was in the early 1970's. Both seemed to remember the story quite well.

Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:07 pm

it comes up as one of the vw facts on the main page every once in a while.a ship was lost in the lated '60s but I forget at the moment exactly where.

Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:37 pm

Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:43 pm

Someone call Jesse James, he pulled a VW from a pond, no doubt he will go for a Harley or two! :shock:

Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:56 pm

Here's 4,813 Toyotas about to slip beneath the waves:

Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:01 pm

Well that's a good start.....bwahaha....j/k :lol:

Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:27 pm

The reason that no KdF Beetles sank with that ship during the war is because they all floated.
I mean ... Duh :roll:

Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:22 pm

wolfman's brother wrote: it comes up as one of the vw facts on the main page every once in a while.a ship was lost in the lated '60s but I forget at the moment exactly where.

I found these 2 facts
On December 20, 1964, the crew of a charter vessel carrying 1187 VWs destined for Long Beach, CA, rescued 34 men adrift in a lifeboat from their sinking grain-filled U.S. cargo ship.

In 1973, two Norwegian ships chartered by Volkswagen, the Norse Variant and the Anita, arrived safely at American ports and unloaded their cargoes. Filled with coal for the return trip to Germany, more than 60 men and women died when the ships sank during a storm.

Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:33 am

thanks for all the replies

i had noted a grain filled cargo ship but never noticed anything about vws aboard,where abouts did you find out this info and would you mind sharing??

i really appreciate the help as this wreck would be awesome to track down-i wouldn't say there would be much left but cool none the less

i have also heard that this vessal was owned or possably leased by VW

thanks
mark

Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:06 am

EverettB wrote: On December 20, 1964, the crew of a charter vessel carrying 1187 VWs destined for Long Beach, CA, rescued 34 men adrift in a lifeboat from their sinking grain-filled U.S. cargo ship.

The VW ship Saved a crew from a sinking grain ship..... The grain ship did not have VWs on it.

Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:14 pm

I would try these guys

http://www.shipwreck.net/

Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:43 pm

johnshenry wrote:

Thats the ship that sank in the early 1940's. It was loaded with war vehicles from the british. The picture of the motorcycle is a 1942 BSA WD M20. You can now pay and go dive inside that ship and take a look around. It has tons of BSA M20's, Military jeeps and trucks. It also has a train and some train cars in it.

Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:00 pm

mcl23aren wrote: johnshenry wrote:

Thats the ship that sank in the early 1940's. It was loaded with war vehicles from the british. The picture of the motorcycle is a 1942 BSA WD M20. You can now pay and go dive inside that ship and take a look around. It has tons of BSA M20's, Military jeeps and trucks. It also has a train and some train cars in it.

I've done some wreck dives, but nothing like that. Coolest thing I have seen is an old boiler stack from a twin wheel paddle boat off Bermuda and some solidified bags of cement in Mexico. Have to add that one to my list of "wanna" dive sites.....