Deadly danger from toxic Nazi U-boat sank by Britain 80 years ago remains today

Deadly danger from toxic Nazi U-boat sank by Britain 80 years ago remains today The Nazi U-864 submarine was torpedoed by the HMS Venturer near the island of Fedje, Norway towards the end of the Second World War - and is still leaking toxic mercury into the environment Norwegian authorities face a difficult decision over a toxic Nazi U-boat buried on the seabed after it was found to be leaking 67 tonnes of liquid mercury. The U-864, a German Type IXD2 submarine, was torpedoed by the HMS Venturer near the island of Fedje on February 9, 1945, just three months before the end of Second World War in Europe. It has sat 492ft beneath the surface on the seabed ever since, where it has slowly leaked liquid mercury from its rusting steel containers. Amid calls for the U-boat to be recovered to protect sea life and the local fishing industry, Norway's coastal administration sent a robot vehicle down to the scene of the wreck in June to investigate. The voyage revealed the alarming scale of the toxic risk of the U-boat - finding that 80% of the 22 containers recovered for analysis had actively leaked mercury into the seabed. Earlier this month, they concluded in a report that the wreck and the area around it should be entombed in a protective covering that would prevent any further leakage. Officials said that that lifting the U-boat would be too risky, as moving it in its rusted, degraded condition risked the containers falling and spreading the mercury further, in a higher concentration. The Norwegian government, which has already spent over 400 million NOK (£31.8million) on various studies regarding the U-864, said they were currently considering the report's findings. Local campaigners have argued for years that the U-boat wreck should be removed entirely, as they fear covering the wreck could inadvertently cause the German torpedoes still stowed on the vessel the boat to detonate, or crush the remaining containers filled with mercury. But the plan - which could have seen Japan build advanced jet fighters and missiles to defend its occupied territory in Asia - was rumbled by the British intelligence services, who had cracked the German navy's Enigma code. The HMS Venturer fired four torpedoes at the ship, the final of which struck its target, killing all 73 personnel on board.. It was the only time a submerged submarine sank another throughout all of World War II, with all other fatal hits coming when one of the subs was on the surface.