MAN Truck & Bus
30 Jul 2024
After around four weeks of traveling over rivers and roads, the U17 submarine has arrived at the Sinsheim Museum of Technology - pulled over long distances by a MAN TGX 41.680.
Made it! U17 has arrived safely at its destination. However, the submarine, which weighs around 350 tons, has not docked at a quay somewhere on the North Sea or Baltic Sea, nor has it reached its destination in Sinsheim by water - instead, it has completed the final leg of its last journey on a platform trailer with 30 axles, pulled by a MAN TGX 41.680. The destination of this spectacular operation is the Sinsheim Museum of Technology, where the submarine, which was decommissioned by the German Navy in 2010, will soon become a magnet for the public.
More than a year ago, on April 2023, U17 left Kiel. Transported on a load carrier, it went through the Kiel Canal and across the North Sea towards Hoek van Holland. On the Waal and across the Rhine, the pushed convoy traveled from Dordrecht via Nijmegen to Duisburg. After another stop in Cologne, U17 passed through Bonn and Mainz before arriving at the port of Speyer in May 2023. From there, it was transported by road to the Technikmuseum Speyer.
On June 30, the submarine set off again, first by road from the Speyer Museum of Technology to the Rhine. There, U17 was loaded onto a river pontoon to be transported first via the Rhine to Mannheim and then via the Neckar to Haßmersheim until July 9. Then it was back on the road and through northern Baden-Württemberg to its destination in Sinsheim.
Kübler Schwertransporte from Michelfeld-Erlin was responsible for the last journey of U17. The company operates worldwide as a logistics service provider in the heavy goods sector and is therefore very familiar with challenges of all kinds. And it is a long-standing MAN customer. “We rely on MAN because we were impressed by the reliability of the vehicles,” says Niclas Grimm, Project Manager at Kübler. “For special transports like this one, we had a MAN TGX 41.680 converted into an 8x6.” In addition to powerful low-loaders and powerful trucks, one thing in particular is indispensable for such jobs: truck drivers with a lot of professional experience and a particularly good ability to concentrate.
Tipping point: When driving under low obstacles, U17 had to be turned sideways again and again. Picture credits: Auto - Technik - Museum e.V.
Frieder Saam is one of them. He was at the wheel of the MAN TGX 41.680 8x6 and chauffeured U17 towards Sinsheim. “I've been driving heavy goods vehicles for many years,” he says. "And it's still always something special, because no two jobs are the same. It also makes me proud to be able to drive such large transports." The preparations for a heavy transport start long before the freight sets off for the first time: Possible routes are explored, arrangements are made with the authorities and police. Every tour is tailor-made. In the case of the U17 transport, planning began a good five years ago and several people at Kübler were involved - including driver Saam from the very beginning.
Precision work: U17 on its way through small towns - and always against a large backdrop. Picture credits: Auto - Technik - Museum e.V.
In addition to the sheer mass of U17, the dimensions of the submarine also made the transport an adventure: the steel colossus is almost 50 meters long and more than four and a half meters wide. Both on the water and during the journey on the road, it had to be repeatedly rotated by 73 degrees - otherwise the truck with its bulky cargo would not have been able to cross railroad crossings or pass under various bridges. This feat was made possible by a turning device that was specially made for U17's last journey.
The team maneuvered the 90-meter-long and 10-meter-high heavy transport not only under deep bridges, but also through the narrowest streets in the picturesque Kraichgau region.
One of the trickiest moments was turning the boat on the pontoon several times. The crew not only had to keep U17 balanced on the water, but also the pontoon. Another particular challenge was sailing off the pontoon in Haßmersheim when U17 went ashore again: This involved constantly rebalancing the pontoon to compensate for the changing load.
“We can only master this kind of transportation as a team,” says project manager Grimm. "As we've been in the business for many years, our employees around the world have been able to gain experience with all kinds of challenges. Of course, we are now benefiting from this - and we are also extremely proud that the Sinsheim Museum of Technology has entrusted us with this complex project."
The Sinsheim Museum of Technology offers guided tours of the U17 submarine every weekend.
Stopover: U17 in the natural harbor of Speyer, protected by the fire department. Picture credits: Auto - Technik - Museum e.V.
Text: Christian Buck
Photos: Auto - Technik - Museum e.V.
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