Aberlady Bay Car Park, Longniddry, EH32 0QB
Along the coastal path connecting Aberlady with North Berwick, one can see many curiosities including the wreck of two World War II X-type midget submarines in Aberlady Bay. These vessels were about 16 metres (52 ft) long, only big enough for a crew of four: a commander, a pilot, an engineer and a specialist diver. They were powered by a diesel engine when on the surface and an electric motor when underwater. These midget submarines were exclusively used for special coastal operations, for instance the 1943 raid on the German battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord and as guide boats for the 1944 Normandy landings.
The two submarine skeletons in Aberlady Bay were exclusively used for training, firstly as part of preparing for missions, as well as targeting research and for anti-submarine areal defence. It was as part of this latter use that they were towed and moored in the shallow waters near Aberlady, so they could be part of trials launched form the nearby East Fortune airfield.
Midget Submarines in Aberlady Bay https://awesomeaberlady.com/aberlady-bay-midget-submarines/