Divers recover body of U-Boat film man

Divers today recovered the body of a father of four who died during the underwater filming of a sunken Nazi U-Boat in treacherous waters.

The dead man, named as Michael Hanrahan from Dublin, was among a team exploring the wreck 16 miles off Malin Head in Co Donegal when he got into difficulties.

The dive yesterday afternoon was part of an exploratory mission for plans to raise the U-778 for display in a museum in Derry.

Other members of the four-man Dive North West team tried in vain to rescue Mr Hanrahan, 45, when he apparently had a seizure, but had to surface for the evening when their attempts failed.

After another dive this morning to recover the body, his remains were brought ashore at Malin Head pier shortly after 11am.

Former Derry Mayor Shaun Gallagher, who was at the scene, said everybody involved was still reeling with the shock.

“The dive to the U-boat went perfect, the conditions were perfect, the filming was perfect and then on the way back Mick had some kind of seizure,” he said.

“The divers along with him tried everything they could to help him but it was too late.

“It’s just a tragedy, it’s a massive shock,” he added.

A coroner is expected to carry out a post mortem examination to determine the cause of death and whether any follow-up investigations are necessary.

Derry City Council, which was driving plans to recover the wreck as a tourist attraction, said it was deeply saddened by the death and expressed its sympathy to the man’s family.

It agreed earlier this year to explore the viability of raising the Second World War submarine, which sank while being towed from Scotland to Ireland.

A council spokeswoman said: “Due to the depth of the waters involved, the procedure was expected to be highly technical.”

The filming and recording of the wreck was part of a feasibility study on the submarine’s recovery for an exhibition to mark the role of the city in the Battle of the Atlantic.

It is estimated there are more than 100 U-boat wrecks lying on the seabed off the Co Donegal coast.

“Members of staff were deeply saddened by the death of one of the divers participating in the U-boat exploratory dive,” said a council spokeswoman.

“They expressed their sincere sympathy to the diver’s family and his colleagues from Dive North West.”