page_title: Submarine pen
section_title: Bremen
hierarchical_section_title: Submarine pen / Locations / Germany / Bremen
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Bremen-Farge, U-Boot-Bunker "Valentin", Bau Bremen-Farge.- Bau des U-Boot-Bunker "Valentin", Kolonne von Arbeitern (Zwangsarbeiter) neben Holzgerüst gehend
context_page_description: A submarine pen is a type of submarine base that acts as a bunker to protect submarines from air attack. The term is generally applied to submarine bases constructed during World War II, particularly in Germany and its occupied countries, which were also known as U-boat pens.
context_section_description: The "Hornisse" bunker was not started until 1944 in Bremen; it was never completed.
  "Valentin" was the largest bunker in Germany. Begun in 1943, it was built to be a manufacturing facility, where Type XXI submarines were to be constructed. It too was never completed. Post-war, it was briefly used as a test site for British and American bombs (most of the damage done to the bunker was inflicted at this time) before becoming a storage facility for the German Navy. The labour to construct it was supplied by local concentration camps such as Neuengamme in Hamburg.
  Valentin: 53°13′00″N 08°30′15″E
  Hornisse: 53°07′01.5″N 08°44′04″E
caption: Forced workers at the construction site of the Valentin submarine pens in Bremen, 1944
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