''Boltenhagen'' (GS09) was a Kondor I-class

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

built in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

. After the

Volksmarine The ''Volksmarine'' (VM, ; en, People's Navy) was the naval force of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The ''Volksmarine'' was one of the service branches of the National People's Army and primarily performed a coasta ...

was disbanded just before the

reunification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, she was sold to Malta in 1997 and renamed ''P29'' and was used as a patrol boat. After being decommissioned, she was scuttled as a dive site in 2007 off

Ċirkewwa Ċirkewwa is a harbour situated on a point at the northernmost part of Malta. It is the site of the Ċirkewwa Ferry Terminal, where regular car ferries operate to the port of Mġarr in Gozo. In the summer, boat trips to Comino also operate, as we ...

History

East Germany

The minesweeper was laid down on 8 October 1969 at Peenewerft shipyard in

Wolgast Wolgast (; csb, Wòłogòszcz) is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait) Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast that can b ...

. She was launched on 22 May 1970 and commissioned on 19 September of that same year. She was the eighteenth ship to be built within the Kondor I class, and was named ''Boltenhagen'' after the town of the same name in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state ...

. She was used to patrol the river banks between East and West Germany, as well as a minesweeper.

Germany

After the

, the minesweeper was decommissioned along with most of the Kondor I class. However, it was then used as a patrol vessel by the

German Federal Coast Guard The German Federal Coast Guard (german: Küstenwache des Bundes) is a civilian law enforcement organisation whose primary missions are border protection, maritime environmental protection, shipping safety, fishery protection and customs enforcem ...

. The name ''Boltenhagen'' was retained but she was given the pennant number BG31. The ship's guns were dismantled, the radio and radar equipment was changed, and it was repainted. BG31, the last Kondor I class in the German Coast Guard, was decommissioned on 30 June 1996.

Malta

The former minesweeper was then purchased by Malta on 24 July 1997 and was given the pennant number ''P29''. She rejoined her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s ''Ueckermünde'' and ''Pasewalk'' which were purchased by Malta back in 1992 and were given the pennant numbers ''P30'' and ''P31''. ''P29'' became a patrol boat within the Offshore Command of the

Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta The Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta ( mt, Skwadra Marittima tal-Forzi Armati ta' Malta) is the naval component of the Maltese military. The Maritime Squadron has responsibility for the security of Maltese territorial waters, m ...

. Since the former minesweepers were purchased unarmed, some light armament was then added by the AFM. ''P29'' was then used to secure the Maltese coast against smuggling and border control operations. She was decommissioned in 2004 and was bought by the Malta Tourism Authority in September 2005. She was cleaned and then was scuttled on 14 August 2007 off the port of

to serve as a diving site and artificial reef.

Wreck

The wreck now lies at a depth of around but the entire dive may be done at . The highest point is situated only deep from the surface. Since it was quite recently sunk compared to and other wreck sites in Malta, it requires some time to attract a good amount of marine life inside and around it. However, since its sinking, '' Alicia mirabilis'',

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fittin ...

flying gurnard The flying gurnard (''Dactylopterus volitans''), also known as the helmet gurnard, is a bottom-dwelling fish of tropical to warm temperate waters on both sides of the Atlantic. On the American side, it is found as far north as Massachusetts (ex ...

s and

rays Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

have already started settling on the former patrol boat. In 2013, ''P29'' was listed among the "10 Most Incredible Sunken Ships on Earth" by Amazing Beautiful World. Malte P29 01.jpg, The stern Malte P29 16.jpg, The superstructure Malte P29 08.jpg, Commemorative plaque to Frank Pembridge Malte P29 13.jpg, Mock-up machine gun

References