VICKERS at Barrow provided many of the submarines which played an important role in winning the Second World War but that did not stop the firm being interested in rival products from Germany.

Today we look at two German U-boats, one which was brought to Barrow and another which forms a visitor attraction on the banks of the Mersey.

The U-570 arrived at Barrow on October 3 in 1941 and was filmed by the Pathe News cameras.

It had been captured after a depth-charge attack by a Lockheed Hudson bomber.

A British crew, led by Lt George Colvin, got the damaged boat into a fit state to be towed away.

The U-570 went into dry dock at Vickers for detailed examination and repair.

A volunteer with a gas cutter managed to release the torpedoes and Lt Martin Johnson removed the detonators – earning the George Medal.

The repaired boat was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Graph on September 19 in 1941 and every aspect of its performance was evaluated.

It had a safe diving depth of 750ft which was a shock to the Royal Navy as its maximum depth charge settings had been 560ft.

HMS Graph did three patrols and was assigned for training duties in 1943 before being decommissioned in February 1944.

On the way for scrapping in Scotland, a tow-rope snapped in a gale and the boat ran aground off Islay.

It was partially salvaged and scrapped in 1947.

You can get up close to a Second World War submarine at the U-boat Story at Birkenhead.

The U-534 was built at Hamburg in 1942 and was under the command of Cpt Herbert Nollau.

It was 253ft long and was 1,277 tons when submerged.

The submarine could achieve a top speed on the surface of 18 knots, thanks to a nine-cylinder diesel engine.

When submerged, it could do seven knots with the power from Siemens electric motors.

It was sunk on May 5 in 1945 by a RAF Liberator aircraft after refusing to accept the order to surrender issued by the German Admiral Donitz.

The U-boat had been heading for Norway and remarkably 49 of the 52 crew members survived – including four who got out through a torpedo tube.

The U-534 is one of just four Second World War U-boats to have survived into preservation.

It lay on the seabed for more than 40 years and was raised in August 1993 in the false hope of finding gold bars.

The rusting vessel arrived at Birkenhead as a museum exhibit in 1996 and has been cut into four sections to allow its internal workings and crew quarters to be seen through glass viewing partitions.

There is also a display of smaller, more personal artefacts recovered from the U-boat and a series of interactive exhibits.

The U-boat Story is open on weekdays from 10.30am to 4.30pm and on weekends to 6.30pm.

It has its own stop on the Mersey Ferries at Woodside Ferry Terminal, Birkenhead.