SM UB 2

UB 2
SM UB-2 and SM UB-16 in the port of Zeebrugge
Overview
Type	UB I
Shipyard	Germania shipyard , Kiel
Order	October 15, 1914
Keel laying	November 1, 1914
Launch	February 13, 1915
1. Period of service
Commissioning	February 20, 1915
Whereabouts	February 9, 1919 wrecked from February 3, 1920 by Hugo Stinnes GmbH
Technical specifications
displacement	127 t above water 142 t under water
length	28.1 m
width	3.2 m
Draft	3.0 m
Diving depth	50 m
crew	14th
drive	Daimler diesel engine 45 kW (60 PS) SSW electric motor 89 kW (120 PS)
speed	6.5  kn (12  km / h ) over water 5.5 kn (10.2 km / h) under water
Range	1,650  nm (3,056  km ) at 5 kn (9.3 km / h) over water 45 nm (83 km) at 4 kn (7 km / h) under water
Bunker quantity	3.5 t fuel oil
Armament	2 × 45 cm torpedo in two bow torpedo tubes 1 × 8 mm machine gun
Dive time	22 s
Build number	240

SM UB 2 was a German submarine of the UB-I class of the Imperial Navy . The boat sank eleven ships in World War I and was scrapped in Germany in 1920 .

In October 1914, the Germania shipyard received the order for UB 2 and began construction in November. With a length of hardly more than 28 m , UB 2 displaced 127 t when surfaced and 142 t when submerged. It was armed with two bow torpedo tubes, two torpedoes, and a deck-mounted machine gun. Launching and commissioning as SM  UB 2 took place in February 1915.

UB 2 was the only UB-I boat that was not transported to Antwerp by train, but was transferred by sea to the Flemish subway flotilla in Zeebrugge . Under the command of Werner Fürbringer, it sank eleven British ships with a total of 1374  GRT . UB 2 moved to the U-Flotilla Courland in March 1916 and to the U-Schule in December of the same year. Since it was no longer seaworthy at the end of the war, it could not be handed over to the British with the rest of the German submarine fleet in Harwich . In February 1920 it was scrapped by Stinnes in Germany.

Planning and construction

After the rapid advance of the German army along the North Sea coast at the beginning of the First World War, the Imperial Navy possessed no U-boats in the narrow and shallow waters off the coast of Flanders could operate. Originally, the RMA called for small, purely electrically powered submarines with 80 t displacement and a torpedo tube that could be transported to Antwerp by rail. After the revision by the submarine inspection , the actual construction (project 34) for the type UB I with 125 t displacement, 28 m length and two torpedo tubes, which the RMA approved at the beginning of October 1914, was created. UB 2 was one of the eight UB-I boats - SM UB 1 to SM UB 8  - for which the Germania shipyard received the order on October 15, 1914 just two months after the start of planning.

The Germaniawerft put UB 2 together with UB 1 on November 1, 1914 in Kiel . The launch took place in Kiel on February 13, 1915. UB 2 was 28.1 m long, 3.2 m wide and had a draft of 3 m. It had only one drive shaft to which a 45  kW (60 hp) Daimler 4-cylinder diesel engine for surface travel and a Siemens Schuckert electric motor with 89 kW (120 hp) for travel under water were coupled. This allowed it to reach a maximum of 6.5  kn (12  km / h ) over water and 5.5 kn (10.2 km / h) under water. When traveling above water, it had a range of up to 1,650  nm (3,056  km ) and with one battery charge it was up to 45 nm (83 km) under water. Like all boats in its class, it was designed for a depth of 50 m and, thanks to the many flood openings in its diving tanks, could dive in 22 seconds.

UB 2 was armed with two 45 cm torpedoes in two bow torpedo tubes. An 8 mm machine gun could be set up on deck. The crew consisted of an officer and 13 NCOs and men.

Calls

Lieutenant Werner Fürbringer, a 26 year old Brunswick , presented UB 2 for the Imperial Navy on February 20, 1915 service.

After testing, Werner Fürbringer transferred UB 2 from 8 to 10 May 1915 by sea to the Flemish subway flotilla in Zeebrugge. This made it the only UB-I boat that was not shipped to Antwerp by rail. By the time UB 2 arrived at the flotilla, the first German submarine offensive, which began in February, was in full swing. During this campaign, Germany declared the sea area around the British Isles a restricted area in which all enemy ships were to be sunk. Ships from neutral countries would not be attacked unless they could be identified as false flag enemy ships.

Initially, the operations of the UB-I boats of the U-Flotilla Flanders were limited to patrol trips in the Hoofden , the southern part of the North Sea between Great Britain and the Netherlands and Belgium. On June 9th and 10th, during a patrol in this area, 50 nm (93 km) to 60 nm (111 km) southeast of Lowestoft , UB 2 sank six British fishing trawlers with a total tonnage of almost 300 GRT All six vessels - British Cutters rigged with ocher red sails - were stopped, boarded by the prize command of UB 2 and sunk with explosive cartridges.

British cutter

After UB 6 , a sister boat of UB 2 , had explored a route through the British submarine network and the minefields in the Strait of Dover in late June , the boats of the flotilla began to patrol the western part of the English Channel . UB 2 , UB 5 and UB 10 could also soon start their patrol activity in the English Channel. Although none of the boats sank a ship, their successful voyages proved that the British lockdown measures on the Strait of Dover could be circumvented.

During the following operation against Allied ships, UB 2 suffered a serious accident off Le Havre on July 1, 1915: The coupling between the diesel and electric motor broke in the middle of the English Channel and could no longer be repaired with on-board resources. At this point in time, the boat still had a battery capacity for approx. 3 to 4 hours halfway through the journey. In order not to have to sink UB 2 itself, Fürbringer decided to let the boat drift through the canal with the tides. When the depth changed, it was laid on the ground so as not to be driven back. In addition, the crew made an improvised auxiliary sail that could be hoisted on the periscope, and oars. With a lot of luck and taking advantage of all possibilities, UB 2 passed the grid closings at Cape Gris Nez on July 5th. Only the following day could the boat be found by the sister ship UB 16 sent to search for UB 2 and then towed to Ostend.

In the early morning of August 28, UB 2 was able to sink the British Navy trawler Miura with a torpedo shot in the area between Corton and Yarmouth . In the morning there was a battle with a British Q-Ship , in front of which UB 2 had to do two quick dives due to a jammed machine gun and a missed torpedo shot. The Pet LT 560 submarine trap managed to separate. At the beginning of the next month, UB 2 sank with the support of UB 16 44 nm (81 km) east-southeast of Lowestoft the British fishing trawler Constance with 57 GRT and Emanuel with 44. GRT. Kutter Boy Ernie 58 nm (107 km) east of Cromer . As in June, the three cutters were stopped and sunk using explosive cartridges.

After the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915 and further sensational sinkings in August ( Arabic incident ) and September, the Americans demanded guarantees for the safety of American citizens on unarmed merchant ships. In response, the chief of the admiralty staff of the Imperial Navy, Henning von Holtzendorff , ended the German submarine offensive on September 18. Holtzendorff's instructions ordered the withdrawal of all submarines from the English Channel and the Celtic Sea and demanded strict adherence to the price order . UB 2 could not sink a ship in the following four months.

The Imperial Navy began its second submarine offensive in February 1916, during which it announced, among other things, that all enemy ships that were within the war zone would be sunk without warning. On February 26, 1916, UB 2 torpedoed and sank the cargo ship Arbonne near Kentish Knock Lightship . At 672 GRT, she was the last and largest of the ships sunk by UB 2 . None of the fourteen crew members survived.

At the beginning of March, OLt zS Karl Neumann, the previous commander of UB 13 and a former classmate from Fürbringer's cadet time, was given command of UB 2 . Fürbringer commanded six more submarines and sank almost 100,000 GRT of space. In 1933 he published his memories of his service on submarines during the First World War under the title Alarm! Diving !!: Submarines in battle and storm .

At the beginning of February, the Flemish submarine flotilla received the first new and larger boats of the UB II type . One week after Neumann took over command from March 15 to April 4, 1916, UB 2 was relocated to the 5th half flotilla in Libau . There, OLt and Thomas Bieber replaced Neumann on April 5th. OLt zS Harald von Keyserlingk followed in July as commander of UB 2 . During her service with the U-Flotilla Kurland, UB 2 carried out several operations to secure the Baltic coast near Libau and to monitor the area between the islands of Gotska Sandön and Ösel . From December, Keyserlingk received the command of UB 16 and UB 2 was used for training. According to the authors R. H. Gibson and Maurice Prendergast, boats that were worn out during the war and were no longer suitable for active service were used for training purposes.

At the end of the war, the Allies demanded the surrender of all German submarines in Harwich.

UB 2 was one of the eight no longer seaworthy submarines that remained in Germany. The other seven were U 1 , U 2 , U 4 , U 17 and the UB-I boats UB 5 , UB 9 and UB 11 . The Hugo Stinnes GmbH has UB 2 scrapped from 3 February 1920th

Commanders

Period	Surname	Enterprise
February 20, 1915 to March 7, 1916	OLt zS Werner Fürbringer	1-26
March 8, 1916 to April 4, 1916	OLt zS Karl Neumann	27
April 5, 1916 to July 1, 1916	OLt zS Thomas Bieber	28-33
July 2, 1916 to December 3, 1916	OLt zS Harald von Keyserlingk	34-40

Flotillas

Period	U-flotilla
May 10, 1915 to March 19, 1916	Flanders
March 19, 1916 to December 3, 1916	Courland
December 4, 1916 to November 11, 1918	Underground school

successes

Ships sunk or damaged by SM UB 2

date	Surname	Type	Tonnage (GRT)	nationality	fate
June 9, 1915	Britannia	Fishing trawler	43	United Kingdom	sunk
June 9, 1915	Edward	Fishing trawler	52	United Kingdom	sunk
June 9, 1915	Laurestina	Fishing trawler	48	United Kingdom	sunk
June 9, 1915	Quivive or Qui Vive	Fishing trawler	50	United Kingdom	sunk
June 9, 1915	Welfare	Fishing trawler	45	United Kingdom	sunk
June 10, 1915	Intrepid	Fishing trawler	59	United Kingdom	sunk
23 Aug 1915	Miura	Navy trawlers	257	Royal Navy	sunk
Sep 7 1915	Constance	Fishing trawler	57	United Kingdom	sunk
Sep 7 1915	Emanuel	Fishing trawler	44	United Kingdom	sunk
Sep 10 1915	Boy Ernie	Fishing trawler	47	United Kingdom	sunk
Feb. 26, 1916	Arbonne	Cargo ship	672	United Kingdom	sunk
		Total:	1,374

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Eberhard Rössler: The submarines of the Imperial Navy . Bernard and Graefe, Bonn 1997, ISBN 3-7637-5963-8 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Harald Bendert: The UB boats of the Imperial Navy 1914–1918: missions - successes - fate . Mittler, Hamburg; Berlin; Bonn 2000, ISBN 978-3-8132-0713-2 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Guðmundur Helgason: WWI U-boats: UB-2 . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Robert Gardiner; Randal Gray: Conway's all the world's fighting ships, 1906-1921 . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 1985, ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8 (English).
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Eberhard Rössler: History of the German submarine building. 1: Development, construction and characteristics of the German submarines from the beginning until 1943 . tape 1 . Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-86047-153-8 .
6. ^ ^{A b} David Miller: The Illustrated Directory of Submarines of the World . MBI Pub. Co., St. Paul, Minnesota 2002, ISBN 978-0-7603-1345-9 (English).
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Mark D. Karau: Wielding the Dagger: the MarineKorps Flandern and the German War Effort, 1914-1918 . Praeger, Westport, Connecticut 2003, ISBN 978-0-313-32475-8 (English).
8. ^ Gordon Williamson: U-boats of the Kaiser's Navy . Osprey, Oxford 2002, ISBN 978-1-84176-362-0 (English).
9. ↑ ^{a b} Guðmundur Helgason: WWI U-boat commanders: Werner Fürbringer . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} VE Tarrant: The U-Boat Offensive: 1914 - 1945 . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 1989, ISBN 978-0-87021-764-7 (English).
11. ↑ ^{a b c d} Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Ships hit by UB 2 . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
12. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. Ships hit during WWI: Britannia , Edward , Laurestina , Quivive , Welfare , Intrepid . U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved on March 3, 2009.
13. ^ ^{A b} British fishing vessels lost at sea due to enemy action: 1914, 1915, 1916 in date order . In: World War 1 at Sea . January 9, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
14. ^ Arno Spindler: The trade war with U-boats. Volume 2: From February to September 1915. In: Eberhard von Mantey: Der Krieg zur See 1914-1918. ES Mittler, Berlin 1933, pp. 146-149
15. ↑ Harald Bendert: The UB boats of the Imperial Navy 1914-1918: missions - successes - fate. Mittler, Hamburg; Berlin; Bonn 2000, ISBN 978-3-8132-0713-2 , p. 39
16. ↑ Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Miura . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
17. ↑ Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Constance . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
18. ^ Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Emanuel . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
19. ↑ Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Boy Ernie . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
20. ↑ ^{a b} Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Arbonne . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
21. ^ Guðmundur Helgason: WWI U-boat commanders: Karl Neumann . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
22. ^ Guðmundur Helgason: The WWI books . Uboat.net. Archived from the original on August 22, 2006. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 4, 2009. 
23. ↑ Guðmundur Helgason: WWI U-boat commanders: Harald von Keyserlingk . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
24. ^ RH Gibson; Maurice Prendergast: The German Submarine War, 1914-1918 . Naval Institute Press, St. Paul, Minnesota 2003, ISBN 978-1-59114-314-7 (English).