SM UB 4

UB 4
General plan UB 1 - UB 8
Overview
Type	UB I
Shipyard	Germania shipyard , Kiel
Order	October 15, 1914
Keel laying	November 3, 1914
Launch	March 1915
1. Period of service
Commissioning	March 23, 1915
Whereabouts	Sunk on August 15th at 52 ° 43 '  N , 2 ° 18'  E by the British Q-Ship Inverlyon
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, 2 × bow torpedo tubes, 1 × 8 mm machine gun
Dive time	22 s
Build number	242

SM UB 4 was a German submarine of type UB I of the Imperial Navy during the First World War . A British submarine trap disguised as a fishing cutter sank it in August 1915.

In October 1914, the Germania shipyard received the order for UB 4 and began construction in November. With a length of hardly more than 28 m , UB 4 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. Disassembled into sections, UB 4 was transported by train to Antwerp and reassembled there. The launch and commissioning took place in March 1915.

During its first use in April, UB 4 was able to sink the steamer Harpalyce of the Belgian aid organization . It was the first confirmed sinking of the Flemish submarine flotilla . It sank three more ships from mid-April to mid-August. On August 15, 1915, UB 4 appeared near the British Q-Ship Inverlyon . The sailing ship sank UB 4 with gunfire. None of the fourteen crew members survived.

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 required small, purely electrically powered submarines with a displacement of 80 t and a torpedo tube that could be transported by train to the port of operation and quickly assembled there. 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 4 was one of the eight UB-I boats - UB 1 to UB 8  - for which the Germania shipyard received the order on October 15, 1914 just two months after the start of planning.

The Germania shipyard laid UB 4 on November 3, 1914 in Kiel . It was launched in Kiel on March 5, 1915. UB 4 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 4 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.

After its completion at the Germania shipyard, UB 4 was prepared for rail transport to Antwerp. To load the boat, three flatbed wagons were necessary for the three sections of the hull and additional wagons for the tower, parts of the upper deck, the machines and the batteries. Assembly in Hoboken took two weeks. Two tugs then transported the boat up the Scheldt using floating boxes and through the Ghent-Bruges canal to the port of operations in Zeebrugge . Another five and a half days were planned for this.

Calls

Oberleutnant zur See Karl Groß, 29 years old, received his first submarine command with UB 4 and put it into service for the Imperial Navy on March 23, 1915. By the time UB 4 arrived at the Flemish submarine flotilla set up on March 29, 1915, the first German submarine offensive, which had been underway since February, was in full swing. During this campaign, Germany declared the sea area around the British Isles a war zone in which all enemy ships were to be sunk. Ships from neutral countries should not be attacked unless they could be identified as false flag enemy ships .

With the expiry of UB 4 on April 9, the activities of the newly formed Flotilla began. The next day she achieved the first confirmed sinking of the flotilla. The Harpalyce , sailing under the British flag and chartered by the “Belgian Relief Organization” , was on its way to Norfolk with ballast after it had delivered food to Rotterdam . UB 4 struck the 5,940 GRT steamer between Harwich and Hoek van Holland , about 7 nm (13 km) southeast of the Noord Hinder lightship , and approached it up to about 90 m. The German Reich had assured the ship safe passage . It was marked on both sides with the words “Belgian Relief” and carried a white flag with the same inscription. Nevertheless, Gross torpedoed the harpalyce without warning. She sank within five minutes with no opportunity to launch her lifeboats . The Dutch steamers Elisabeth and Constance took in the survivors together with the American steamship Ruby . The head of the Belgian relief organization, Herbert C. Hoover , confirmed that the ship charter ended when the cargo was unloaded in Rotterdam. He had the firm assurance that ships traveling for the aid agency would not be bothered. He therefore doubted that the ship was a victim of a torpedo attack. The captain of the harpalyce and 14 members of the 44-man crew were killed in the attack. The Harpalyce was the largest ship sunk in UB 4's career .

During his second venture, UB 4 sank the Greek 2,989 GRT ship Ellispontos . The steamer was on its way from Montevideo to Amsterdam when Groß sank it with two torpedoes on April 17th. The sinking was an accident, as the Ellispontos drove without a flag or license plate. The German Reich paid damages . Although the German submarines sank over 100,000 GRT of shipping space in May and June, UB 4 could not contribute anything. It was not until July 29 that the boat sank the Belgian coal steamer Princesse Marie Jose . The 1,954 GRT ship came from Dunston and was headed for Bordeaux when it torpedoed UB 4 1.5 nm (3 km) from the Shipwash lightship.

Downfall

On August 14, 1915, the British 59-GRT fishing trawler Bona Fide 35 nm (65 km) east-north-east of Lowestoft was stopped by a submarine, boarded and sunk with explosive cartridges. According to the uboat.net website , this attack is likely attributable to UB 4 as it was its fourteenth venture in the area. In the same area, UB 4 approached a group of fishing trawlers the next day. One of the cutters was a submarine trap, which Groß, the commander of UB 4 , could not have known.

The Q-ship, the Inverlyon , was equipped with a hidden 4.7 cm Hotchkiss gun. UB 4 appeared around 20:20 and, because of the hazy weather , approached the Inverlyon up to about 25 m away . Commandant Groß stood in the tower and called commands in German to the Inverlyon crew . Gunner Ernest Jehan, commander of the Inverlyon , had the White Ensign set and open fire. The first and third shot hit the turret, the second shot tore away the rear part of the navigating bridge. The commander fell into the water. UB 4 drifted past the Inverlyon, rudderless . The gun crew fired six more shots at the submarine, four of which hit. The rest of the team shot UB 4 with handguns. The boat sank over the bow until it finally disappeared almost vertically upright under the surface of the water. The skipper of Inverlyon , Phillips, jumped overboard and tried unsuccessfully a crew member of UB 4 to save. None of the fourteen crew members survived.

The hull of UB 4 got caught in the trawl net laid out by the Inverlyon for camouflage and held the Q-ship like an anchor. Another fishing trawler was sent out with a report on the battle. At dawn two carrier pigeons followed, asking for support and instructions. The possible salvage of UB 4 was refused and the nets were cut so that the submarine could sink to the ground. The wreck of UB 4 is in position 52 ° 43 '  N , 2 ° 18'  O coordinates: 52 ° 43 '  N , 2 ° 18'  O . Jehan received the "Distinguished Service Cross" for sinking UB 4 . The crew members of the Inverlyon shared the by the Admiralty exposed bounty .

successes

Ships sunk or damaged by SM UB 4

date	Surname	Type	Tonnage (GRT)	nationality	fate
April 10, 1915	Harpalyce	Cargo ship	5,940	United Kingdom	sunk
April 17, 1915	Ellispontos	Cargo ship	2,989	Greece	sunk
July 29, 1915	Princesse Marie Jose	Cargo ship	1,954	Belgium	sunk
August 14, 1915	bona fide	Fishing trawler	59	United Kingdom	sunk
		Total:	10,942

Remarks

1. ↑ In April 1905, Groß joined the IV / 05 crew of the Imperial Navy as a midshipman along with 36 future submarine commanders (including Hermann von Fischel , Carl-Siegfried von Georg , Kurt Hartwig and Wilhelm Canaris ). See: Guðmundur Helgason: WWI Officer Crews: Crew 4/05 . Retrieved February 6, 2016.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Eberhard Rössler: The submarines of the Imperial Navy . Bernard and Graefe, Bonn 1997, ISBN 3-7637-5963-8 , pp. 59-62 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} 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 , pp. 13, 30, 41 .
3. ↑ 6104975 UB-4 . In: Miramar Ship Index. (Subscription required) . RB Haworth. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Dwight R. Messimer: Verschollen: World War I U-boat losses . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 2002, ISBN 978-1-55750-475-3 , pp. 129 (English).
5. ↑ ^{a b} Guðmundur Helgason: WWI U-boats: UB-4 . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
6. ↑ ^{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 , pp. 180 (English).
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} 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 , p. 39, 85 .
8. ^ ^{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 , pp. 46-47 (English).
9. ^ ^{A b} 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 , pp. 48-49 (English).
10. ^ Gordon Williamson: U-boats of the Kaiser's Navy . Osprey, Oxford 2002, ISBN 978-1-84176-362-0 , pp. 12 (English).
11. ^ ^{A b} V. E. Tarrant: The U-Boat Offensive: 1914-1945 . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 1989, ISBN 978-0-87021-764-7 , pp. 18, 21 (English).
12. ↑ Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Harpalyce . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
13. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} David Perkins: The gunner and the U-boat . The World War I Document Archive. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Relief flag flying as Harpalyce sunk . In: The New York Times , April 12, 1915. Retrieved March 5, 2009. 
15. ↑ ^{a b} Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Ships hit by UB 4 . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
16. ↑ Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Ellispontos . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
17. ↑ Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Princesse Marie Jose . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
18. ↑ British fishing vessels lost at sea due to enemy action: 1914, 1915, 1916 in date order . In: World War 1 at Sea . Naval-History.net. January 9, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
19. ↑ Guðmundur Helgason: Ships hit during WWI: Bona Fide . In: U-Boat War in World War I . Uboat.net. Retrieved March 5, 2009.