SM U 156
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SM U 156 was a German U- 151 class U-cruiser that operated in the North Atlantic and North American waters during World War I. It was probably lost on September 25, 1918 in a mine lock off the Scottish coast and has been missing ever since.
Calls
Intelligence operation off the Canary Islands
In December 1917 U 156 was sent to the Canary Islands together with U 157 . Apparently with the participation of the Admiralty's intelligence department, the plan was to bring a shipload of tungsten ore into Germany from neutral Spain . The ore was transported on the Spanish brigantine Erri Berro accompanied by a German agent and was to be reloaded onto the two submarines off the island of El Hierro .
The Royal Navy was informed about the company through eavesdropping on German radio traffic by a department of the British naval intelligence service ( Room 40 ) . British agents in Spain shadowed the Erri Berro , which was intercepted and towed by the auxiliary cruiser Duke of Clarence after leaving Spanish waters . Before the ship was hijacked , the German agent on board managed to open the bottom valves , so that the Erri Berro ran full of water when being towed to Plymouth and had to be finally sunk by fire.
In the meantime, the British submarine E 48 had been sent to the meeting point of the German submarines with the Erri Berro near El Hierro to destroy the German boats there. E 48 fired three torpedoes at U 156 , one of which hit the boat amidships but did not explode. U 156 managed to escape. Two crew members were washed off deck while diving quickly , but they managed to reach the coast.
Operations in North American Waters
On June 15, 1918, the boat left for North America. A mine lock was put in front of New York ; The cruiser San Diego ran into one of these mines on July 19 and sank within half an hour, killing six crew members.
On July 21, 1918, U 156 appeared in front of the small coastal town of Orleans on the Cape Cod peninsula and fired at a tug with four barges there. This process went down in American naval history as the attack on Orleans .
Subsequently, the boat sank under the commandant Richard Feldt in the Gulf of Maine various fish steamers .
On August 20, 1918 U 156 brought up the Canadian trawler Triumph southwest of Cap Canso ( Cape Breton Island ) off the Canadian east coast and equipped it as an auxiliary cruiser . The Triumph operated as a trap for British and Canadian fish steamers and sank eight such ships within five days before being self- scuttled on August 25, 1918 by its prize crew .
loss
No details are known about the end of U 156 . It may have run into a British mine off the Scottish coast in the North Sea Mine Barrage on September 25, 1918 while trying to return to Germany . All 77 crew members are considered missing. According to the British representation, the last radio contact between U 156 and German naval services took place on September 24th.
Commanders
- Until December 31, 1917: Konrad Ganser
- From January 1, 1918: Richard Feldt
literature
- Erich Gröner: The German warships 1815-1945, Vol. 3: U-Boats, auxiliary cruisers, mine ships, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher , Munich (Bernard & Graefe) 1985, ISBN 3-7637-4802-4 , p. 47f.
- Paul G. Halpern: A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, MD 1994, p. 432f.
- Rob Gordon: Few remember the German Navy's only attack on Canada during the First World War . In: National Post of November 2, 2014.
- Eberhard Rössler: German submarines 1898–1918. Mittler, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2011, ISBN 978-3-8132-0926-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eberhard Rössler: The German U-Cruisers and Transport U-Boats. Bonn 2003 p. 74.
- ↑ Eberhard Roessler: German submarines from 1898 to 1918. Hamburg 2011 p. 113.
- ^ Mystery Blast Sank The USS San Diego in 1918. New Report Reveals What Happened
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