SM U 40
| SM U 40 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
|
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small}
|
|
| Technical specifications | |
| Submarine type: | Two-hull deep-sea boat U 31 – U 41 |
| Displacement: | 680 tons (above water) 870 tons (under water) |
| Length: | 64.70 m |
| Width: | 6.32 m |
| Max. Diving depth: | 50 m |
| Drive: | Diesel engines 2 × 925 PS E-machines 2 × 550 PS |
| Armament | 2 bow tubes / 2 stern tubes / 6 torpedoes 1 × 10.5 cm (artillery) |
| Crew: | 4 officers 35 men |
| Speed: | 16.5 knots (above water) 9.5 knots (under water) |
| Calls: | 1 patrol |
| Successes: | no |
| Whereabouts: | On June 23, 1915 sunk by the Taranaki submarine trap and the HMS C24 submarine around 40 miles off the Scottish coast at Eyemouth |
SM U 40 ( His Majesty U 40 ) was a submarine (more precisely: diving boat) of the German Imperial Navy . It was the first German submarine to fall victim to a submarine trap .
Building history
The drafts for the two-hull high seas boat type U 31 - U 41 were drafts by the Germania shipyard . The engineer Hans Techel was largely responsible for the development of this type . The two-hull ocean-going boats type U 51 - U 56 , U 63 - U 65 and U 81 - U 86 were derived from these drafts . U 40 was commissioned on June 12, 1912 and laid down in the Germania shipyard on April 3, 1913. The launch took place on October 22, 1914. After its commissioning on February 24, 1915, U 40 was subordinated to the 2nd submarine flotilla stationed on Heligoland .
Officers
The commander of the submarine was Kapitänleutnant Gerhardt Fürbringer, Werner Fürbringer's older brother , the second officer was Lieutenant z. S. Rudolf Jauch .
Patrol
The submarine only completed one patrol, on which it met the British submarine trap Taranaki , a novel British defense against submarines, 40 miles off Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders on June 23, 1915 , and was sunk. The trap concerned the "decoy trawler" Taranaki and the older C-class submarine HMS C24 towed by it . When U 40 appeared to control the freighter, the rope to HMS C24 , whose crew was connected via a telephone line and was informed of the approach of the German submarine, was to be cut and C24 was to torpedo U 40 . However, the release mechanism for the rope failed. Nevertheless, the commander Taylor managed to get C24 into position and successfully torpedo U 40 . 32 seamen were killed, three crew members, the commander, WO and a mate, who were on the tower amidships when the torpedo hit, were rescued. The wreck was discovered in 2009. After that, the previously assumed location of the sinking - before Aberdeen ( 57 ° 0 ′ N , 1 ° 50 ′ W ) - had to be corrected. The wreck was found about 40 miles off the Scottish coast at Eyemouth. The exact location is not published.
consequences
The use of fishing boats and submarines in their tow as submarine traps has had dubious success. The British Navy only succeeded in sinking two German submarines using Decoy trawlers , namely, apart from U 40, only U 23 . The survivors of U 23 were carelessly brought together with interned Germans who were repatriated to Germany in late summer 1915. Based on the information they gave back home, the German Navy adjusted to this ruse - British trawlers were basically treated as if they were decoy ships . By 1918, 675 fishing boats had been sunk. 434 fishermen lost their lives. Also as far as other types of submarine traps were used - e.g. For example, hiding armed ships flying the flag of non-belligerent states (see U 36 ) - the losses hardly justified the use of such ships: 11 submerged submarines were opposed to 76 stealth ships sunk by the Germans. From 1917 the remaining ships were no longer used.
Remarkable
U 40 is said to have been the first submarine on the deck of which an aircraft was transported - a tactic that, however, is said to have been rejected by the naval command shortly afterwards as a failure.
See also
Remarks
- ↑ Born December 12, 1891, brother of Walter Jauch - 1910 training ship Großer Kreuzer Hertha , 1911 Marineschule Kiel, 1912–1914 ensign on the liner SMS Prussia , 1915 submarine school, 1915 on SM U 37 , friend of Martin Niemöller
Individual evidence
- ^ U-boat losses . Archived from the original on December 5, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
- ↑ bild.de
- ↑ Further places of sinking mentioned in the literature: Grant: 57 ° 0'N 1 ° 50'W; Whittaker: possibly. 56 ° 34′N 0 ° 58′W or 57 ° 8′N 1 ° 50′W; Spindler: possibly 56 ° 43′N 1 ° 05′W; Gröner: 56 ° 35'N 1 ° 2'W.
- ^ Cliff McMullen: Royal Navy 'Q' Ships
- ^ The Fishermans War 1914-1918. The British Stealth Ships Of The Great War.
- ^ The British Stealth Ships Of The Great War.
- ^ North Sea U-boat recovered after 100 years. Times online, March 27, 2009.
literature
- Harald Bendert: Submarines in a duel. Mittler, Hamburg et al. 1996, ISBN 3-8132-0516-9 .
- Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906–1966. License issue. Manfred Pawlak Verlags GmbH, Herrschingen 1990, ISBN 3-88199-687-7 .
- Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes-Verlag Hans Jürgen Hansen, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
- Robert C. Stern: The Hunter Hunted. Submarine Versus Submarine. Encounters from World War I to the Present. Chatham, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-86176-265-8 .
Web links
- Commemorative page for SM U 40
- Distinguished Service Cross by Lieutenant Frederick Henry Taylor , awarded for the sinking of SM U 40 in the medal collection of the National Maritime Museum
Submarines : U 1 | U 2 | U 3 | U 4 | U 5 | U 6 | U 7 | U 8 | U 9 | U 10 | U 11 | U 12 | U 13 | U 14 | U 15 | U 16 | U 17 | U 18 | U 19 | U 20 | U 21 | U 22 | U 23 | U 24 | U 25 | U 26 | U 27 | U 28 | U 29 | U 30 | U 31 | U 32 | U 33 | U 34 | U 35 | U 36 | U 37 | U 38 | U 39 | U 40 | U 41 | U 42 | U 43 | U 44 | U 45 | U 46 | U 47 | U 48 | U 49 | U 50 | U 51 | U 52 | U 53 | U 54 | U 55 | U 56 | U 57 | U 58 | U 59 | U 60 | U 61 | U 62 | U 63 | U 64 | U 65 | U 66 | U 67 | U 68 | U 69 | U 70 | U 71 | U 72 | U 73 | U 74 | U 75 | U 76 | U 77 | U 78 | U 79 | U 80 | U 81 | U 82 | U 83 | U 84 | U 85 | U 86 | U 87 | U 88 | U 89 | U 90 | U 91 | U 92 | U 93 | U 94 | U 95 | U 96 | U 97 | U 98 | U 99 | U 100 | U 101 | U 102 | U 103 | U 104 | U 105 | U 106 | U 107 | U 108 | U 109 | U 110 | U 111 | U 112 | U 113 | U 114 | U 115 | U 116 | U 117 | U 118 | U 119 | U 120 | U 121 | U 122 | U 123 | U 124 | U 125 | U 126 | U 127 | U 128 | U 129 | U 130 | U 131 | U 132 | U 133 | U 134 | U 135 | U 136 | U 137 | U 138 | U 139 | U 140 | U 141 | U 142 | U 143 | U 144 | U 145 | U 146 | U 147 | U 148 | U 149 | U 150 | U 151 | U 152 | U 153 | U 154 | U 155 | U 156 | U 157 | U 158 | U 159 | U 160 | U 161 | U 162 | U 163 | U 164 | U 165 | U 166 | U 167