Submarine class UC

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The UC submarine class includes UC I, UC II and UC III submarines. These were small mine-laying submarines - with the type UC I even transportable by rail - that were designed for use near the coast. UC boats were used by the Imperial Navy in the submarine warfare during the First World War.

Conception and development

In addition to the classic use of the torpedo as the main weapon, the submarine could also be used as a carrier for other weapons. For example, the armament with artillery was important for the trade war according to the price order . Equipping with mines, on the other hand, made it possible to attack places that were inaccessible to surface forces. The need for submarines that were able to carry out such operations and could also be built faster than the fleet submarines led to the development of the UC submarine class after the start of the war . In contrast to most types of their time, the boats of this class were essentially single-hulled boats ; This means that the vehicle consists of a pressure body in which the immersion cells to be filled for the immersion process are integrated. This construction - in the style of the first experimental submarines of the late 19th century - was actually already considered obsolete at that time. After the Russian boat Krab, the UC I was the second type of submarine specially designed for mine warfare. On May 31, 1915, SM UC 11 laid sea mines as the first submarine in naval war history: Twelve mines were laid near the lightship South Goodwin shortly before midnight and severely damaged the British destroyer HMS Mohawk of the Tribal class on the following day .

The submarine class UC got its name after the war order C of the inspection of the torpedo system of the Imperial Navy. Originally only the boats of type UC I were referred to, but their internal marine designation was Project 35a . The designation C was then carried over to the subsequent drafts UC II ( Project 41 ) and UC III ( Project 41a ).

Type UC I

Type UC 5 UC I was issued in New York to promote war bonds

This type was based on the development of the type UB I , which was developed at the same time, but was somewhat larger and had mine drop shafts instead of torpedo armament - a total of six shafts to accommodate twelve mines. The type UC I was a pure mine boat, the inclined mine shafts of which enabled it to be dropped while the boat was in motion. The construction contracts for the first boats of this type were placed on November 23, 1914 by the Reichsmarineamt at the two shipyards AG Vulkan Hamburg and AG Weser in Bremen. The first boat of this type was launched in Hamburg on April 26 of the following year. UC 1 to UC 11 were transported by rail to Flanders and UC 12 to UC 15 to Pola . Since no data or empirical values ​​were available on the use of submarines of such small size, there was mistrust on the part of the experts regarding their possible uses, which resulted in the low order volume.

Units built UC I
number Number of patrols Sinking success Whereabouts
UC 1 80 41 ships with 58,938 GRT ran into mine on July 19, 1917 near Nieuwpoort
UC 2 2 0 GRT rammed and sunk by SS Cottingham at Great Yarmouth ( 52 ° 28 ′  N , 1 ° 48 ′  E ) on July 2, 1915
UC 3 29 22 ships with 30,592 GRT ran into mine on May 27, 1916 near Zeebrugge
UC 4 73 36 ships with 44,788 GRT Blasted at the end of the war on October 5, 1918 in Zeebrugge
UC 5 29 30 ships with 37,231 GRT on April 27, 1916, which 51 ° 59 '  N , 1 ° 39'  O stranded and recovered by the British
UC 6 89 55 ships with 65,624 GRT missing since September 27, 1917 near Kentish Knock ( 53 ° 41 ′  N , 1 ° 37 ′  E )
UC 7 34 32 ships of 49,254 GRT missing since July 5, 1916
UC 8 1 0 Run aground in Holland on November 14, 1915 and later put into service in Holland as M1
UC 9 2 0 Sunk by its own mine on October 21, 1915
UC 10 17th 18 ships 31,004 GRT Sunk by HMS E54 on August 21, 1916
UC 11 83 22 ships with 33,708 GRT Sunk by mine in the English Channel on June 16, 1918
UC 12 7th 6 ships with 3,289 GRT Sunk by its own mine near Taranto on March 16, 1916 and put into service by Italy as X1
UC 13 3 3 ships with 387 GRT ran aground on November 29, 1915 on the Turkish coast ( 41 ° 9 ′  N , 30 ° 30 ′  E ) and scrapped
UC 14 38 16 ships with 22,064 GRT ran into mine on October 3rd, 1917 near Zeebrugge
UC 15 8th 1,224 GRT lost in the Black Sea in November 1916

Type UC II

Two UC II boats next to a supply ship

In the fall of 1915, the submarine war almost came to a standstill due to the intervention of the neutral USA , which is why the need for mine-laying submarines - which waged a mine warfare that was accepted under international law - increased. The development department of the submarine inspection took this into account with the construction of a larger mine-layer that could transport 18 mines and was supposed to remedy the inadequacies of the UC I type. The following type was not only larger and each equipped with a two-shaft system, it also had additional armament with torpedo tubes and artillery. The main difference to the predecessor was that boats of the type UC II took up the principle of two-hulled boats again. The UC II boats were not pure two-hulled boats, but were an intermediate type; because the outer ship did not enclose the pressure hull, but began as a saddle tank on it. The first orders to build the UC II boats went to Blohm and Voss ( SM UC 16 to SM UC 24 ) and the Vulcan shipyard in Hamburg ( SM UC 25 to SM UC 33 ). In the autumn of that year the volume was increased to 21 boats and on January 11, 1916 by personal initiative of Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz again. Since further boats - in addition to those already ordered - were commissioned, this was the first major order for this type of weapon, which was processed in series production, especially at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg.

Type UC III

SM UC 95, a UC III boat, entered service in September 1918

In the summer of 1917, the Reichsmarineamt identified various deficiencies in the type UC II that had to be corrected. The crews had complained about the draft inside the boat and the considerable wetness of the bridge, which was particularly annoying during the cold season. In addition, the diving properties of the type were unsatisfactory. The development of another mine-layer should respond to this and also take into account the Admiralty's request for stronger artillery armament. The type UC III had the following adjustments / changes compared to its predecessor

  • Adjustment of the pipe diameter for flooding and venting and thus a significantly shorter flooding time
  • Stronger artillery armament with a 10.5 cm SK L / 45
  • More elongated and flatter bow, therefore only a capacity of 14 mines (all stored wet)
  • Relocation of the bow torpedo tubes to midships
  • Larger diesel stock

At the end of June 1917, 43 boats of this type were commissioned, only a small number had been completed by the end of the war.

  • UC 80 to UC 89 were broken up unfinished in the shipyard
  • UC 90 to UC 105 were completed at Blohm + Voss in Hamburg
  • UC 106 to UC 114 were delivered to the Allies without engines
  • UC 115 to UC 138 were scrapped in the shipyard unfinished

Technical specifications

Type: UC I UC II UC III
Construction period 1915 1916-1918 1917-1918
Service period 1915-1918 1916-1918 1918
Units ordered 15th 64 113
Units built 15th 64 59
Units delivered 15th 64 25th
Units put into service 15th 64 16
Sunk units 14th 46 1
Scrapped units 1 18th
Displacement
above / below water		 168/183 t 417/493 tons 474/560 t
length 33.99 m 49.4 m 56.1 m
width 3.15 m 5.2 m 5.5 m
Draft 3.04 m 3.7 m 3.8 m
Pressure body ø 3.15 k. A. k. A.
Max. Diving depth 50 m 50 m 75 m
Dive time 22 sec. 35 sec. 18 sec
drive 1 × 90 PS diesel
1 × 175 PS electric motor		 2 × 250 PS diesel
2 × 230 PS electric motor		 2 × 300 PS diesel
2 × 385 PS electric motor
Speed
over / under water		 6.2 / 5.2 kn 11.6 / 7.0 kn 11.5 / 6.6 kn
Range above water
Range under water:		 750 nm at 5 kn
50 nm at 4 kn		 9,430 nm at 7 kn
55 nm at 4 kn		 10,000 nm at 7 kn
40 nm at 4.5 kn
Battery capacity 1 hour
Armament 6 × mine shafts, 12 × UC 120 mines,
1 × 7.92mm machine gun		 2 × bow torpedo tubes
1 × stern
torpedo tube 7 torpedoes 50 cm
deck gun:
1 × 8.8 cm SK L / 30 (133 grenades)
6 mine shafts, 18 × UC 200 mines		 2 × bow torpedo tubes
1 × stern
torpedo tube 7 × torpedoes 50 cm
Deck gun:
1 × 10.5 cm SK L / 45
6 mine shafts, 14 mines
crew 14 (13 men, 1 officer) 26 (23 men, 3 officers) 32 (29 men, 3 officers)

Remarks

  1. ↑ Harald Bendert: The UC boats of the Imperial Navy 1914-1918. Mine warfare with submarines Mittler Verlag, Bonn (2001) ISBN 3-8132-0758-7
  2. ↑ Tomas Termote: War under water: Unterseebootflottille Flanders 1915 - 1918 Mittler Verlag, Bonn (2015) ISBN 3-8132-0959-8 , pp 45-55

See also

literature

  • Harald Bendert: The UC boats of the Imperial Navy 1914–1918. Mine warfare with submarines, ES Mittler, Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn (2001) ISBN 3-8132-0758-7 .
  • Eberhard Rössler : History of the German submarine building - Volume 1 , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn (1996) ISBN 3-86047-153-8 .
  • Ulrich Gabler: Unterseebootbau , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn (1997) ISBN 3-7637-5958-1 .
  • Tomas Termote: Underwater War: Submarine Flotilla Flanders 1915 - 1918 , Mittler Verlag, Bonn (2015) ISBN 3-8132-0959-8 .
  • Paul E. Fontenoy: Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact , Weapons and Warfare, ISBN 9781851095636