UC 1 (ship, 1915)

UC 1

A UC 1 class boat

Ship data flag  German Empire Ship type Submarine class UC 1 class / type UC I Shipyard AG Vulkan , Hamburg Build number 45 Launch April 26, 1915 Commissioning May 7, 1915 Whereabouts missing from July 18, 1917

Ship dimensions and crew length 33.99 m ( Lüa ) 29.62 m ( KWL ) width 3.15 m Draft Max. surfaced: 3.04 m submerged: 6.3 m displacement surfaced: 168 t submerged: 183 t   crew 15 men

Machine system machine diesel-electric 6-cylinder Daimler - diesel Siemens-Schuckert electric motor Machine performance Diesel: 90 PS E-motor: 175 PS propeller 1 × three-leaf Ø 1.08 m

Mission data submarine Radius of action 800 nm Dive time 23 - 36 s Immersion depth, max. 50 m Top speed submerged 5.22 kn (10 km / h) Top speed surfaced 6.2 kn (11 km / h)

Armament 6 × mine shaft Ø 100 cm (12 mines) 1 × MG

Others Calls 79 patrols successes 38 merchant ships (59,088 GRT) 4 warships (2,073 t)

SM (His Majesty) UC 1 was a diesel-electric coastal mine submarine of the UC I type of the German Imperial Navy , which was used in the First World War . It was the type ship in its class. UC 1 undertook over 70 patrols in a little over two years and was lost after July 18, 1917.

history

After the beginning of the World War, the Imperial Navy developed Project 34, a type of submarine that was intended to be used exclusively for laying sea ​​mines in the coastal apron and therefore did not have torpedo tubes . The second of these boats - the UC 11 , built by AG Weser in Bremen , was launched on April 11, 1915 - UC 1 was launched on April 26, 1915 at the Hamburger Vulkanwerft . The Navy put the boat into service on May 7, 1915. The first commandant of the boat was Egon von Werner until April 1916 . He was replaced by Kurt Ramien .

Like most boats in its class was UC 1 of the U-flotilla Flanders as part of the Naval Corps subordinated and came from Zeebrugge from used. From there the boat ran out on 79 patrols under the orders of seven different commanders. 38 merchant ships with a total tonnage of 59,088 GRT sank on the mines laid by UC 1 . In 1916 alone, 25 ships with 40,339 GRT were sunk, making UC 1 the third most successful mining submarine that year. In 1915 eleven merchant ships with 10,028 GRT sank on the mines laid by UC 1 , two more with 8,721 GRT in 1917. In addition, there were a total of four warships with a total displacement of 2,073 t . These were the British destroyer Lightning (355 t, sunk on June 30, 1915), the French torpedo boat 317 (98 t, sunk on December 28, 1916) and the British minesweepers Kempton and Redcar (810 t each, sunk on June 24 1917). In mid-March 1917, Walter Warzecha took over command, which he held until June 1917.

On July 18, 1917 UC 1 left Zeebrugge to lay mines in front of Calais . Since that day, the boat and its 17-strong crew have been lost. Presumably it came across a barrier consisting of 150 mines before Nieuwpoort , which had been laid on July 14th by the British. With a total of 79 patrols, UC 1 was after UC 6 (90) and UC 10 (83) the boat with the most missions.

literature

• Gröner, Erich / Dieter Jung / Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945 . tape 3 : U-boats, auxiliary cruisers, mine ships, net layers and barrier breakers . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1985, ISBN 3-7637-4802-4 .
• Herzog, Bodo: German U-Boats 1906–1966 . Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1993, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 (Licensed edition by Bernard & Graefe Verlag Bonn).
• Kemp, Paul: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars . Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .

Footnotes

1. ↑ Gröner, The German Warships , p. 57.
2. ↑ Herzog, German U-Boats , pp. 139f.
3. ^ Herzog, German U-Boats , p. 61.
4. ^ Herzog, German U-Boats , p. 106.
5. ^ Herzog, German U-Boats , p. 104.
6. ^ Herzog, German U-Boats , p. 121.
7. ↑ The standard crew was 15 men, cf. Gröner, The German Warships , p. 57.
8. ↑ Kemp, U-Boat losses , p. 30.
9. ↑ Herzog, German U-Boats , pp. 123–126.