German Type U 139 submarine

Last updated
Class overview
Builders Germaniawerft, Kiel
OperatorsWar Ensign of Germany 1903-1918.svg  Imperial German Navy
Completed3
General characteristics [1]
Displacement
  • 1,930 t (1,900 long tons) surfaced
  • 2,483 t (2,444 long tons) submerged
Length
Beam
  • 9.12 m (29 ft 11 in) (o/a)
  • 5.75 m (18 ft 10 in) (pressure hull)
Height11.20 m (36 ft 9 in)
Draught5.27 m (17 ft 3 in)
Installed power
  • 2 × diesel engines, 3,300 PS (2,400 kW; 3,300 shp) surfaced
  • 1,780 PS (1,310 kW; 1,760 shp) submerged
Propulsion2 shafts; 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) propellers
Speed
  • 15.8 knots (29.3 km/h; 18.2 mph) surfaced
  • 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged
Range
  • 17,750 nautical miles (32,870 km; 20,430 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced
  • 53 nautical miles (98 km; 61 mi) at 4.5 knots (8.3 km/h; 5.2 mph) submerged
Test depth75 m (246 ft)
Boats & landing
craft carried		1 cutter
Complement6 officers, 56 men (1+20 as prize crew)
Armament

U-139, originally designated "Project 46", was a class of large, long-range U-boats built during World War I by the Kaiserliche Marine.

Contents

Description

Three large U-cruisers, designated Type 139, were ordered from Germaniawerft of Kiel, in August 1916. Displacing nearly 2,000 tons, and with a surface speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), they were armed with 24 torpedoes and two 15 cm deck guns, and had a cruising range of around 17,000 nautical miles (31,000 km; 20,000 mi). They carried a large enough complement to furnish captured vessels with prize crews and their intended purpose was to capture or destroy merchant ships on the surface; their large-calibre deck guns and comparatively high speed allowed them to engage even armed merchant vessels. [1]

Unlike the earlier Type U-151 submarines (originally designed as merchant submarines to evade naval blockades), the Type 139 was designed from the outset for combat service. Four bow and two stern torpedo tubes were fitted, but the main armament was the two 15 cm deck guns, which could be laid on target by a rangefinder on the aft section of the bridge. The conning tower's command centre was protected by 90 mm (3.5 in) of armour against the guns typically carried by enemy merchant ships, while the pressure hull was thicker than usual at 25 mm (0.98 in), so as to increase diving depth. The superstructure was also raised by 2 m (6 ft 7 in) so that a shell hitting it would not penetrate the pressure hull. [1]

A Type 139 U-boat cost 8.7 million Marks at the time, the 15 cm guns accounting for around 7% of the cost. Three submarines of this type, U-139, U-140, and U-141, were ordered. [2]

The later "Project 46(a)" specified even more powerful U-cruisers, of a similar displacement to the Type 139 boats, but with an increased surface speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), and with two 88 mm deck guns in addition to the two 150 mm guns. [1]

An even larger U-cruiser was proposed under "Project 47", but never reached construction; it would have displaced 2,500 tons, had a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph), and been armed with four 150 mm guns as well as six torpedo tubes, two of which would have fired to the side. [1]

Service

The Type 139 submarines were dispatched on long-range missions, south across the Equator, and to the west across the Atlantic, operating independently.

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière commanded U-139, the first of the class, and named the submarine Kapitänleutnant Schweiger, after Walther Schwieger, who had sunk RMS Lusitania in 1915. Under von Arnauld, U-139 sank four ships from May 1918, and sank the last ship to fall to a Type 139 U-boat in World War I on 14 October 1918. [3]

List of Type U 139 submarines

Three Type U 139 submarines were built, all of which were commissioned into the Kaiserliche Marine.

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SM U-139 was the lead ship of her class, one of the submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was commissioned on 18 May 1918 under the command of Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, who named the submarine Kapitänleutnant Schwieger, after Walther Schwieger, who had sunk the Lusitania in 1915. She only sailed on one war patrol, during which she sunk four ships. U-139 surrendered to France on 24 November 1918 and shortly afterwards became French submarine Halbronn.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gröner 1991, pp. 17–19.
  2. ↑ Williamson, Gordon; Palmer, Ian (2002). U-boats of the Kaiser's Navy . Osprey. pp.  16. ISBN   1-84176-362-4.
  3. ↑ "Ships hit by U 139" . Retrieved 8 August 2018.

Bibliography

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