SM U-20[Note 1] was a German Type U 19U-boat built for service in the Imperial German Navy. She was launched on 18 December 1912, and commissioned on 5 August 1913. During World War I, she took part in operations around the British Isles. U-20 became infamous following her sinking of the British ocean liner RMSLusitania on 7 May 1915, an act that dramatically reshaped the course of the First World War.
On 7 May 1915, U-20 was patrolling off the southern coast of Ireland under the command of KapitänleutnantWalther Schwieger. Three months earlier, on 4 February, the Germans had established a U-boat blockade around the British Isles and had declared any vessel in it a legitimate target.
At about 13:40 Schwieger was at the periscope and saw a vessel approaching. From a distance of about 700 metres (770yd), Schwieger noted she had four funnels and two masts, making her a passenger liner of some sort. He fired a single torpedo. It hit on the starboard side, almost directly below the bridge. Schwieger wrote that he was surprised by the size of the explosion, reasoning that a second explosion must have happened, possibly caused by coal dust, a boiler explosion, or powder. According to his logs, only then did he recognise her as the Lusitania, a vessel in the British Fleet Reserve.[4] In 18 minutes, Lusitania sank with 1,197 casualties. The wreck lies in 300 feet (91m) of water.
Fifteen minutes after he had fired his torpedo, Schwieger noted in his war diary:
"It looks as if the ship will stay afloat only for a very short time. [I gave order to] dive to 25 metres (82ft) and leave the area seawards. I couldn't have fired another torpedo into this mass of humans desperately trying to save themselves."
There was at the time a great controversy about the sinking, over whether Lusitania was armed, carrying troops or illegal explosives to England and over Schwieger's method of attack. The Allies and the United States originally thought the U-20 fired two torpedoes. Postwar investigations showed only one was fired.
Before Schwieger got back to the docks at Wilhelmshaven for refuelling and resupply, the United States had formally protested to Berlin against the brutality of his action.
KaiserWilhelm II wrote in the margins of the American note, "Utterly impertinent", "outrageous", and "this is the most insolent thing in tone and bearing that I have had to read since the Japanese note last August." Nevertheless, to keep America out of the war, in June the Kaiser was compelled to rescind unrestricted submarine warfare and require all passenger liners be left unmolested.
On 4 September 1915 Schwieger was back at sea with U-20, 85 nautical miles (157km; 98mi) off the Fastnet Rock in the south Irish Sea. This rock held one of the key navigational markers in the western ocean, the Fastnet Lighthouse, and any ships passing in and out of the Irish Sea would be within visual contact of it.
RMS Hesperian was beginning a run outward bound from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal, with a general cargo, also doubling as a hospital ship, and carrying about 800 passengers when she was attacked and sunk by U-20 off the Fastnet. The History of the Great War: The Merchant Navy, Vol. II, by Hurd, reads:
"Only a few days before, Count Bernsdorff, the German Ambassador, had assured the United States government that passenger liners will not be sunk without warning and without ensuring the safety of the non-combatants aboard providing that the liners do not try to escape or offer resistance."
Schwieger was reprimanded by the Admiralty but was unrepentant. The Germans decided to report that the ship was hit by a mine.
Fate and legacy
U-20 grounded on the Danish coast in 1916. Torpedoes had been exploded in the bow in efforts to completely destroy the boat
On 4 November 1916, U-20 grounded on the Danish coast south of Vrist, a little north of Thorsminde after suffering damage to its engines. Her crew attempted to destroy her with explosives the following day, succeeding, however, only in damaging the boat's bow (see picture) but making it effectively inoperative as a warship.[5]
The U-20 remained on the beach until 1925 when the Danish government blew it up in a "spectacular explosion".[6] The Danish navy removed the deck gun and made it unserviceable by cutting holes in vital parts. The gun was kept in the naval stores at Holmen in Copenhagen for almost 80 years.[7] The conning tower was removed and placed on the front lawn of the local museum Strandingsmuseum St. George Thorsminde, where it still is today.[6][8][9]
SM U-19 was a German Type U-19 U-boat built for the Imperial German Navy. Her construction was ordered on 25 November 1910, and her keel was laid down on 20 October 1911, at the Kaiserliche Werft Danzig. She was launched on 10 October 1912, and commissioned into the Imperial German Navy on 6 July 1913.
SM U-32 was a German Type U 31 U-boat of the Imperial German Navy.
SM U-35 was a German U 31-class U-boat which operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War I. It ended up being the most successful U-boat participating in the war, sinking 220 merchant ships for a total of 505,121 gross register tons (GRT).
SM U-55 was one of the six Type U-51 U-boats of the Imperial German Navy during the First World War.
SM U-68 was a Type U 66 submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during the First World War. She had been laid down in December 1913 as U-9 of the U-7 class for the Austro-Hungarian Navy but was sold to Germany, along with the others in her class, in November 1914. Under German control, the class became known as the U 66 type and the boats were renumbered; U-9 became U-68, and was redesigned and reconstructed to German specifications. She was launched in June 1915 and commissioned in August.
SM U-17 was a German submarine during World War I. U-17 sank the first British merchant vessel in the First World War, and also sank another ten ships, damaged one ship and captured two ships, surviving the war without casualty.
SM U-66 was the lead ship of the Type U-66 submarines or U-boats for the Imperial German Navy during World War I. The submarine had been laid down in Kiel in November 1913 as U-7, the lead ship of the U-7 class for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. They became convinced after the outbreak of war in August 1914 that none of these submarines could be delivered to the Adriatic via Gibraltar, and sold the entire class, including U-7, to the German Imperial Navy in November 1914.
SM U-67 was a Type U 66 submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during the First World War. She had been laid down in November 1913 as U-8 the second boat of the U-7 class for the Austro-Hungarian Navy but was sold to Germany, along with the others in her class, in November 1914.
SM U-70 was a Type U 66 submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. She had been laid down in February 1914 as U-11 the final boat of the U-7 class for the Austro-Hungarian Navy but was sold to Germany, along with the others in her class, in November 1914.
SM UB-16 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine was sunk by a British submarine in May 1918.
SM U-92 was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was engaged in the commerce warfare in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
SM U-62 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-62 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
SM U-65 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-65 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
SM U-78 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-78 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic as a minelayer. On 27 October 1918 low frequency communications from U-78 in the Skagerrak were detected by the British submarine HMS G2 which sank her with the loss of her crew of 40. The commonly listed sinking date of 28 October 1918 is in error.
SM U-79 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-79 was engaged in the combat in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
SM U-88 was a Type U 87 submarine built for the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-88 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
SM U-111 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
SM U-14 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.
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.
SM U-7 was a Type U 5 U-boat, one of the 329 that served in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-7 took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
References
Notes
↑ "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U 20". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
Bibliography
Bailey, Thomas A.; Ryan, Paul B. (1975). The Lusitania Disaster: An Episode in Modern Warfare and Diplomacy. New York/London: Free Press/Collier Macmillan.
Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). German Warships 1815–1945, U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. Vol.2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0-85177-593-4.
Spindler, Arno (1966) [1932]. Der Handelskrieg mit U-Booten. 5 Vols. Berlin: Mittler & Sohn. Vols. 4+5, dealing with 1917+18, are very hard to find: Guildhall Library, London, has them all, also Vol. 1-3 in an English translation: The submarine war against commerce.
Beesly, Patrick (1982). Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914–1918. London: H Hamilton. ISBN978-0241108642.
Halpern, Paul G. (1920). A Naval History of World War I. New York: Routledge. ISBN978-1857284980.
Roessler, Eberhard (1997). Die Unterseeboote der Kaiserlichen Marine. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN978-3763759637.
Schroeder, Joachim (2002). Die U-Boote des Kaisers. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN978-3763762354.
Koerver, Hans Joachim (2008). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914–1918. Vol I., The Fleet in Action. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN978-3-902433-76-3.
Koerver, Hans Joachim (2009). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914–1918. Vol II., The Fleet in Being. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN978-3-902433-77-0.
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