UB-42 was ordered in July 1915 and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in September. UB-42 was 36.90m (121ft 1in) in length and displaced between 270 and 305 tonnes (266 and 300 long tons), depending on whether surfaced or submerged. She was equipped to carry a complement of four torpedoes for her two bow torpedo tubes and had an 5cm (1.97in) deck gun. As part of a group of six submarines selected for Mediterranean service, UB-42 was broken into railcar sized components and shipped to Pola where she was assembled, launched and commissioned in March 1916.
In 21 patrols during the war, UB-42 sank eleven ships of 16,047gross register tons(GRT), captured one 97 GRT vessel as prize, and damaged HMSVeronica a British Acacia-class sloop. In October 1916, UB-42 delivered five Georgians who had gold to help finance a Georgian independence movement. After the surrender of the Ottoman Empire in late October 1918, UB-42 fled to Sevastopol, where she was surrendered in November. UB-42 was taken to Malta, where she was broken up in 1920.
Design and construction
The German UB II design improved upon the design of the UB I boats, which had been ordered in September 1914.[3] In service, the UB I boats were found to be too small and too slow. A major problem was that, because they had a single propeller shaft/engine combo, if either component failed, the U-boat became almost totally disabled.[4] To rectify this flaw, the UB II boats featured twin propeller shafts and twin engines (one shaft for each engine), which also increased the U-boat's top speed.[5] The new design also included more powerful batteries,[4] larger torpedo tubes, and a deck gun.[6] As a UB II boat, U-47 could also carry twice the torpedo load of her UB I counterparts, and nearly ten times as much fuel.[6] To contain all of these changes the hull was larger,[4] and the surface and submerged displacement was more than double that of the UB I boats.[6]
The German Imperial Navy ordered UB-42 from AG Weser of Bremen on 31 July 1915 as one of a series of six UB II boats (numbered from UB-42 to UB-47).[6]UB-42 was 36.90 metres (121ft 1in) long and 4.37 metres (14ft 4in)abeam. She had a single hull with saddle tanks and had a draught of 3.75 metres (12ft 4in) when surfaced. She displaced 305 tonnes (300 long tons) while submerged but only 272 tonnes (268 long tons) on the surface.[2]
The submarine was equipped with twin Daimlerdiesel engines and twin electric motors—for surfaced and submerged running, respectively—that drove one propeller shaft. UB-42 had a surface speed of up to 9.06 knots (16.78km/h; 10.43mph) and could go as fast as 5.71 knots (10.57km/h; 6.57mph) while underwater. The U-boat could carry up to 28 tonnes (28 long tons) of diesel fuel, giving her a range of 7,030 nautical miles (13,020km; 8,090mi) at 5 knots (9.3km/h; 5.8mph). Her electric motors and batteries provided a range of 45 nautical miles (83km; 52mi) at 4 knots (7.4km/h; 4.6mph) while submerged.[2]
UB-42 was laid down on 3 September 1915.[1] As one of six U-boats selected for service in the Mediterranean while under construction, UB-42 was broken into railcar-sized components and shipped overland to the Austro-Hungarian port of Pola.[7][8] Shipyard workers from Weser assembled the boat and her five sisters at Pola,[7] where she was launched on 4 March 1916.[1]
Service career
UB-42 was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 23 March 1916 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Fritz Wernicke.[1][Note 1]UB-42, Wernicke's first U-boat command,[9] was assigned to the Navy's Pola Flotilla (German: Deutsche U-Halbflotille Pola).[1] Although the flotilla was based in Pola, the site of the main Austro-Hungarian Navy base, boats of the flotilla operated out of the Austro-Hungarian base at Cattaro which was located farther south and closer to the Mediterranean. German U-boats typically returned to Pola only for repairs.[10] The first months of service for UB-42 proved unsuccessful; the U-boat sank no ships while in the Pola Flotilla.[11]
After Germany's conquest of Southern Romania (see Romania during World War I), the German Imperial Navy had sufficient fuel oil for submarines located in the Black Sea. UB-42 and three of her sister ships in the Pola Flotilla were ordered to Constantinople and, en route, had to navigate through the Dardanelles, which had been heavily mined by the Allies in the middle of 1916.[12][Note 2]UB-42 joined the Constantinople Flotilla (German: U-boote der Mittelmeerdivision in Konstantinopal) on 16 August.[1]
The German submarines in the Black Sea accomplished little, sinking only six ships between August 1916 and the end of the year.[13]UB-42 sank half of the six in September and October.[11] On 3 September, Wernicke and UB-42 achieved their first success when they sank the Russian transport Peter Darcy in the Black Sea. The 731 GRT ship was headed from Constantza to Odessa when torpedoed by UB-42.[14] On 30 September 1916, near the Romanian port of Sulina, UB-42 launched a torpedo at the Romanian torpedo boat Smeul, but missed. The Romanian warship counterattacked, damaging the submarine's periscope and conning tower and forcing her to retreat.[15][16][17]
In April 1917, UB-42 was operating in the Mediterranean when she made attacks on four ships. On 1 April, Wernicke sank the 122 GRT Italian sailing vessel. Flora, north of Thilos.[18] On 14 April, Wernicke torpedoed the British Acacia-class sloopHMSVeronica45 nautical miles (83km; 52mi) off Alexandria, damaging the 1,200 tons vessel.[19] Two days later, UB-42 sank the 86 GRT Egyptian sailing ship off Gaza and, a week after that, sank a 15 GRT Italian sailing vessel, Boro, east of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea.[20][21]
On 14 May, Wernicke was succeeded by Kapitänleutnant Kurt Schwarz as commander of UB-42.[1] The 27-year-old Schwarz, who had previously commanded the Type UB I boat UB-14,[22] led UB-42 to sink her largest ship, Cestrian, on 24 June. The 8,912GRTLeyland Line steamship was in use as a troopship, carrying 800 troops and horses when Schwarz sank her 4 nautical miles (7.4km; 4.6mi) southeast of Skyros in the Aegean. Three of Cestrian's crewmen were killed in the attack and, according to R. H. Gibson and Maurice Prendergast, "splendid discipline" among the embarked troops was the sole reason that none were lost.[23][24]
In early October, UB-42 had returned to the Black Sea, when she was ordered to deliver five Georgians with gold to finance a Georgian independence movement.[25] While remaining in the Black Sea, UB-42 sank the sailing ships Agios Georgios on 10 October, and Francesco Patrino in November.[26][27] On 22 November, she torpedoed the 1,086 GRT Siracusy while the latter was at anchor off the Georgian coast.[28]UB-46 also shelled Tuapse while in the northern Black Sea.[25]
Kapitänleutnant Erich von Rohrscheidt assumed command of UB-42 on 6 April 1918,[29] and six week later, led the U-boat in capturing the motor sailing vessel Sergij as prize six weeks later off Novorossisk.[30] In September, Kapitänleutnant Hans Georg Lübbe (who had succeeded Herbert Nolde after his two-month stint as commander of UB-42) led the U-boat in sinking her final ship.[1] On the night of 7/8 September, the 1,833 GRT Italian steamer Vicenza was sunk south of Salonica.[31]UB-42's commanding officer was changed twice more before the end of the war,[1] but the submarine sank no more ships.[11]
After the signing of the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October ended the war for the Ottoman Empire, the four remaining U-boats of the Constantinople Flotilla—UB-14, UB-42, UC-23, and UC-37—fled to Sevastopol. There they were surrendered on 26 November.[32]UB-42 was broken up at Malta in 1920.
↑ Tonnage of ships captured as prizes is included in tonnage sunk.
Related Research Articles
The Type UB I submarine was a class of small coastal submarines (U-boats) built in Germany at the beginning of the First World War. Twenty boats were constructed, most of which went into service with the German Imperial Navy Boats of this design were also operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy and the Bulgarian Navy. In the Austro-Hungarian Navy, it was called the U-10 class.
SM UB-46 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-46 operated in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, and was sunk by a mine in December 1916.
SM U-4 or U-IV was a U-3-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during the First World War. The submarine was built as part of a plan to evaluate foreign submarine designs, and was the second of two boats of the class built by Germaniawerft of Kiel, Germany.
SM U-15 or U-XV was a U-10-class submarine or U-boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. U-15 was constructed in Germany and shipped by rail to Pola where she was assembled and launched in April 1915. She was commissioned in October 1915. U-15 was the most successful boat of the U-10 class, sinking six ships totaling 8,044 gross register tons (GRT) and 745 tons. The boat survived the war and was handed over to Italy as a war reparation and scrapped in 1920.
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SM U-28 or U-XXVIII was a U-27-class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-28, built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino (CNT) at the Pola Navy Yard, was launched in January 1917 and commissioned in June.
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SM UB-47 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-47 was sold to the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the war. In Austro-Hungarian service the B was dropped from her name and she was known as SM U-47 or U-XLVII as a member of the Austro-Hungarian U-43 class.
SM UB-43 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-43 was sold to the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the war. In Austro-Hungarian service the B was dropped from her name and she was known as SM U-43 or U-XLIII as the lead boat of the Austro-Hungarian U-43 class.
SM UB-45 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-45 operated in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, and was sunk by a mine in November 1916.
SM UB-44 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-44 operated in the Mediterranean and disappeared in August 1916.
SM UB-14 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine was also known by the Austro-Hungarian Navy designation of SM U-26.
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SM UB-12 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine disappeared in August 1918.
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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 UB-17 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine disappeared during a patrol in March 1918.
SM UB-2 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. She sank eleven ships during her career and was broken up in Germany in 1920.
SM UB-6 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine was interned after running aground in neutral Dutch waters, and was scuttled by her crew at Hellevoetsluis.
SM UB-50 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 May 1916. She was commissioned into the Pola Flotilla of the German Imperial Navy on 12 July 1917 as SM UB-50.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Fritz Wernicke". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
1 2 3 4 Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UB 42". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Peter Darcy". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Constantin Cumpănă, Corina Apostoleanu, Amintiri despre o flota pierduta – vol. II – Voiaje neterminate, 2011, Telegraf Advertising
↑ Revista de istorie, Volume 40, Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1987, pp. 681-682
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Flora". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Veronica (hms)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Rosetta". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Boro". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Kurt Schwarz". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Cestrian". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Agios Georgios". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Siracusy". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Sergij". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Vicenza". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
Gibson, R. H.; Prendergast, Maurice (2003) [1931]. The German Submarine War, 1914–1918. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-1-59114-314-7. OCLC52924732.
Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. Vol.2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0-85177-593-4.
Halpern, Paul G. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-0-87021-266-6. OCLC28411665.
Messimer, Dwight R. (2002). Verschollen: World War I U-boat losses. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-1-55750-475-3. OCLC231973419.
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