SM UC-25

History
German Empire
Name	UC-25
Ordered	29 August 1915
Builder	AG Vulcan, Hamburg
Yard number	64
Launched	10 June 1916
Commissioned	28 June 1916
Fate	Scuttled at Pola, 28 October 1918
General characteristics
Class & type	Type UC II submarine
Displacement	400 t (390 long tons), surfaced; 480 t (470 long tons), submerged;
Length	49.45 m (162 ft 3 in) o/a ; 39.30 m (128 ft 11 in) pressure hull ;
Beam	5.22 m (17 ft 2 in) o/a; 3.65 m (12 ft) pressure hull;
Draught	3.68 m (12 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	2 × propeller shafts ; 2 × 6-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engines, 500 PS (370 kW; 490 bhp); 2 × electric motors, 460 PS (340 kW; 450 shp);
Speed	11.6 knots (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph), surfaced; 6.6 knots (12.2 km/h; 7.6 mph), submerged;
Range	9,260 nmi (17,150 km; 10,660 mi) at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph), surfaced; 53 nmi (98 km; 61 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph), submerged;
Test depth	50 m (160 ft)
Complement	26
Armament	6 × 100 cm (39.4 in) mine tubes; 18 × UC 200 mines ; 3 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 bow/external; one stern); 7 × torpedoes ; 1 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) Uk L/30 deck gun ;
Notes	48-second diving time
Service record
Part of	Baltic Flotilla; 12 September 1916 – 15 April 1917; Pola / Mittelmeer / Mittelmeer II Flotilla; 15 April 1917 – 11 November 1918;
Commanders	Kptlt. Johannes Feldkirchner; 28 June 1916 – 17 July 1917; Oblt.z.S. Walter Lippold; 18 July – 13 December 1917; Oblt.z.S. Freiherr Ernst von Wangenheim; 14 December 1917 – 15 February 1918; Oblt.z.S. Karl Dönitz ; 16 February – 7 August 1918;
Operations	13 patrols
Victories	17 merchant ships sunk ; (16,872 GRT); 3 warships sunk ; (2,201 tons); 1 auxiliary warship sunk ; (255 GRT); 4 merchant ships damaged ; (22,035 GRT); 2 warships damaged ; (6,500 tons); 1 auxiliary warship damaged ; (6,335 GRT);

Last updated December 11, 2025

SM UC-25 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German : Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 29 August 1915 and was launched on 10 June 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 28 June 1916 as SM UC-25.^{[Note 1]} In 13 patrols UC-25 was credited with sinking 21 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. From March to September 1918, she was commanded by Karl Dönitz, later grand admiral in charge of all U-boats in World War II. UC-25 was scuttled at Pola on 28 October 1918 on the surrender of Austria-Hungary.^[1]

Design

A Type UC II submarine, UC-25 had a displacement of 400 tonnes (390 long tons) when at the surface and 480 tonnes (470 long tons) while submerged. She had a length overall of 49.45 m (162 ft 3 in), a beam of 5.22 m (17 ft 2 in), and a draught of 3.68 m (12 ft 1 in). The submarine was powered by two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines each producing 250 metric horsepower (180 kW; 250 shp) (a total of 500 metric horsepower (370 kW; 490 shp)), two electric motors producing 460 metric horsepower (340 kW; 450 shp), and two propeller shafts. She had a dive time of 48 seconds and was capable of operating at a depth of 50 metres (160 ft).^[3]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 11.6 knots (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph) and a submerged speed of 6.6 knots (12.2 km/h; 7.6 mph). When submerged, she could operate for 53 nautical miles (98 km; 61 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 9,260 nautical miles (17,150 km; 10,660 mi) at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph). UC-25 was fitted with six 100 centimetres (39 in) mine tubes, eighteen UC 200 mines, three 50 centimetres (20 in) torpedo tubes (one on the stern and two on the bow), seven torpedoes, and one 8.8 cm (3.5 in) Uk L/30 deck gun. Her complement was twenty-six crew members.^[3]

Summary of raiding history

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage^{[Note 2]}	Fate^[8]
19 October 1916	Jug	Russian Empire	75	Sunk
6 December 1916	Shchit	Imperial Russian Navy	248	Sunk
6 April 1917	Cybele	France	148	Sunk
7 April 1917	Edwin R. Hunt	United States	1,132	Sunk
28 April 1917	Juliette	France	50	Sunk
15 May 1917	Boutefeu	French Navy	703	Sunk
16 May 1917	HMS Dartmouth	Royal Navy	5,250	Damaged
24 May 1917	Domenico Barone	Kingdom of Italy	171	Sunk
28 May 1917	Nuovo S. Giovanni	Kingdom of Italy	31	Sunk
28 May 1917	San Domenico	Kingdom of Italy	27	Sunk
31 May 1917	Ninotto	Kingdom of Italy	208	Sunk
1 June 1917	Domenico Miscuraca	Kingdom of Italy	194	Sunk
1 June 1917	Vittoria	Kingdom of Italy	248	Sunk
6 June 1917	Mitra	United Kingdom	5,592	Damaged
4 July 1917	HMS Aster	Royal Navy	1,250	Sunk
4 July 1917	HMS Azalea	Royal Navy	1,250	Damaged
5 July 1917	Eburna	United Kingdom	4,735	Damaged
17 October 1917	HMHS Goorkha	Royal Navy	6,335	Damaged
18 October 1917	Anna Scotto	Kingdom of Italy	594	Sunk
20 October 1917	Virginia Gentile	Kingdom of Italy	164	Sunk
3 December 1917	Melo	Kingdom of Italy	1,115	Sunk
8 December 1917	Chyebassa	United Kingdom	6,249	Damaged
23 February 1918	HMT Marion	Royal Navy	255	Sunk
18 March 1918	Massilia	Kingdom of Italy	5,026	Sunk
4 April 1918	Agatina	Kingdom of Italy	201	Sunk
28 July 1918	Vesuvio	Kingdom of Italy	5,459	Damaged
29 July 1918	Rio Pallaresa	United Kingdom	4,043	Sunk
5 August 1918	Freshfield	Canada	3,445	Sunk

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.
↑ Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.

Citations

1 2 3 4 5 6 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC 25". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
↑ Tarrant, p. 173.
1 2 3 Gröner 1991, pp. 31–32.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Johannes Feldkirchner". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Walter Lippold". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Freiherr Ernst von Wangenheim". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Karl Dönitz (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UC 25". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.

Bibliography

Bendert, Harald (2001). Die UC-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine 1914-1918. Minenkrieg mit U-Booten (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler. ISBN 3-8132-0758-7.
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. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8. OCLC 12119866.
Tarrant, V. E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive: 1914–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-764-7. OCLC 20338385.

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[8] "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.

[tonnage-9] Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.

[UC-25-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC 25". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

[Tarrant-173-2] Tarrant, p. 173.

[FOOTNOTEGröner199131–32-3] 1 2 3 Gröner 1991, pp. 31–32.

[4] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Johannes Feldkirchner". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.

[5] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Walter Lippold". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.

[6] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Freiherr Ernst von Wangenheim". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.

[7] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Karl Dönitz (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.

[10] Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UC 25". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 February 2015.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[8]

v t e Type UC II submarines
UC-16 UC-17 UC-18 UC-19 UC-20 UC-21 UC-22 UC-23 UC-24 UC-25 UC-26 UC-27 UC-28 UC-29 UC-30 UC-31 UC-32 UC-33 UC-34 UC-35 UC-36 UC-37 UC-38 UC-39 UC-40 UC-41 UC-42 UC-43 UC-44 UC-45 UC-46 UC-47 UC-48 UC-49 UC-50 UC-51 UC-52 UC-53 UC-54 UC-55 UC-56 UC-57 UC-58 UC-59 UC-60 UC-61 UC-62 UC-63 UC-64 UC-65 UC-66 UC-67 UC-68 UC-69 UC-70 UC-71 UC-72 UC-73 UC-74 UC-75 UC-76 UC-77 UC-78 UC-79
Preceded by: Type UC I Followed by: Type UC III
List of U-boats of Germany

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in October 1918
Shipwrecks	2 Oct: Keltier 3 Oct: Burutu, SMS G41 4 Oct: HMS L10, SM UB-68, Oceania, Hirano Maru 5 Oct: USS Mary Alice, SM UB-10, SM UB-40, SM UB-59, SM UC-4 6 Oct: HMS C12, HMS Otranto 7 Oct: USS West Gate 10 Oct: Leinster, Senator Schröder 15 Oct: HMS J6 16 Oct: Dumaru, SM UB-90 19 Oct: HMS Plumpton, SM UB-123 20 Oct: HMS M21 21 Oct: USS Cero, SM UB-89 23 Oct: HMS D1 25 Oct: Princess Sophia 27 Oct: SM U-78 28 Oct: USS Tarantula, SM U-47, SM U-65, SM UB-48, SM UB-116, SM UC-25, SM UC-53, SM UC-54 30 Oct: HMCS Galiano, SM U-73, SM UC-34 31 Oct: SM UB-129 Unknown date: SMS Brugge, HMS G7, SM U-34
Other incidents	2 Oct: Aquitania, USS Shaw 3 Oct: USS George G. Henry 5 Oct: USS O-13 6 Oct: HMS Kashmir 7 Oct: USS American 12 Oct: USAT Amphion 15 Oct: HMS Cymric 18 Oct: Voltaire 20 Oct: USS Berwyn 21 Oct: SMS Frankfurt
1917 1918 1919 September 1918 November 1918

History




German Empire
Name	UC-25
Ordered	29 August 1915^[1]
Builder	AG Vulcan, Hamburg ^[2]
Yard number	64^[1]
Launched	10 June 1916^[1]
Commissioned	28 June 1916^[1]
Fate	Scuttled at Pola, 28 October 1918^[1]


General characteristics ^[3]
Class & type	Type UC II submarine
Displacement	400 t (390 long tons), surfaced 480 t (470 long tons), submerged
Length	49.45 m (162 ft 3 in) o/a 39.30 m (128 ft 11 in) pressure hull
Beam	5.22 m (17 ft 2 in) o/a 3.65 m (12 ft) pressure hull
Draught	3.68 m (12 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	2 × propeller shafts 2 × 6-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engines, 500 PS (370 kW; 490 bhp) 2 × electric motors, 460 PS (340 kW; 450 shp)
Speed	11.6 knots (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph), surfaced 6.6 knots (12.2 km/h; 7.6 mph), submerged
Range	9,260 nmi (17,150 km; 10,660 mi) at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph), surfaced 53 nmi (98 km; 61 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph), submerged
Test depth	50 m (160 ft)
Complement	26
Armament	6 × 100 cm (39.4 in) mine tubes 18 × UC 200 mines 3 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 bow/external; one stern) 7 × torpedoes 1 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) Uk L/30 deck gun
Notes	48-second diving time


Service record
Part of	Baltic Flotilla 12 September 1916 – 15 April 1917 Pola / Mittelmeer / Mittelmeer II Flotilla 15 April 1917 – 11 November 1918
Commanders	Kptlt. Johannes Feldkirchner^[4] 28 June 1916 – 17 July 1917 Oblt.z.S. Walter Lippold^[5] 18 July – 13 December 1917 Oblt.z.S. Freiherr Ernst von Wangenheim^[6] 14 December 1917 – 15 February 1918 Oblt.z.S. Karl Dönitz ^[7] 16 February – 7 August 1918
Operations	13 patrols
Victories	17 merchant ships sunk (16,872 GRT) 3 warships sunk (2,201 tons) 1 auxiliary warship sunk (255 GRT) 4 merchant ships damaged (22,035 GRT) 2 warships damaged (6,500 tons) 1 auxiliary warship damaged (6,335 GRT)