SM UC-5

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Imperial German Navy U-boat SM UC 5 in dock after capture 27 April 1916.jpg
UC-5 displayed after capture 27 April 1916
History
War Ensign of Germany 1903-1918.svg German Empire
NameUC-5
OrderedNovember 1914 [1]
Builder AG Weser, Bremen [2]
Yard number49 [1]
Launched13 June 1915 [1]
Commissioned19 June 1915 [1]
FateGrounded, 27 April 1916; captured by the British [1]
General characteristics [3]
Class and type German Type UC I submarine
Displacement
  • 168 t (165 long tons), surfaced
  • 182 t (179 long tons), submerged
Length
Beam3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)
Draft3.04 m (10 ft)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 6.49 knots (12.02 km/h; 7.47 mph), surfaced
  • 5.67 knots (10.50 km/h; 6.52 mph), submerged
Range
  • 910  nmi (1,690 km; 1,050 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) surfaced
  • 50 nmi (93 km; 58 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth50 m (160 ft)
Complement14
Armament
  • 6 × 100 cm (39 in) mine tubes
  • 12 × UC 120 mines
  • 1 × 8 mm (0.31 in) machine gun
Service record
Part of:
  • Flandern Flotilla
  • 27 July 1915 – 27 April 1916
Commanders:
  • Oblt.z.S. Herbert Pustkuchen
  • 19 June – 18 December 1915
  • Oblt.z.S. Ulrich Mohrbutter
  • 19 December 1915 – 27 April 1916
Operations: 29 patrols
Victories:
  • 19 merchant ships sunk
    (32,407  GRT)
  • 2 warships sunk
    (1,105 tons)
  • 9 auxiliary warships sunk
    (3,719  GRT)
  • 7 merchant ships damaged
    (20,262  GRT)

SM UC-5 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German : Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat had been ordered by November 1914 and was launched on 13 June 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 19 June 1915 as SM UC-5. [Note 1] She served in World War I under the command of Herbert Pustkuchen (June - December 1915) and Ulrich Mohrbutter (December 1915 - April 1916).

Contents

She ran aground and was abandoned but recovered by the Allies and displayed for propaganda purposes.

Design

A German Type UC I submarine, UC-5 had a displacement of 168 tonnes (165 long tons) when at the surface and 183 tonnes (180 long tons) while submerged. She had a length overall of 33.99 m (111 ft 6 in), a beam of 3.15 m (10 ft 4 in), and a draught of 3.04 m (10 ft). The submarine was powered by one Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft six-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine producing 90 metric horsepower (66 kW; 89 shp), a Siemens-Schuckert electric motor producing 175 metric horsepower (129 kW; 173 shp), and one propeller shaft. She was capable of operating at a depth of 50 metres (160 ft). [3]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 6.20 knots (11.48 km/h; 7.13 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 5.22 knots (9.67 km/h; 6.01 mph). When submerged, she could operate for 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 780 nautical miles (1,440 km; 900 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph). UC-5 was fitted with six 100 centimetres (39 in) mine tubes, twelve UC 120 mines, and one 8 millimetres (0.31 in) machine gun. She was built by AG Vulcan Stettin and her complement was fourteen crew members. [3]

Service

UC-5 had an impressive career, with 30 ships sunk for a total of 36,126 GRT and 1,105 tons on 29 patrols. On August 21, 1915 UC-5 became the first submarine minelayer to penetrate into the English Channel, laying 12 mines off Boulogne, one of which sank the steamship William Dawson the same day. UC-5 went on to lay 6 more mines off Boulogne and Folkestone on 7 September, one of which sank the cable layer Monarch. [4]

Fate

Bow view of UC-5 in Central Park SM UC 5 New York bow view.jpg
Bow view of UC-5 in Central Park

UC-5 ran aground while on patrol 27 April 1916 at 51°59′N1°38′E / 51.983°N 1.633°E / 51.983; 1.633 and was scuttled. Her crew were captured by HMS Firedrake. The U-boat was salvaged and put into a floating dock by teams from Harwich and Chatham, led by Captain Young and Lt Paterson--a dangerous procedure because of the two mines still on board. Her captain had also rigged up explosive charges to wreck his ship in the event of abandoning, which the British press described as an attempt to kill the RN personnel who rescued his crew. Paterson was able to find and disable them after being warned by one of the prisoners. The U-Boat was towed first to Harwich, then on to Sheerness, where an approved party of journalists and even two war artists were taken to inspect it. (Refs: Nore Command Records ADM 151/83 at UK National Archives, E F Knight "The Harwich Force", contemporary editions of Daily Telegraph & Daily Mail).

Later it was towed up and displayed to the London public at Temple Pier on the Thames river and, the following year, in New York for propaganda purposes. [5]

Summary of raiding history

DateNameNationalityTonnage [Note 2] Fate [6]
6 August 1915 HMT Leandros Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 276Sunk
13 August 1915 Amethyst Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 57Sunk
13 August 1915 Summerfield Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 687Sunk
13 August 1915 Sverige Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1,602Sunk
21 August 1915 William Dawson Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 284Sunk
30 August 1915 Bretwalda Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 4,037Damaged
30 August 1915 Honiton Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 4,914Sunk
30 August 1915 Saint Chamond Flag of France.svg  France 2,866Damaged
8 September 1915 Monarch Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 1,122Sunk
19 September 1915 Tord Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1,313Damaged
4 October 1915 Enfield Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 2,124Damaged
6 October 1915 HMS Brighton Queen Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 553Sunk
10 October 1915 Newcastle Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 3,403Sunk
12 October 1915 HMD Frons Olivae Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 98Sunk
19 October 1915 HMT Erin II Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 181Sunk
20 October 1915 HMD Star of Buchan Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 81Sunk
22 October 1915 Grappler Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 690Damaged
23 October 1915 Ilaro Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 2,799Sunk
25 October 1915 HMS Velox Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 380Sunk
17 November 1915 HMHS Anglia Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 1,862Sunk
17 November 1915 Lusitania Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 1,834Sunk
19 November 1915 HMT Falmouth III Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 198Sunk
29 November 1915 Dotterel Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 1,596Sunk
26 December 1915 HMS E6 Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 725Sunk
26 December 1915 HMT Resono Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 230Sunk
12 January 1916 Algerian Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 3,837Sunk
13 January 1916 HMT Albion II Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy 240Sunk
1 February 1916 Prinses Juliana Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2,885Sunk
15 February 1916 Bandoeng Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 5,851Damaged
20 February 1916 Dingle Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 593Sunk
21 February 1916 La Flandre Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2,018Sunk
24 February 1916 Tummel Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 531Sunk
26 March 1916 Hebe Flag of France.svg  France 1,494Sunk
26 March 1916 Khartoum Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 303Sunk
27 March 1916 Harriet Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1,372Sunk
31 March 1916 Clinton Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 3,381Damaged
31 March 1916 Memento Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 1,076Sunk

Notes

  1. ↑ "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English "His Majesty's") and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as "His Majesty's Submarine".
  2. ↑ Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.

Related Research Articles

SM <i>UC-1</i>

SM UC-1 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat had been ordered by November 1914 and was launched on 26 April 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 5 July 1915 as SM UC-1. Mines laid by UC-1 in her 80 patrols were credited with sinking 41 ships. UC-1 disappeared after 18 July 1917. UC-1 was sunk on 24 July 1917 by F2B Felixstowe flying boat. Standard practice was to fly along the U boat and drop 2 250lb bombs astride it, hoping to cause leaks and give time for a destroyer to collect the submariners and sink it. On this occasion, by fluke, one bomb went through the conning tower and blew the base out of UC1. MFG Mill was awarded the DFC for this but he refused to wear it because of the total loss of life <london Gazette> <MFG Mill Diaries>

SM UC-2 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat had been ordered by November 1914 and was launched on 12 May 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 17 May 1915 as SM UC-2. Mines laid by UC-2 in her two patrols were not credited with sinking any ships.

SM UC-3 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat had been ordered by November 1914 and was launched on 28 May 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 1 June 1915 as UC-3. Mines laid by UC-3 in her 29 patrols were credited with sinking 22 ships and damaging 2 others. UC-3 was caught in a net, detected by hydrophone, and sunk on 23 April 1916 or mined and sunk on 27 May 1916.

SM UC-6 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat had been ordered by November 1914 and was launched on 20 June 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 24 June 1915 as SM UC-6. Mines laid by UC-6 in her 89 patrols were credited with sinking 55 ships.

SM <i>UC-8</i>

SM UC-8 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat had been ordered by November 1914 and was launched on 6 July 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 5 July 1915 as SM UC-8. Mines laid by UC-8 in her one patrol are not known to have sunk any ships. UC-8 ran aground on the Dutch coast near Terschelling on 4 November 1915. Interned by the Dutch, UC-8 was purchased and commissioned into the Dutch Navy as HNLMS M-1. The submarine was broken up in 1932.

SM UC-9 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat had been ordered by November 1914 and was launched on 11 July 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 15 July 1915 as SM UC-9. Mines laid by UC-9 in her two patrols were not credited with sinking any ships. UC-9 was lost 21 October 1915 to one of its own mines.

SM UC-11 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 23 November 1914, laid down on 26 January 1915, and was launched on 11 April 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 23 April 1915 as SM UC-11. Mines laid by UC-11 in her 83 patrols were credited with sinking 27 ships. UC-11 was mined and sunk on 26 June 1918. A crew member was Rudolf Finkler from Oberlinxweiler, Kreis St. Wendel, Germany. According to his death record the boat went down in the North Sea near Harwich, abt. 2.5 nautical miles north east of Funk Feuerschiff on position 51°55′N1°41′E.

SM UC-12 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I.

SM UC-13 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered for production on 23 November 1914, laid down on 28 January 1915, and was launched on 11 May 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 15 May 1915 as SM UC-13. Mines laid by UC-13 in her three patrols were credited with sinking 3 ships.

SM UC-14 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 23 November 1914, laid down on 28 January 1915, and was launched on 13 May 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 5 June 1915 as SM UC-14. Mines laid by UC-14 in her 38 patrols were credited with sinking 16 ships, one of which was the Italian pre-dreadnought battleship Regina Margherita, which at 13,427 tonnes displacement was one of the largest ships sunk by U-boats during the war. UC-14 was mined and sunk on 3 October 1917.

SM <i>UC-15</i>

SM UC-15 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 23 November 1914, laid down on 28 January 1915, and was launched on 19 May 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 28 June 1915 as SM UC-15. Mines laid by UC-15 during her eight patrols are credited with sinking 3 ships. UC-15 disappeared in November 1916.

SM UC-17 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was ordered on 29 August 1915 and launched on 29 February 1916. She was commissioned into the Imperial German Navy on 21 July 1916 as SM UC-17.

SM <i>UC-21</i> German Type UC II minelaying submarine

SM UC-21 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 29 August 1915 and was launched on 1 April 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 12 September 1916 as SM UC-21.

SM UC-23 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 29 August 1915 and was launched on 29 February 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 17 July 1916 as SM UC-23. In 17 patrols UC-23 was credited with sinking 46 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-23 was surrendered at Sevastopol on 25 November 1918 and broken up at Bizerta in August 1921.

SM UC-24 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 29 August 1915 and was launched on 4 March 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 15 August 1916 as SM UC-24. In four patrols UC-24 was credited with sinking 4 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-24 was torpedoed and sunk by French submarine Circé off Molunat, today's Croatia on 24 May 1917. The wreck was found in late 2019 at a depth of 85m, 2 nautical miles from the mainland.

SM UC-33 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 29 August 1915 and was launched on 26 August 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 25 September 1916 as SM UC-33. In seven patrols UC-33 was credited with sinking 36 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-33 was shelled and then rammed by patrol boat PC61 captained by Frank Worsley at position 51°55′N6°14′W in St. George's Channel on 26 September 1917.

SM UC-35 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 6 May 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 2 October 1916 as SM UC-35. In eleven patrols UC-35 was credited with sinking 48 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-35 was sunk by gunfire from the French torpedo boat Aigli southwest of Sardinia on 16 May 1918 at 39°48′N7°42′E.

SM UC-36 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 5 June 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 10 October 1916 as SM UC-36. In five patrols UC-36 was credited with sinking 24 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-36 was rammed and sunk by the French steamer Molière off Ushant on 21 May 1917.

SM UC-37 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 5 June 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 17 October 1916 as SM UC-37. In 13 patrols UC-37 was credited with sinking 66 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-37 was surrendered at Sevastopol on 25 November 1918 and broken up at Bizerta in August 1921.

SM UC-40 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 5 September 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 1 October 1916 as SM UC-40. In 17 patrols UC-40 was credited with sinking 30 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-40 was being taken to surrender but foundered in the North Sea en route on 21 January 1919.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC 5". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  2. ↑ Tarrant, p. 173.
  3. 1 2 3 Gröner 1991, pp. 30–31.
  4. ↑ Gibson, R.H.; Maurice Prendergast (2002). The German Submarine War 1914-1918. Periscope Publishing Ltd. p. 51. ISBN   1-904381-08-1.
  5. ↑ "The Flandern U-boat bases and U-Bootflottille Flandern by Johan Ryheul at U-boat.net" . Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  6. ↑ "Ships hit by UC-5". German and Austrian U-Boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 24 December 2014.

Bibliography

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