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Class overview | |
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Builders | Kaiserliche Werft Danzig |
Operators | ![]() |
Preceded by | U 16 |
Succeeded by | Type U 19 |
Completed | 2 |
Lost | 1 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | |
Length | 62.35 m (204 ft 7 in) |
Beam | 6 m (19 ft 8 in) |
Height | 7.30 m (23 ft 11 in) |
Draught | 3.40 m (11 ft 2 in) |
Propulsion | |
Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 50 m (164 ft 1 in) |
Complement | 4 officers, 25 men |
Armament |
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Type U17 was a class of U-boats built during World War I by the Kaiserliche Marine. As from 1908 the Germans were considering U-boats with diesel engines, but pending the development of a sufficient lightweight diesel engine, paraffin engines were used. Type 17 was a design for two diesel engines but when the U-boats were ordered in 1910, the diesel engines were not yet available and instead four paraffin engines were installed. [1]
Type U 17s had an overall length of 62.35 m (204 ft 7 in) The boats' beam was 6.00 m (19 ft 8 in), the draught was 3.40 m (11 ft 2 in), with a total height of 7.30 m (23 ft 11 in). The boats displaced 564 tonnes (555 long tons) when surfaced and 691 t (680 long tons) when submerged. [2]
Type U 17s were fitted with four Körting 8-cylinder two-stroke paraffin engines with a total of 1,400 metric horsepower (1,030 kW ; 1,381 bhp ) for use on the surface and two AEG double-acting electric motors with a total of 820 kW (1,115 PS; 1,100 shp) for underwater use. These engines powered two shafts, which gave the boats a top surface speed of 14.9 knots (27.6 km/h; 17.1 mph), and 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) when submerged. [2] Electrical engines were usually left open without protection against drip or bilge water to save weight, but Type 17 U-boats were the first U-boats to have fully encased electrical engines. [3] Cruising range was 6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km; 7,700 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) on the surface and 75 nautical miles (139 km; 86 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged. [2] Diving depth was 50 m (164 ft 1 in).
The U-boats were armed with four 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, two fitted in the bow and two in the stern, and carried six torpedoes. The boats' complement was 4 officers and 25 enlisted. [2]
Name | launched [4] | commissioned [4] | merchant ships sunk (nbr / GRT ) [4] | Fate [2] |
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U-17 | 16 April 1912 | 3 November 1912 | 12 / 16.635 | Scrapped in 1919-20. |
U-18 | 25 April 1912 | 17 November 1912 | none | Sunk on 23 November near the Orkney islands. |