Unterseeboot 9 (1910)

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U-9 ready for patrol.
Career (German Empire)
Name: U-9
Ordered: July 15, 1908
Builder: Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig
Launched: February 22, 1910
Commissioned: April 18, 1910
Fate: Surrendered November 26, 1918. Broken up at Morecambe in 1919.
Class and type: German Type U 9 submarine
Service record
Part of Kaiserliche Marine:
I Flottille
Commanders Otto Weddigen
Johannes Spiess
Operations 7
Victories 13 ships sunk for a total of 8636 GRT
5 warships sunk for a total of 44173 tons

Unterseeboot 9 (also known as U-9) was a German Type U 9 U-boat built for the Kaiserliche Marine. Her construction was ordered on July 15, 1908 and her keel was laid down by Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig. She was launched on February 22, 1910 and commissioned on April 18, 1910.

Contents

[edit] Career

On 16 July 1914 the crew of U-9 reloaded her torpedo tubes while submerged, the first time any submarine had succeeded in doing so.

The men of U9

On 1 August 1914, Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen took command. On September 22, while patrolling the Broad Fourteens, a region of the southern North Sea, U-9 found a squadron of three obsolescent British Cressy-class armoured cruisers, sardonically nicknamed the Live Bait Squadron, which were assigned to prevent German surface vessels from entering the Eastern end of the English Channel. She fired all six of her torpedoes, reloading while submerged, and in less than an hour sank the three cruisers, HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue, and HMS Cressy. 1459 British sailors died.[1] It was one of most notable submarine actions. Members of the Admiralty who had considered submarines to be mere toys no longer expressed that opinion after this event. On October 15 she sunk another armoured cruiser, HMS Hawke.


On January 12, 1915, Johannes Spiess relieved Weddigen, and commanded U-9 until 19 April 1916. During this period, she sank 13 ships totalling 8.635 tons: 10 small fishing vessels and three British steamers (DON, QUEEN WILHELMINA and SERBINO).


After April 1916, she was withdrawn from front-line duties and used for training.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sinking of HMS Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue by U-9. World War 1 Naval Combat. Retrieved on 2007-05-27.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


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