| Career (German Empire) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-50 |
| Ordered: | 4 August 1914 |
| Builder: | Kaiserliche Werft Danzig |
| Launched: | 31 December 1915 |
| Commissioned: | 4 July 1916 |
| Fate: | Sunk probably from a mine off Terschelling on or after 31 August 1917 [1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type U-43 submarine |
| Displacement: | 725 tons (surfaced) 940 tons (submerged) 1,059 tons (total) |
| Length: | 65 m (213 ft) (oa 52.51 m (172.3 ft) (pressure hull) |
| Beam: | 6.2 m (20 ft) (oa) 4.18 m (13.7 ft) (pressure hull) |
| Height: | 8.7 m (29 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.74 m (12.3 ft) |
| Installed power: | Surfaced: 2400 hp Submerged: 1200 hp |
| Speed: | 17.1 kn (31.7 km/h; 19.7 mph) 9.1 kn (16.9 km/h; 10.5 mph) |
| Range: | •9,400 nmi (17,400 km; 10,800 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced •55 nmi (102 km; 63 mi) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 50 m (160 ft) |
| Complement: | 36 |
| Armament: | •4 x 50 cm (19.7 in)[2] torpedo tubes (two bow, two stern; 6 torpedoes) •1 x 88 mm (3.5 in) deck gun with 276 rounds |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: | Imperial German Navy |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Gerhard Berger [1] |
| Operations: | 5 patrols, 27 ships sunk for a total of 92,924 tons. |
SM U-50 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in World War I. U-50 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
U-50 is most notable for sinking the armed Merchant cruiser Laconia which killed 2 Americans before the US had entered the war. Laconia was also the 15th largest ship destroyed by submarine during the war.[3]
|
||||||||