| Career (German Empire) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | UB-81 |
| Ordered: | 23 September 1916 |
| Builder: | AG Weser, Bremen |
| Yard number: | Werk 281 |
| Laid down: | 5 January 1917 |
| Launched: | 4 August 1917 |
| Commissioned: | 18 September 1917 |
| Fate: | Sunk by mine, 2 December 1917 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | German Type UB III submarine |
| Displacement: | 516 long tons (524 t) surfaced 651 long tons (661 t) submerged |
| Length: | 55.3 m (181 ft) o/a |
| Beam: | 5.8 m (19 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.7 m (12 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts 6-cylinder diesel engines, 1,100 hp (820 kW) Siemens-Schuckert electric motors, 788 hp (588 kW) |
| Speed: | 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) surfaced 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 8,500 mi (13,700 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) surfaced 55 mi (89 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 50 m (160 ft) |
| Complement: | 34 men |
| Armament: | • 5 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 1 stern) • 10 × torpedoes • 1 × 88 mm (3.5 in) deck gun |
| Service record | |
| Commanders: | Oblt. Reinhold Saltzwedel (18 September–2 December 1917) |
| Operations: | 2 patrols |
| Victories: | 1 commercial ship sunk (3,218 GRT)[2] |
SM UB-81 was a German Type UB III U-boat of the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I.
Her keel was laid down on 5 January 1917, by AG Weser, of Bremen-Vegesack and commissioned on 18 September 1917.[3].
On the night of 30 November/1 December 1917 she torpedoed and sank the 3,218 ton British steamer Molesey 12 miles west-south-west of the Brighton Light Vessel.[4]
She was mined on the night of 2 December 1917 to the south-east of the Isle of Wight. The crew of 34, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Reinhold Saltzwedel, managed to raise the forward torpedo tubes above the surface and 7 escaped before a collision occurred with a British patrol boat and she sank. She now lies at () OSGB at 28 metres.[5]. [6]The wreck is designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986[7] and therefore all diving on her is strictly prohibited.
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