SM UB-115
 UB-148 at sea, a U-boat similar to UB-115. | |
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | UB-115 |
| Ordered: | 6/8 February 1917[1] |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg[2] |
| Cost: | 3,714,000 German Papiermark[2] |
| Yard number: | 321[2] |
| Launched: | 4 November 1917[3] |
| Commissioned: | 28 May 1918[3] |
| Fate: | Sunk 29 September 1918 by British warships and aircraft at 55°13′N 1°22′W / 55.217°N 1.367°WCoordinates: 55°13′N 1°22′W / 55.217°N 1.367°W.[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | German Type UB III submarine |
| Type: | Coastal submarine |
| Displacement: |
519 t (511 long tons; 572 short tons) surfaced 649 t (639 long tons; 715 short tons) submerged[2] |
| Length: | 55.3 m (181 ft) o/a[2] |
| Beam: | 5.8 m (19 ft)[2] |
| Draught: | 3.7 m (12 ft)[2] |
| Propulsion: |
2 shafts 6-cylinder MAN-Vulcan diesel engines,[4] 1,100 ihp (820 kW) AEG[4] electric motors, 788 ihp (588 kW)[2] |
| Speed: |
13.3 knots (24.6 km/h; 15.3 mph) surfaced 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) submerged[2] |
| Range: |
7,420 nmi (13,740 km; 8,540 mi) at 6 kn (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) surfaced 55 nmi (102 km; 63 mi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged[2] |
| Test depth: | 50 m (160 ft)[4] |
| Complement: | 3 officers, 31 men[4] |
| Armament: |
• 5 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 1 stern) with 10 torpedoes • 1 × 10.5 cm (4.13 in) deck gun[4] |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
German Imperial Navy[2] |
| Commanders: |
|
SM UB-115 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 28 May 1918 as SM UB-115.[nb 1] She was the only German submarine commissioned with the number 115.
UB-115 was sunk by British warships, including HMS Ouse and HMS Star, and the rigid airship R29 at 55°13′N 1°22′W / 55.217°N 1.367°W using depth charges and aerial bombs.[3]
Construction
She was built by Blohm & Voss of Hamburg[2] and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 4 November 1917. UB-115 was commissioned in the spring the next year . Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-115 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun. UB-115 would carry a crew of up to 3 officer and 31 men and had a cruising range of 7,420 nautical miles (13,740 km).[2] UB-115 had a displacement of 519 t (511 long tons; 572 short tons) while surfaced and 649 t (639 long tons; 715 short tons) when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at 13.3 knots (24.6 km/h; 15.3 mph) when surfaced and 7.4 knots (13.7 km/h; 8.5 mph) when submerged.[2]
Fate
On 29 September 1918 while under the command of Reinhold Thomsen, UB-115 was engaged by armed trawlers (amongst others Viola), the airship R29, HMS Ouse and HMS Star. UB-115 was depth charged until destroyed and went down at position 55°14.460′N 1°22.454′W / 55.241000°N 1.374233°W (WGS84), about 4.5 nautical miles (8.3 km) northeast of Beacon Point, Newton-by-the-Sea, off Northumberland. All 39 men aboard the submarine died in the attack and sinking.[5][6]
UB-115's wreck lies in two pieces and is covered in soft corals and an accretion formed from fly ash from a local power plant.[5]
Notes
- Footnotes
- ↑ "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
- Citations
- ↑ Rössler 1979, p. 66.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Gröner 1985, p. 52.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Gröner 1985, p. 55.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Gröner 1985, p. 53.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "UB-115 - U-boats of World War I". uboat.net. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- ↑ MHSC. "Viola-Dias, War, Distant Waters and the Hull Fishing Industry in Both World Wars". MHSC Maritime Historical Studies Centre. University of Hull. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
References
- Gröner, Erich (1985). "U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher". Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe, 1815-1945 III (Koblenz: Bernhard&Graefe). ISBN 3-7637-4802-4.
- Bendert, Harald (2000). Die UB-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine, 1914-1918. Einsätze, Erfolge, Schicksal. Hamburg: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn GmbH. ISBN 3-8132-0713-7.
- Rössler, Eberhard (1979). "U-Bootbau bis Ende des 1. Weltkrieges, Konstruktionen für das Ausland und die Jahre 1935 - 1945". Die deutschen U-Boote und ihre Werften I (Munich: Bernhard&Graefe). ISBN 3-7637-5213-7.