SM UC-41

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For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-41.
Career (German Empire)
Class and type: German Type UC II submarine
Name: UC-41
Ordered: 20 November 1915[1]
Builder: AG Vulcan, Hamburg[2]
Yard number: 74[1]
Launched: 13 September 1916[1]
Commissioned: 11 October 1916[1]
Fate: sunk by own mine, 21 August 1917[1]
Service record
Part of: Imperial German Navy
Commanders: Kurt Bernis
Hans Förste
Operations: 7
Victories: 18 ships sunk for a total of 18.233 tons
General characteristics
Class & type: Type UC II submarine
Displacement: 400 t (440 short tons), surfaced[2]
480 t (530 short tons), submerged
Length: 162 ft 3 in (49.45 m)[2]
Beam: 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)[2]
Draft: 12 ft 2 in (4 m)[3]
Propulsion: 2 × propeller shafts
2 × 6-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engines, 500 bhp (370 kW)[3]
2 × electric motors, 460 shp (340 kW)[3]
Speed: 11.7 knots (21.7 km/h), surfaced[2]
6.7 knots (12.4 km/h), submerged
Endurance: 9,410 nautical miles at 7 knots, surfaced[3]
(17,430 km at 13 km/h)
60 nautical miles at 4 knots, submerged[3]
(110 km at 7.4 km/h)
Test depth: 50 m (160 ft)[3]
Complement: 26[3]
Armament: 6 × 100 cm (39.4 in) mine tubes[3]
18 × UC 200 mines
3 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 bow/external; one stern)
7 × torpedoes
1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) KL/30 deck gun[2]
Notes: 48-second diving time[2]

SM UC-41 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 13 September 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 11 October 1916 as SM UC-41.[Note 1]

In a nine-month career that encompassed seven patrols UC-41 was credited with sinking nineteen ships totaling 19,587 tons, either by torpedo or by mines laid. This total may include the tiny naval fishing smacks Nelson and Ethel & Millie during an engagement on 15 August 1917. The Skipper of Nelson, Thomas Crisp was killed and posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, while the crew of the Ethel & Millie were taken prisoner and presumably were still aboard when the submarine was sunk.

UC-41 was lost on 21 August 1917 after suffering an unexplained internal explosion of one of her mines which forced her to suddenly rise to the surface in the Tay estuary, where she was spotted by British naval trawlers and depth charged, killing all 27 German sailors and possibly seven British prisoners of war as well. Her wreck was rediscovered in 2003.

Notes

  1. ↑ "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC-41". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 February 2009. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Tarrant, p. 173.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Gardiner, p. 182.

Bibliography

  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8. OCLC 12119866. 
  • Tarrant, V. E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive: 1914–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-764-7. OCLC 20338385. 


Completed
  • List of German U-boats

Coordinates: 56°25′N 2°35′E / 56.417°N 2.583°E / 56.417; 2.583


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