SM U-26
For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-26.
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-26 |
| Ordered: | 18 March 1911 |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Laid down: | 31 May 1912 |
| Launched: | 16 October 1913 |
| Commissioned: | 20 May 1914 |
| Fate: | 30 September 1915 - Lost in Gulf of Finland August/September 1915 for unknown reason. 30 dead (all hands lost). |
| General characteristics Ocean-going diesel submarine | |
| Class and type: | German Type U 23 submarine |
| Displacement: | 685 tons surfaced / 878 submerged |
| Length: | 64.70 m (212.3 ft) |
| Draft: | 3.56 m |
| Test depth: | about 50 m (160 ft) |
| Armament: | 105 mm (4.1 in) deck gun, 300 rounds four 50 cm (20 in)[1] torpedo tubes (2 bow, 2 stern; 6 torpedoes |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
German Imperial Navy: IV Flotilla 1 Aug 1914 – Unknown end Baltic Flotilla Unknown start – 30 Sep 1915 |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt Egewolf Freiherr von Berckheim[2] 1 Aug 1914 - 17 Dec 1914 & 13 Jan 1915 - 30 Sep 1915 |
| Operations: | 1 patrol |
| Victories: |
3 merchant ships sunk (3,700 GRT) 2 warships sunk (11,375 tons) |
SM U-26 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in World War I.
U-26 was engaged in the Naval warfare of World War I in the Baltic Sea. On October 11, 1914, she sank the cruiser Pallada, inflicting the first loss of the war on the Russian navy.
Fate
The boat did not return from sea in August 1915, and is assumed to have struck a mine off the coast of Finland, being lost with its entire crew of 30.
Wreck discovered
The boat was found in the western Gulf of Finland as reported by the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat in May 2014.[3][4]
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 October 1914 | Pallada |  Imperial Russian Navy |
7,775 | Sunk |
| 23 April 1915 | Fråck |  Russian Empire |
849 | Sunk |
| 4 June 1915 | Yenisei | Imperial Russian Navy |
3,600 | Sunk |
| 25 August 1915 | Petshora | Imperial Russian Navy |
1,982 | Sunk |
| 30 August 1915 | Zemlya | Russian Empire |
869 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. "U-Boats (1905-18)", in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare (Phoebus Publishing, 1978), Volume 23, p.2534.
- ↑ "Egewolf Freiherr von Berckheim (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
- ↑ Unto Hämäläinen, Sata vuotta etsitty sukellusvene U-26 löytyi. Helsingin Sanomat, May 29, 2014 p. A 15
- ↑ http://yle.fi/uutiset/talta_nayttaa_sata_vuotta_vanhan_u26-sukellusveneen_hylky_suomenlahden_pohjassa__video/7274070
- ↑ "SM U-26 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
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