SM U-40 (Germany)
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-40 |
| Ordered: | 12 June 1912 |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Laid down: | 3 April 1913 |
| Launched: | 22 October 1914 |
| Commissioned: | 14 February 1915 |
| Fate: | Sunk 23 June 1915 off the Scottish coast. 29 dead. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | German Type U 31 submarine |
| Displacement: | 685 tons surfaced 878 tons submerged 971 tons (total) |
| Length: | 64.70 m (overall) 52.36 m (pressure hull) |
| Beam: | 6.32 m (overall) 4.05 m (pressure hull) |
| Height: | 7.68 m |
| Draught: | 3.56 m |
| Propulsion: | Diesel (2 x 950 PS) Electric (2 x 600 PS) 1850 hp surfaced 1200 hp submerged |
| Speed: | 16.4 knots surfaced 9.7 knots submerged |
| Range: | 8790 miles at 8 kn surfaced 80 miles at 5 knsubmerged[1] |
| Test depth: | 50 m |
| Complement: | 4 officers 31 crewmen |
| Armament: | |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
II Flotilla unknown start – 23 Jun 1915 |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt Gerhardt Fürbringer[4] 14 Feb 1915 – 23 Jun 1915 |
| Operations: | 1 patrol |
| Victories: | None |
SM U-40 was a German Type U 31 U-boat of the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I.
Her construction was ordered on 12 June 1912 and her keel was laid down on 3 April 1913 by Germaniawerft of Kiel. She was launched on 22 October 1914 and commissioned on 14 February 1915 under the command of Gerhardt Fürbringer. Second officer was lieutenant Rudolf Jauch (of the Jauch family).
U-40 conducted one patrol, without sinking a ship.
Fate
On the morning of 23 June 1915 U-40 stopped the trawler Taranaki in the North Sea. Taranaki was in fact a decoy vessel, or "Q-ship", and was connected to the submerged submarine HMS C24 by a combined tow line and telephone cable. When U-40 stopped the trawler, Taranaki telephoned the situation to C24. When C24 tried to slip the tow line, however, the release mechanism failed, and C24 had to manoeuvre into an attacking position with a hundred fathoms of chain hanging from her bow. Her commander, Lieutenant Frederick Henry Taylor, was able to adjust her trim and avoid fouling the chain in the propellers and fired a single torpedo that struck U-40 amidships. The U-boat sank instantly, only three men in the conning tower surviving to be picked up by the Taranaki.
Wreck discovery
The reported location of the sinking varied. According to some sources it was "50 nmi (93 km; 58 mi) southeast of Aberdeen".[5] Others suggested it was "east of the Firth of Forth".[6]
However in March 2009 the Scottish company Marine Quest announced that divers from their company had discovered the wreck of the U-40[7] approximately 40 nmi (74 km; 46 mi) off Eyemouth, Berwickshire, Scotland, "miles from where it was recorded as going down".[8]
Notes
- ↑ type U31
- ↑ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. "U-Boats (1905-18)", in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare, "(Phoebus Publishing, 1978), Volume 23, p.2534.
- ↑ Fitzsimons, p.2575; he mistakenly identifies it as 86mm p.2534.
- ↑ "Gerhardt Fürbringer". Uboat.net. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- ↑ Gibson, R.H.; Maurice Prendergast (2002). The German Submarine War 1914-1918. Periscope Publishing Ltd. p. 46. ISBN 1-904381-08-1.
- ↑ Messimer, Dwight R. (2002). Verschollen: World War I U-boat Losses. Naval Institute Press. p. 60. ISBN 1-55750-475-X.
- ↑ Footage unveils U-boat secrets - BBC (30 March 2009). Includes footage of the wreck.
- ↑ McIntosh, Lindsay (27 March 2009). "North Sea U-boat recovered ater 100 years". The Times.
References
- Spindler, Arno (1932,1933,1934,1941,1964,1966). Der Handelskrieg mit U-Booten. 5 Vols. Berlin: Mittler & Sohn. Vols. 4+5, dealing with 1917+18, are very hard to find: Guildhall Library, London, has them all, also Vol. 1-3 in an English translation: The submarine war against commerce. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - Beesly, Patrick (1982). Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914-1918. London: H Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-10864-2.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-85728-498-0.
- Roessler, Eberhard (1997). Die Unterseeboote der Kaiserlichen Marine. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-5963-7.
- Schroeder, Joachim (2002). Die U-Boote des Kaisers. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-6235-4.
- Koerver, Hans Joachim (2008). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914-1918. Vol I., The Fleet in Action. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN 978-3-902433-76-3.
- Koerver, Hans Joachim (2009). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914-1918. Vol II., The Fleet in Being. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN 978-3-902433-77-0.
External links
- SM U 40 First success of a Royal Navy 'Q' Ship
- Distinguished Service Cross of Lt. F.H. Taylor, awarded for the sinking SM U 40 in the collection of the National Maritime Museum
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