SM U-50
For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-50.
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-50 |
| Ordered: | 4 August 1914 |
| Builder: | Kaiserliche Werft Danzig |
| Launched: | 31 December 1915 |
| Commissioned: | 4 July 1916 |
| Fate: | Sunk probably by a mine off Terschelling on or after 31 August 1917 [1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type U-43 submarine |
| Displacement: | 725 tons surfaced 940 tons submerged 1,059 tons (total) |
| Length: | 65 m (213 ft) (oa 52.51 m (172.3 ft) (pressure hull) |
| Beam: | 6.2 m (20 ft) (oa) 4.18 m (13.7 ft) (pressure hull) |
| Height: | 8.7 m (29 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.74 m (12.3 ft) |
| Installed power: | 2400 hp surfaced 1200 hp submerged |
| Speed: | 17.1 kn (31.7 km/h) 9.1 kn (16.9 km/h) |
| Range: | •9,400 nmi (17,400 km) at 8 kn (15 km/h) surfaced •55 nmi (102 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 50 m (160 ft) |
| Complement: | 36 |
| Armament: | •4 × 50 cm (19.7 in)[2] torpedo tubes (two bow, two stern; 6 torpedoes) •1 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) deck gun with 276 rounds |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
III Flotilla 4 Jul 1916 - 31 Aug 1917 |
| Commanders: | Kptlt Gerhard Berger |
| Operations: | 5 patrols |
| Victories: | 27 merchant ships sunk (92,924 GRT). |
SM U-50 was one of 329 submarines in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
U-50 is most notable for sinking the armed merchant cruiser Laconia, killing 2 Americans before the USA had entered the war. Laconia was also the 15th largest ship destroyed by submarine in the war.[3]
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 November 1916 | Bogota |  United Kingdom |
4,577 | Sunk |
| 11 November 1916 | Løkken |  Norway |
1,954 | Sunk |
| 11 November 1916 | Morazan | United Kingdom |
3,486 | Sunk |
| 11 November 1916 | Sarah Radcliffe | United Kingdom |
3,333 | Sunk |
| 12 November 1916 | San Giovanni | _crowned.svg.png){kind=small} Kingdom of Italy |
1,315 | Sunk |
| 12 November 1916 | Stylinai Bebis | .svg.png){kind=small} Greece |
3,603 | Sunk |
| 12 November 1916 | Ioannis | Greece |
3,828 | Sunk |
| 13 November 1916 | Lela | Kingdom of Italy |
2,987 | Sunk |
| 14 November 1916 | Hatsuse | United Kingdom |
282 | Sunk |
| 18 February 1917 | Jean Pierre |  France |
449 | Sunk |
| 22 February 1917 | Blenheim | Norway |
1,144 | Sunk |
| 24 February 1917 | Falcon | United Kingdom |
2,244 | Sunk |
| 25 February 1917 | Aries | United Kingdom |
3,071 | Sunk |
| 25 February 1917 | Huntsman | United Kingdom |
7,460 | Sunk |
| 25 February 1917 | Laconia | United Kingdom |
18,099 | Sunk |
| 11 April 1917 | Sarvsfos | Norway |
1,462 | Sunk |
| 19 April 1917 | Avocet | United Kingdom |
1,219 | Sunk |
| 20 April 1917 | Emma | United Kingdom |
2,520 | Sunk |
| 21 April 1917 | Diadem | United Kingdom |
4,307 | Sunk |
| 23 April 1917 | Dykland | United Kingdom |
4,291 | Sunk |
| 23 April 1917 | Oswald | United Kingdom |
5,185 | Sunk |
| 25 April 1917 | Swanmore | United Kingdom |
6,373 | Sunk |
| 7 June 1917 | Yuba | Norway |
1,458 | Sunk |
| 11 June 1917 | Sigrun | Norway |
2,538 | Sunk |
| 16 June 1917 | Carrie Hervey | United Kingdom |
111 | Sunk |
| 21 June 1917 | Ortona | United Kingdom |
5,524 | Sunk |
| 26 June 1917 | Vonin |  Denmark |
104 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Uboat.net U-50
- ↑ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. (1978). "U-Boats (1905-18)". The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare 23. Phoebus Publishing. p. 2534.
- ↑ Uboat.net largest ships
- ↑ "SM U-50 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
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