SM U-88
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-88 |
| Ordered: | 23 June 1915 |
| Builder: | Kaiserliche Werft Danzig |
| Yard number: | Werk 32 |
| Laid down: | 20 November 1915 |
| Launched: | 22 June 1916 |
| Commissioned: | 7 April 1917 |
| Fate: | 5 September 1917 - Presumably mined off Terschelling. 43 dead (all hands lost)[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | German Type U 87 submarine |
| Displacement: | 757 tons surfaced 998 tons ↓ 1165 tons (total) |
| Length: | 65.8 m (overall) 50.07 m (pressure hull) |
| Beam: | 6.20 m (overall) 4.18 m (pressure hull) |
| Draught: | 3.88 m |
| Propulsion: | 2400 hp surfaced 1200 hp ↓ |
| Speed: | 16.8 knots surfaced 9.1 knots ↓ |
| Range: | 11,380 miles at 8 knots surfaced 56 miles at 5 knots submerged |
| Test depth: | ~ 50 m (164 feet) |
| Complement: | 36 men |
| Armament: | 16 torpedoes (4/2 in bow/stern tubes) 105mm deck gun with 140 rounds [2] |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: | Imperial German Navy III Flotilla |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt Walther Schwieger[3] 23 Jul 1916 - 5 Sep 1917 |
| Operations: |
4 patrols 18 May 1917 - 5 Sep 1917[1] |
| Victories: |
12 merchant ships sunk (39,382 GRT) 2 merchant ships damaged (845 GRT) |
SM U-88 was a Type U 87 submarine built for the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in World War I. U-88 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.[4]
U-87 and U-89 had one 10.5 cm/45 and one 8.8 cm/30 deck guns, U-88 was probably equally armed. U 90 - U 92 were armed with one 10.5 cm/45 gun (140-240 rounds).[2]
U-88 is most notable for sinking and taking with her Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger, responsible for sinking the RMS Lusitania when he was commander of 'U-20. The submarine came to an end on 5 September 1917 when being chased by HMS Stonecrop, hit a British mine and sank north of Terschelling at 53°57′N 4°55′E / 53.950°N 4.917°ECoordinates: 53°57′N 4°55′E / 53.950°N 4.917°E. Everyone on board U-88 was killed.
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 May 1917 | Hector |  Norway |
1,146 | Sunk |
| 25 May 1917 | Hilary |  United Kingdom |
6,329 | Sunk |
| 28 May 1917 | Roma |  Russian Empire |
417 | Damaged |
| 29 May 1917 | Ashleaf | United Kingdom |
5,768 | Sunk |
| 31 May 1917 | Jeanne Cordonnier |  France |
2,194 | Sunk |
| 31 May 1917 | Miyazaki Maru |  Japan |
7,892 | Sunk |
| 1 June 1917 | Cavina | United Kingdom |
6,539 | Sunk |
| 6 June 1917 | Eemdijk |  Netherlands |
3,048 | Sunk |
| 7 June 1917 | John Bakke | Norway |
1,611 | Sunk |
| 29 June 1917 | Escondido | Norway |
1,066 | Sunk |
| 3 July 1917 | Iceland | United Kingdom |
1,501 | Sunk |
| 7 July 1917 | Coral Leaf | United Kingdom |
428 | Damaged |
| 13 July 1917 | Ceres |  Denmark |
1,166 | Sunk |
| 16 July 1917 | Vesta | Denmark |
1,122 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Uboat.net U88
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Uboat.net type 87
- ↑ "Walter Schwieger (Pour le Merite)".
- ↑ "U-88". Retrieved 25 January 2010.
- ↑ "SM U-88 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 14 December 2014.