SM UB-110
 UB-148 at sea, a U-boat similar to UB-110. | |
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | UB-109 |
| Ordered: | 6/8 February 1917[1] |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg[2] |
| Cost: | 3,714,000 German Papiermark[2] |
| Yard number: | 316[2] |
| Launched: | 1 September 1917[3] |
| Commissioned: | 23 March 1918[3] |
| Fate: | sunk by HMS Garry on 19 July 1918 at 54°39′N 0°55′W / 54.650°N 0.917°WCoordinates: 54°39′N 0°55′W / 54.650°N 0.917°W[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | German Type UB III submarine |
| Type: | Coastal submarine |
| Displacement: | 519 t (511 long tons; 572 short tons) surfaced 649 t (639 long tons; 715 short tons) submerged[2] |
| Length: | 55.3 m (181 ft) o/a[2] |
| Beam: | 5.8 m (19 ft)[2] |
| Draught: | 3.7 m (12 ft)[2] |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts 6-cylinder MAN-Vulcan diesel engines,[4] 1,100 ihp (820 kW) Maffei[4] electric motors, 788 ihp (588 kW)[2] |
| Speed: | 13.3 knots (24.6 km/h; 15.3 mph) surfaced 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) submerged[2] |
| Range: | 7,420 nmi (13,740 km; 8,540 mi) at 6 kn (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) surfaced 55 nmi (102 km; 63 mi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged[2] |
| Test depth: | 50 m (160 ft)[4] |
| Complement: | 3 officers, (max.)31 men[4] |
| Armament: | • 5 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 1 stern) with 10 torpedoes • 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun[4] |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
Flanders Flotilla 27 Jun 1918 – 19 Jul 1918 |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt Werner Fürbringer[5] 23 Mar 1918 – 19 Jul 1918 |
| Operations: | 2 patrols |
| Victories: |
1 merchant ship sunk (3,709 GRT) 1 fleet oiler damaged (1,137 GRT) |
SM UB-110 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 23 March 1918 as SM UB-110.[nb 1]
UB-110 was sunk in the North Sea near the Tyne on 19 July 1918 by HMS Garry, commanded by Charles Lightoller, possibly the last U-boat to be sunk in the war.[6] 23 crew members died in the event. UB-110 was raised on 4 October 1918 and broken up in England.[3]
An unsettling discovery during her salvage was that some of her torpedoes were fitted with magnetic firing pistols—the first to be properly identified by the British. These early examples were problematic, often detonating their weapons prematurely if at all.[7]
Construction
She was built by Blohm & Voss of Hamburg.[2] After just under a year of construction, she was launched at Hamburg on 1 September 1917 and commissioned in the spring of 1918 under the command of Kptlt Werner Fürbringer. Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-110 carried ten torpedoes and was armed with an 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun. UB-110 would carry a crew of three officers and up to 31 men, and had a cruising range of 7,420 nautical miles (13,740 km).[2] She had a displacement of 519 t (511 long tons; 572 short tons) while surfaced and 649 t (639 long tons; 715 short tons) when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at 13.3 knots (24.6 km/h; 15.3 mph) when surfaced and 7.4 knots (13.7 km/h; 8.5 mph) when submerged.[2]
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[8] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 July 1918 | RFA Sprucol |  Royal Fleet Auxiliary |
1,137 | Damaged |
| 16 July 1918 | Southborough |  United Kingdom |
3,709 | Sunk |
Notes
- Footnotes
- ↑ "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
- Citations
- ↑ Rössler 1979, p. 66.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 Gröner 1985, p. 52.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Gröner 1985, p. 55.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Gröner 1985, p. 53.
- ↑ "Werner Fürbringer (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ↑ Lightoller, C. Titanic and Other Ships, ch.44, eBook at Gutenberg of Australia
- ↑ Admiralty. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1918, p. 150.
- ↑ "SM UB-110 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
References
- Gröner, Erich (1985). U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher. Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe, 1815-1945 (in German) III (Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe). ISBN 3-7637-4802-4.
- Bendert, Harald (2000). Die UB-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine, 1914-1918. Einsätze, Erfolge, Schicksal (in German). Hamburg: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn GmbH. ISBN 3-8132-0713-7.
- Rössler, Eberhard (1979). U-Bootbau bis Ende des 1. Weltkrieges, Konstruktionen für das Ausland und die Jahre 1935 - 1945. Die deutschen U-Boote und ihre Werften (in German) I (Munich: Bernard & Graefe). ISBN 3-7637-5213-7.