SM UB-72
 UB-148 at sea, a U-boat similar to UB-72. | |
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | UB-72 |
| Ordered: | 23 September 1916[1] |
| Builder: | AG Vulcan, Hamburg[2] |
| Cost: | 3,337,000 German Papiermark[2] |
| Yard number: | 96[2] |
| Launched: | 30 July 1917[3] |
| Commissioned: | 9 September 1917[3] |
| Fate: | Sunk 12 May 1918 at 50°8′N 2°41′W / 50.133°N 2.683°WCoordinates: 50°8′N 2°41′W / 50.133°N 2.683°W by British submarine.[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | German Type UB III submarine |
| Type: | Coastal submarine |
| Displacement: | 508 t (500 long tons; 560 short tons) surfaced 639 t (629 long tons; 704 short tons) submerged[2] |
| Length: | 55.52 m (182.2 ft) o/a[2] |
| Beam: | 5.76 m (18.9 ft)[2] |
| Draught: | 3.7 m (12 ft)[2] |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts 6-cylinder MAN diesel engines,[4] 1,100 ihp (820 kW) Siemens-Schuckert[4] electric motors, 788 ihp (588 kW)[2] |
| Speed: | 13.4 knots (24.8 km/h; 15.4 mph) surfaced 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) submerged[2] |
| Range: | 8,420 nmi (15,590 km; 9,690 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, 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: |
V Flotilla 28 Oct 1916 - 25 Apr 1917 II Flotilla 25 Apr 1917 - 12 May 1918 |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt Walter Creutzfeld[5] 9 Sep 1917 - 1 Mar 1918 Oblt Friedrich Traeger[6] 2 Mar 1918 - 12 May 1918 |
| Operations: | 5 patrols |
| Victories: |
5 merchant ships sunk (10,551 gross register tons (GRT)) 1 merchant ships damaged (3,358 GRT) |
SM UB-72 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 9 September 1917 as SM UB-72.[nb 1]
UB-72 was serving in the English Channel when she was sunk by a torpedo from HMS D4 at 50°8′N 2°41′W / 50.133°N 2.683°W on 12 May 1918.[3]
Construction
She was built by AG Vulcan of Hamburg[2] and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 30 July 1917. UB-72 was commissioned later that same year . Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-72 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun. UB-72 would carry a crew of up to 3 officer and 31 men and had a cruising range of 8,420 nautical miles (15,590 km).[2] UB-72 had a displacement of 508 t (500 long tons; 560 short tons) while surfaced and 639 t (629 long tons; 704 short tons) when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at 13.4 knots (24.8 km/h; 15.4 mph) when surfaced and 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) when submerged.[2]
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 February 1918 | Svanfos |  Norway |
896 | Sunk |
| 28 March 1918 | HMS Tithonus |  Royal Navy |
3,463 | Sunk |
| 30 March 1918 | Vafos | Norway |
1,322 | Sunk |
| 6 May 1918 | Sandhurst |  United Kingdom |
3,034 | Sunk |
| 8 May 1918 | Quito | United Kingdom |
3,358 | Damaged |
| 9 May 1918 | Baron Ailsa | United Kingdom |
1,836 | 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. 61.
- ↑ 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. 54.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Gröner 1985, p. 53.
- ↑ "Walter Creutzfeld". Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ↑ "Friedrich Traeger". Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ↑ "SM UB-72 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 4 February 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.