SM UB-81

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-81.
UB-148 at sea, a U-boat similar to UB-81.
Career (German Empire)
Name: UB-81
Ordered: 23 September 1916[1]23 September 1916
Builder: AG Weser, Bremen[2]
Cost: 3,341,000 German Papiermark[2]
Yard number: 281[2]
Laid down: 5 January 1917
Launched: 18 August 1917[3]
Commissioned: 18 September 1917[3]
Fate: lost 2 December 1917 after striking a mine at 50°27′N 0°53′W / 50.450°N 0.883°WCoordinates: 50°27′N 0°53′W / 50.450°N 0.883°W[3]
General characteristics
Class and type:German Type UB III submarine
Type:Coastal submarine
Displacement:516 t (508 long tons; 569 short tons) surfaced
647 t (637 long tons; 713 short tons) submerged[2]
Length:55.85 m (183.2 ft) o/a[2]
Beam:5.8 m (19 ft)[2]
Draught:3.72 m (12.2 ft)[2]
Propulsion:2 shafts
6-cylinder Körting diesel engines,[4] 1,060 ihp (790 kW)
Brown, Boveri & Cie[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:8,180 nmi (15,150 km; 9,410 mi) at 6 kn (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) surfaced
50 nmi (93 km; 58 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: Flanders Flotilla
11 Nov 1917 - 2 Dec 1917
Commanders: Oblt Reinhold Saltzwedel[5]
18 Sep 1917 - 2 Dec 1917
Operations: 2 patrols
Victories: 1 commercial ship sunk (3,218 GRT)[6]

SM UB-81 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 18 September 1917 as SM UB-81.[nb 1]

UB-81 was sunk 2 December 1917 by a mine at 50°27′N 0°53′W / 50.450°N 0.883°W, 29 crew members died in the event.[3]

Construction

UB-81 was ordered by the GIN on 23 September 1916 and her keel was laid down on 5 January 1917.[7] She was built by AG Weser of Bremen[2] and following just under a year of construction, launched at Bremen on 4 August 1917. UB-81 was commissioned later that same year under the command of Reinhold Saltzwedel. Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-81 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun. UB-81 would carry a crew of up to 3 officer and 31 men and had a cruising range of 8,180 nautical miles (15,150 km).[2] UB-81 had a displacement of 516 t (508 long tons; 569 short tons) while surfaced and 647 t (637 long tons; 713 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]

On the night of 30 November/1 December 1917 she torpedoed and sank the 3,218 ton British steamer Molesey 12 miles west-south-west of the Brighton Light Vessel.[8]

Fate

UB-81 struck a mine on the night of 2 December 1917 to the south-east of the Isle of Wight. The crew of 34, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Reinhold Saltzwedel, managed to raise the forward torpedo tubes above the surface and seven crewmen escaped before a collision occurred with a British patrol boat and she sank. She now lies at (50°29′24″N 0°58′15″W / 50.49000°N 0.97083°W) OSGB at 28 metres.[9][10] The wreck is designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986[11] and therefore all diving on her is strictly prohibited.

Summary of Raiding Career

Date Name Nationality Tonnage
(GRT)		 Fate[12]
30 November 1917 Molesey  United Kingdom 3,218 Sunk

See also

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ↑ "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
  1. ↑ Rössler 1979, p. 55.
  2. ↑ 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. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Gröner 1985, p. 54.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Gröner 1985, p. 53.
  5. ↑ "Reinhold Saltzwedel (Pour le Mérite)". Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "Ships hit by UB-81". uboat.net. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  7. ↑ "UB-81 - U-boats of World War I". uboat.net. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  8. ↑ "Molesey - Ships hit by U-boats in WWI". uboat.net. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  9. ↑ Martin Pritchard and Kendal McDonald, Dive Wight and Hampshire, ISBN 0-946020-15-9
  10. ↑ Innes McCartney (2002). Lost Patrols: Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel.
  11. ↑ "The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2008". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  12. ↑ "SM UB-81 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 9 March 2015.


References