SM UB-91
 UB-148 at sea, a U-boat similar to UB-91. | |
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | UB-91 |
| Ordered: | 6/8 February 1917[1] |
| Builder: | AG Vulcan, Hamburg[2] |
| Cost: | 3,654,000 German Papiermark[2] |
| Yard number: | 107[2] |
| Launched: | 6 March 1918[3] |
| Commissioned: | 11 April 1918[3] |
| Fate: | surrendered 21 November 1918, broken up in 1921[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | German Type UB III submarine |
| Type: | Coastal submarine |
| Displacement: | 510 t (502 long tons; 562 short tons) surfaced 640 t (630 long tons; 705 short tons) submerged[2] |
| Length: | 55.52 m (182.2 ft) o/a[2] |
| Beam: | 5.76 m (18.9 ft)[2] |
| Draught: | 3.73 m (12.2 ft)[2] |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts 6-cylinder MAN-Vulcan diesel engines,[4] 1,100 ihp (820 kW) Siemens-Schuckert[4] electric motors, 788 ihp (588 kW)[2] |
| Speed: | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) surfaced 7.4 knots (13.7 km/h; 8.5 mph) submerged[2] |
| Range: | 7,120 nmi (13,190 km; 8,190 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 × 10.5 cm (4.13 in) deck gun[4] |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
II Flotilla 27 Jun 1918 – 11 Nov 1918 |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt Wolf Hans Hertwig[5] 11 Apr 1918 - 11 Nov 1918 |
| Operations: | 2 patrols |
| Victories: |
3 merchant ships sunk (13,487 gross register tons (GRT)) 1 warship sunk (1,181 tons) |
SM UB-91 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 11 April 1918 as SM UB-91.[nb 1]
On 4 October 1918 UB-91 sank the Hirano Maru, killing among others, Yokohama Specie Bank sub-manager S. Ujie, his wife and three sons, together with bank employee Takashi Aoki and wife Sueko.[6][7]
Surrender
UB-91 was surrendered to Britain on 21 November 1918 at Harwich. She toured the South Wales ports of Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Port Talbot and was towed to Pembroke Dock, eventually being broken up in Briton Ferry in 1921.[3] King George V presented her deck gun to Chepstow by in recognition of the bravery of William Charles Williams RN VC at Gallipoli in 1915.
Construction
She was built by AG Vulcan of Hamburg[2] and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 6 March 1918. UB-91 was commissioned later the same year . Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-91 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a 10.5 cm (4.13 in) deck gun. UB-91 would carry a crew of up to 3 officer and 31 men and had a cruising range of 7,120 nautical miles (13,190 km).[2] UB-91 had a displacement of 510 t (502 long tons; 562 short tons) while surfaced and 640 t (630 long tons; 705 short tons) when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 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] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 September 1918 | Hebburn |  United Kingdom |
1,938 | Sunk |
| 26 September 1918 | USCGC Tampa |  United States Coast Guard |
1,181 | Sunk |
| 28 September 1918 | Baldersby | United Kingdom |
3,613 | Sunk |
| 4 October 1918 | Hirano Maru |  Japan |
7,936 | 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.
- ↑ "Wolf Hans Hertwig". Uboat.net. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ↑ "The Torpedoed "Hirano Maru"". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 13 December 1918. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
- ↑ "独政府を相手に損害賠償の訴え". Osaka Asahi Shinbun. 10 July 1919. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
- ↑ "SM UB-91 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 8 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.