SM UC-20
For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-20.
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | UC-20 |
| Ordered: | 26 August 1915[1] |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg[2] |
| Yard number: | 270[1] |
| Launched: | 1 April 1916[1] |
| Commissioned: | 7 September 1916[1] |
| Fate: | surrendered, January 1919; broken up, 1919–20[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | German Type UC II submarine |
| Displacement: | 417 t (460 short tons), surfaced[2] 493 t (543 short tons), submerged |
| Length: | 161 ft 11 in (49.35 m)[2] |
| Beam: | 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)[2] |
| Draft: | 12 ft 2 in (4 m)[3] |
| Propulsion: | 2 × propeller shafts 2 × 6-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engines, 500 bhp (370 kW)[3] 2 × electric motors, 460 shp (340 kW)[3] |
| Speed: | 11.6 knots (21.5 km/h), surfaced[2] 7.0 knots (13.0 km/h), submerged |
| Endurance: | 9,430 nautical miles at 7 knots, surfaced[3] (17,460 km at 13 km/h) 55 nautical miles at 4 knots, submerged[3] (102 km at 7.4 km/h) |
| Test depth: | 50 m (160 ft)[3] |
| Complement: | 26[3] |
| Armament: | 6 × 100 cm (39.4 in) mine tubes[3] 18 × UC 200 mines 3 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 bow/external; one stern) 7 × torpedoes 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) KL/30 deck gun[2] |
| Notes: | 35-second diving time[2] |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
Pola Flotilla 11 Dec 1916 - 11 Nov 1918 |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt Franz Becker[4] 8 Sep 1916 – 8 May 1917 Oblt Hans Adalbert von der Lühe[5] 9 May 1917 – 12 Dec 1917 Oblt Otto Kümpel[6] 13 Dec 1917 – 10 Jan 1918 Oblt Heinrich Kukat[7] 1 Apr 1918 – 18 Jun 1918 Oblt Hermann Rohne[8] 19 Jun 1918 – 29 Nov 1918 |
| Operations: | 13 patrols |
| Victories: |
21 merchant ships sunk (20,927 GRT) 3 merchant ships damaged (11,554 GRT) |
SM UC-20 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 26 August 1915 and was launched on 1 April 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 7 September 1916 as SM UC-20.[Note 1] In 13 patrols UC-20 was credited with sinking 21 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-20 was surrendered on 16 January 1919 and broken up at Preston in 1919–20.[1]
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 October 1916 | Frits Emil |  Denmark |
194 | Sunk |
| 17 November 1916 | Emilia |  Portugal |
1,159 | Sunk |
| 10 April 1917 | Abd Razik |  Tunisia |
25 | Sunk |
| 11 April 1917 | Candia | _crowned.svg.png){kind=small} Kingdom of Italy |
1,045 | Sunk |
| 14 April 1917 | Cinque Ottobre | Kingdom of Italy |
39 | Sunk |
| 14 April 1917 | Progresso | Kingdom of Italy |
31 | Sunk |
| 15 April 1917 | Alessio Cocco | Kingdom of Italy |
29 | Sunk |
| 18 May 1917 | Millicent Knight |  United Kingdom |
3,563 | Sunk |
| 25 May 1917 | Argentina | Kingdom of Italy |
97 | Sunk |
| 25 May 1917 | Ida | Kingdom of Italy |
46 | Sunk |
| 25 May 1917 | Unione Salvatore | Kingdom of Italy |
57 | Sunk |
| 26 May 1917 | Abd es Salem |  France |
25 | Sunk |
| 26 May 1917 | Dandolo | France |
50 | Sunk |
| 26 May 1917 | Manoubia | France |
50 | Sunk |
| 26 May 1917 | Messaouda | France |
50 | Sunk |
| 26 May 1917 | San Francesco | Kingdom of Italy |
47 | Sunk |
| 27 May 1917 | Boldwell | United Kingdom |
3,118 | Sunk |
| 26 August 1917 | Maurizio P. | Kingdom of Italy |
558 | Sunk |
| 4 January 1918 | Regina Elena | Kingdom of Italy |
7,940 | Sunk |
| 13 April 1918 | Giove | Kingdom of Italy |
5,037 | Damaged |
| 28 April 1918 | Verdun | France |
2,769 | Sunk |
| 4 May 1918 | Mergellina | Kingdom of Italy |
354 | Damaged |
| 4 June 1918 | Strombus | United Kingdom |
6,163 | Damaged |
| 12 June 1918 | Poincare | Tunisia |
35 | Sunk |
Notes
- ↑ "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC-20". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Tarrant, p. 173.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Gardiner, p. 182.
- ↑ "Franz Becker (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". Uboat.net. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ↑ "Hans Adalbert von der Lühe". Uboat.net. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ↑ "Otto Kümpel". Uboat.net. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ↑ "Heinrich Kukat (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". Uboat.net. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ↑ "Hermann Rohne". Uboat.net. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ↑ "SM UC-20 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
Bibliography
- Bendert, Harald (2001). Die UC-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine 1914-1918. Minenkrieg mit U-Booten (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler. ISBN 3-8132-0758-7.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8. OCLC 12119866.
- Tarrant, V. E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive: 1914–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-764-7. OCLC 20338385.
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