SM UC-34

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-34.
Career (German Empire)
Name: UC-34
Ordered: 20 November 1915[1]
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg[2]
Yard number: 275[1]
Launched: 6 May 1916[1]
Commissioned: 25 September 1916[1]
Fate: scuttled at Pola, October 1918[1]
General characteristics
Class and type:German Type UC II submarine
Displacement:427 t (471 short tons), surfaced[2]
509 t (561 short tons), submerged
Length:165 ft 2 in (50.34 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:11.9 knots (22.0 km/h), surfaced[2]
6.8 knots (12.6 km/h), submerged
Endurance:10,180 nautical miles at 7 knots, surfaced[3]
(18,850 km at 13 km/h)
54 nautical miles at 4 knots, submerged[3]
(100 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[4]
Part of: Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla
8 Jan 1917 – 30 Oct 1918
Commanders: Oblt Robert Sprenger
26 Sep 1916 - 15 Jul 1917
Oblt Horst Obermüller
16 Jul 1917 – 14 Jul 1918
Oblt Hans Schüler
15 Jul 1918 – 30 Oct 1918
Operations: 9 patrols
Victories: 17 merchant ships sunk (51,527 GRT)
3 merchant ships damaged (14,001 GRT)
4 warships sunk (14,593 tons)

SM UC-34 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 20 November 1915 and was launched on 6 May 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 25 September 1916 as SM UC-34.[Note 1] In nine patrols UC-34 was credited with sinking 21 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid.

On 30 December 1917 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Horst Obermüller, UC-34 torpedoed the British troop ship HMT Aragon off the Port of Alexandria.[5][6] Aragon‍ '​s escort, the destroyer HMS Attack, rescued 300 to 400 survivors but then UC-34 torpedoed and sank her was well. Of 2,500 personnel who had been aboard Aragon, 610 were killed.[5][6]

UC-34 was scuttled at Pola on 28 October 1918 on the surrender of Austria-Hungary.[1]

Summary of Raiding Career

Date Name Nationality Tonnage
(GRT)		 Fate[7]
27 December 1916 Maud  France 176 Sunk
28 December 1916 Seedonis  Russian Empire 284 Sunk
6 April 1917 Rahmanich  Egypt 100 Sunk
6 April 1917 Spithead  United Kingdom 4,697 Sunk
8 April 1917 Geilan Bahri  United Kingdom 19 Sunk
10 April 1917 Fotis  Greece 3,526 Damaged
11 April 1917 Imperial Transport  United Kingdom 4,648 Sunk
4 May 1917 Cameleon  French Navy 179 Sunk
31 May 1917 Ozarda  United Kingdom 4,791 Damaged
2 June 1917 Cameronian  United Kingdom 5,861 Sunk
7 June 1917 Liliana  Kingdom of Italy 70 Sunk
30 June 1917 Caledonien  France 4,140 Sunk
13 September 1917 Bengali  United Kingdom 5,684 Damaged
25 October 1917 Euston  United Kingdom 2,841 Sunk
12 November 1917 Barbary  United Kingdom 4,185 Sunk
30 December 1917 HMT Aragon  Royal Navy 9,588 Sunk
30 December 1917 HMS Attack  Royal Navy 785 Sunk
31 December 1917 HMS Osmanieh  Royal Navy 4,041 Sunk
8 April 1918 Bengali  United Kingdom 5,684 Sunk
9 April 1918 Vasconia  Norway 3,052 Sunk
1 August 1918 Columbia  Denmark 5,570 Sunk
6 August 1918 Clan Macneil  United Kingdom 3,939 Sunk
10 August 1918 Patra  France 45 Sunk
10 August 1918 Tatarrax  United Kingdom 6,216 Sunk

Notes

  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.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC-34". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Tarrant 1989, p. 173
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Gardiner 1985, p. 182
  4. ↑ "The Type UC II boat SM UC-34 - German U-boats of WWI - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2013). "Aragon". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Last Song on Doomed Ship". The Northern Star (Lismore, New South Wales). Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "SM UC-34 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 12 December 2014.

References

  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8. OCLC 12119866.
  • Tarrant, V.E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive: 1914–1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-764-7. OCLC 20338385.