SM UC-39
For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-39.
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | German Type UC II submarine |
| Name: | UC-39 |
| Ordered: | 20 November 1915[1] |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg[2] |
| Yard number: | 280[1] |
| Launched: | 25 June 1916[1] |
| Commissioned: | 31 October 1916[1] |
| Fate: | sunk by gunfire from HMS Thrasher, 8 February 1917[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 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 | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
Flandern Flotilla 3 Feb 1917 - 8 Feb 1917 |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt Otto Heinrich Tornow[4] 29 Oct 1916 - 31 Jan 1917 Oblt Otto Ehrentraut[5] 1 Feb 1917 - 8 Feb 1917 |
| Operations: | 1 patrol |
| Victories: | 3 merchant ships sunk (5,150 GRT) |
SM UC-39 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 25 June 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 31 October 1916 as SM UC-39.[Note 1] In 1 patrols UC-39 was credited with sinking 3 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-39 was forced to the surface by a depth charge attack and then sunk by gunfire from the British destroyer Thrasher off Flamborough Head on 8 February 1917.[1]
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 February 1917 | Hans Kinck |  Norway |
2,667 | Sunk |
| 8 February 1917 | Hanna Larsen |  United Kingdom |
1,311 | Sunk |
| 8 February 1917 | Ida | Norway |
1,172 | 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-39". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 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.
- ↑ "Otto Heinrich Tornow". Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ "Otto Ehrentraut". Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ "SM UC-39 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 23 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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Coordinates: 53°56′N 0°6′E / 53.933°N 0.100°E