SM UC-4

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-4.
Career (German Empire)
Name: UC-4
Ordered: by November 1914[1]
Builder: AG Vulcan, Hamburg[2]
Yard number: 48[1]
Launched: 6 June 1915[1]
Commissioned: 10 June 1915[1]
Fate: scuttled off Flanders, 5 October 1918[1]
General characteristics
Class and type:German Type UC I submarine
Displacement:168 t (185 short tons), surfaced[2]
183 t (202 short tons), submerged
Length:111 ft 6 in (33.99 m)[3]
Beam:10 ft 4 in (3.15 m)[3]
Draft:10 ft (3 m)[3]
Propulsion:1 × propeller shaft
1 × Daimler 6-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engine, 90 bhp (67 kW)[3]
1 × electric motor, 175 shp (130 kW)[3]
Speed:6.20 knots (11.48 km/h), surfaced[2]
5.22 knots (9.67 km/h), submerged
Endurance:780 nautical miles at 5 knots, surfaced[3]
(1,440 km at 9.3 km/h)
50 nautical miles at 4 knots, submerged[3]
(93 km at 7.4 km/h)
Test depth:50 m (160 ft)[3]
Complement:14[3]
Armament:6 × 100 cm (39 in) mine tubes[3]
12 × UC 120 mines
1 × 8 mm (0.31 in) machine gun[2]
Service record
Part of: Imperial German Navy:
Baltic Flotilla
11 Jul 1915 - 4 Feb 1916
Flandern Flotilla
4 Feb 1916 - 19 Mar 1916
Baltic Flotilla
19 Mar 1916 - 30 Sep 1916
Flandern Flotilla
30 Sep 1916 – 2 Oct 1918
Commanders: Oblt Karl Vesper[4]
10 Jun 1915 – 28 Dec 1915
Oblt Friedrich Moecke[5]
29 Dec 1915 – 19 Mar 1916
Oblt Max Hamm[6]
19 Mar 1916 – 15 Aug 1916
Oblt Ulrich Pilzecker[7]
16 Aug 1916 – 14 Sep 1916
Oblt Gustav Buch[8]
15 Sep 1916 – 20 Oct 1916
Oblt Hans Howaldt[9]
21 Oct 1916 – 26 Nov 1916
Oblt Georg Reimarus[10]
27 Nov 1916 – 11 Mar 1917
Ltn Oskar Steckelberg[11]
12 May 1917 – 20 May 1917
Oblt Georg Reimarus
21 May 1917 – 29 May 1917
Oblt Erich Hecht[12]
30 May 1917 – 12 Sep 1917
Oblt Walter Schmitz[13]
13 Sep 1917 – 19 Jan 1918
Oblt Kurt Loch[14]
20 Jan 1918 – 26 Feb 1918
Oblt Ernst Berlin[15]
27 Feb 1918 – 21 Apr 1918
Oblt Eberhard Schmidt[16]
22 Apr 1918 – 2 Oct 1918
Operations: 73 patrols
Victories: 21 merchant ships sunk (33,518 gross register tons (GRT))
2 merchant ships damaged (9,441 GRT)
15 warships sunk (11,270 tons)

SM UC-4 was a German Type UC I minelayer submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat had been ordered by November 1914 and was launched on 6 June 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 10 June 1915 as SM UC-4.[Note 1] Mines laid by UC-4 in her 73 patrols were credited with sinking 36 ships. UC-4 was scuttled off the coast of Flanders during the German evacuation on 5 October 1918.[1]

Summary of Raiding Career

Date Name Nationality Tonnage
(GRT)		 Fate[17]
15 August 1915 Ladoga  Imperial Russian Navy 6,136 Sunk
16 September 1915 Linnea (n-1)  Imperial Russian Navy 739 Sunk
12 February 1916 Aduatiek  Belgium 2,221 Sunk
12 February 1916 Cedarwood  United Kingdom 654 Sunk
13 February 1916 Tergestea  United Kingdom 4,308 Sunk
29 February 1916 Den of Ogil  United Kingdom 5,689 Damaged
27 October 1916 Bygdo  Norway 2,345 Sunk
28 October 1916 Sparta  United Kingdom 480 Sunk
9 November 1916 Sunniside  United Kingdom 447 Sunk
25 November 1916 HMT Burnley  Royal Navy 275 Sunk
3 December 1916 HMT Remarko  Royal Navy 245 Sunk
5 December 1916 HMT Tervani  Royal Navy 457 Sunk
7 January 1917 HMT Donside  Royal Navy 182 Sunk
18 January 1917 Dagmar  Denmark 758 Sunk
20 January 1917 HMT New Comet  Royal Navy 177 Sunk
13 February 1917 HMT Sisters Melville  Royal Navy 260 Sunk
23 February 1917 Grenadier  United Kingdom 1,004 Sunk
11 March 1917 Kwasind  United Kingdom 2,211 Sunk
12 March 1917 Ambient  United Kingdom 1,517 Sunk
12 March 1917 Pontypridd  United Kingdom 1,556 Sunk
3 June 1917 Giralda  United Kingdom 46 Sunk
4 July 1917 Chrysolite  United Kingdom 57 Sunk
7 July 1917 HMT Kelvin  Royal Navy 322 Sunk
20 July 1917 HMS Queen of the North  Royal Navy 594 Sunk
5 September 1917 HMT Eros  Royal Navy 286 Sunk
20 October 1917 HMT Vitality  Royal Navy 202 Sunk
11 November 1917 Lapwing  United Kingdom 1,192 Sunk
13 November 1917 Axminster  United Kingdom 1,905 Sunk
23 December 1917 Grantley Hall  United Kingdom 4,008 Sunk
25 February 1918 Rubio  United Kingdom 2,395 Sunk
26 February 1918 Berwen  United Kingdom 3,752 Damaged
5 March 1918 Coalgas  United Kingdom 2,257 Sunk
5 March 1918 Estrella  United Kingdom 1,740 Sunk
5 March 1918 Tusnastabb  Norway 1,136 Sunk
12 April 1918 Lonhelen  United Kingdom 1,281 Sunk
20 April 1918 HMT Numitor  Royal Navy 242 Sunk
25 April 1918 HMS St. Seiriol  Royal Navy 928 Sunk
26 June 1918 HMT Achilles II  Royal Navy 225 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-4". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Tarrant, p. 173.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Gardiner, p. 181.
  4. ↑ "Karl Vesper (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "Friedrich Moecke". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Max Hamm". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Ulrich Pilzecker". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Gustav Buch". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Hans Howaldt (Pour le Mérite)". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Georg Reimarus". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Oskar Steckelberg". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Erich Hecht". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "Walter Schmitz". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Kurt Loch". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "Ernst Berlin". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "Eberhard Schmidt". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "SM UC-4 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 31 December 2014.

Bibliography

  • 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.