SM UC-41
| Career (German Empire) |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | German Type UC II submarine |
| Name: | UC-41 |
| Ordered: | 20 November 1915[1] |
| Builder: | AG Vulcan, Hamburg[2] |
| Yard number: | 74[1] |
| Launched: | 13 September 1916[1] |
| Commissioned: | 11 October 1916[1] |
| Fate: | sunk by own mine, 21 August 1917[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type UC II submarine |
| Displacement: | 400 t (440 short tons), surfaced[2] 480 t (530 short tons), submerged |
| Length: | 162 ft 3 in (49.45 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: | 11.7 knots (21.7 km/h), surfaced[2] 6.7 knots (12.4 km/h), submerged |
| Endurance: | 9,410 nautical miles at 7 knots, surfaced[3] (17,430 km at 13 km/h) 60 nautical miles at 4 knots, submerged[3] (110 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: | 48-second diving time[2] |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
I Flotilla 18 Dec 1916 - 21 Aug 1917 |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt Kurt Bernis[4] 11 Oct 1916 - 4 Aug 1917 Oblt Hans Förste[5] 5 Aug 1917 - 21 Aug 1917 |
| Operations: | 7 patrols |
| Victories: |
15 merchant ships sunk (18,870 GRT) 2 merchant ships damaged (1,232 GRT) 3 warships sunk (605 tons) |
SM UC-41 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 13 September 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 11 October 1916 as SM UC-41.[Note 1]
In a nine-month career that encompassed seven patrols UC-41 was credited with sinking 18 ships totaling 19,587 tons, either by torpedo or by mines laid. The writer David Masters attributed the sinking of the two tiny naval fishing smacks Nelson and Ethel & Millie to UC-41 during an engagement on 15 August 1917. However this was actually UC-63, the logs of which record the event.
UC-41 was lost on 21 August 1917 after suffering an unexplained internal explosion of one of her mines which forced her to suddenly rise to the surface in the Tay estuary, where she was spotted by British naval trawlers and depth charged, killing all 27 German sailors and possibly seven British prisoners of war as well. Her wreck was rediscovered in 2003.
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 March 1917 | Tillycorthie |  United Kingdom |
382 | Sunk |
| 1 March 1917 | Orion |  Norway |
1,354 | Sunk |
| 3 March 1917 | Elfi | Norway |
1,120 | Damaged |
| 3 March 1917 | Ring | Norway |
998 | Sunk |
| 13 April 1917 | Breadalbane | United Kingdom |
112 | Damaged |
| 13 April 1917 | Stork | United Kingdom |
152 | Sunk |
| 16 April 1917 | Lord Chancellor | United Kingdom |
135 | Sunk |
| 17 April 1917 | U.s.a. | United Kingdom |
182 | Sunk |
| 18 April 1917 | John S. Boyle | United Kingdom |
143 | Sunk |
| 18 April 1917 | Rameses | United Kingdom |
155 | Sunk |
| 20 April 1917 | Ballochbuie | United Kingdom |
921 | Sunk |
| 20 April 1917 | HMT Othonna |  Royal Navy |
180 | Sunk |
| 20 April 1917 | Ringholm | Norway |
705 | Sunk |
| 22 April 1917 | Godø | Norway |
870 | Sunk |
| 23 April 1917 | Stegg | Norway |
463 | Sunk |
| 26 April 1917 | HMT Repro | Royal Navy |
230 | Sunk |
| 11 June 1917 | Breid | Norway |
1,062 | Sunk |
| 16 July 1917 | Valentia | United Kingdom |
3,242 | Sunk |
| 25 July 1917 | Oakleaf | United Kingdom |
8,106 | Sunk |
| 22 August 1917 | HMT Sophron | Royal Navy |
195 | 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 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC-41". 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.
- ↑ "Kurt Bernis". Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ "Hans Förste". Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ "SM UC-41 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: 56°25′N 2°35′E / 56.417°N 2.583°E