SM UC-61

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-61.
Career (German Empire)
Name: UC-61
Ordered: 12 January 1916[1]
Builder: AG Weser, Bremen[2]
Yard number: 259[1]
Laid down: 3 April 1916[1]
Launched: 11 November 1916[1]
Commissioned: 13 December 1916[1]
Fate: stranded near Boulogne; flooded and scuttled, 26 July 1917[1]
General characteristics
Class and type:German Type UC II submarine
Displacement:422 t (465 short tons), surfaced[2]
504 t (556 short tons), submerged
Length:170 ft 1 in (51.84 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]
7.2 knots (13.3 km/h), submerged
Endurance:8,000 nautical miles at 7 knots, surfaced[3]
(15,000 km at 13 km/h)
59 nautical miles at 4 knots, submerged[3]
(109 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:30-second diving time[2]
Service record
Part of: Imperial German Navy:
Flandern Flotilla
27 Feb 1916 - 26 Jul 1917
Commanders: Kptlt Georg Gerth[4]
13 Dec 1916 - 26 Jul 1917
Operations: 5 patrols
Victories: 11 merchant ships sunk (13,821 gross register tons (GRT))
2 merchant ships damaged (3,476 GRT)
1 warship sunk (7,578 tons)
1 warship damaged (570 tons)

SM UC-61 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 12 January 1916, laid down on 3 April 1916, and was launched on 11 November 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 13 December 1916 as SM UC-61.[Note 1] In 5 patrols UC-61 was credited with sinking 11 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-61 was stranded north of Boulogne on 26 July 1917. The U-boat's crew flooded and scuttled their ship.[1]

Summary of Raiding Career

Date Name Nationality Tonnage
(GRT)		 Fate[5]
5 March 1917 Copenhagen  United Kingdom 2,570 Sunk
30 April 1917 HMT Arfon  Royal Navy 227 Sunk
30 April 1917 Gorizia  Uruguay 1,957 Sunk
30 April 1917 Little Mystery  United Kingdom 114 Sunk
3 May 1917 Fils Du Progres  France 25 Sunk
3 May 1917 Giovannina  Kingdom of Italy 3,030 Sunk
5 May 1917 Le Gard  France 1,658 Damaged
8 May 1917 Nelly  France 1,868 Sunk
10 May 1917 Broomhill  United Kingdom 1,392 Sunk
10 May 1917 Minerva  Norway 518 Sunk
27 June 1917 Kleber  French Navy 7,578 Sunk
28 June 1917 Edith Fische  Norway 1,818 Damaged
4 July 1917 Ull  Norway 543 Sunk
6 July 1917 Indutiomare  Belgium 1,577 Sunk
7 July 1917 HMS Ettrick  Royal Navy 570 Damaged

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 1.6 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC-61". 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, p. 173.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Gardiner, p. 182.
  4. ↑ "Georg Gerth". uboat.net. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "SM UC-61 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 11 January 2015.

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.