SM UC-90

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-90.
O-4 (U-90) at Yokosuka
Career (German Empire)
Name: UC-90
Ordered: 12 January 1916[1]
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg[2]
Yard number: 324[1]
Launched: 19 January 1918[1]
Commissioned: 15 July 1918[1]
Fate: surrendered to Japan, December 1918[1]
Career (Japan)
Name: O-4
Acquired: 1 December 1918 [1]
In service: 1920[1]
Out of service: 1921[1]
Fate: dismantled, 1921; used as ASW target, 1924–26; scrapped[1]
General characteristics
Class and type:German Type UC III submarine
Displacement:491 t (541 short tons), surfaced[2]
571 t (629 short tons), submerged
Length:185 ft 5 in (56.52 m)[2]
Beam:18 ft 2 in (5.54 m)[2]
Draft:12 ft 6 in (4 m)[3]
Propulsion:2 × propeller shafts
2 × MAN 6-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engines, 600 bhp (450 kW)[3]
2 × electric motors, 770 shp (570 kW)[3]
Speed:11.5 knots (21.3 km/h), surfaced[2]
6.6 knots (12.2 km/h), submerged
Endurance:9,850 nautical miles at 7 knots, surfaced[3]
(18,240 km at 13 km/h)
40 nautical miles at 4.5 knots, submerged[3]
(74 km at 8.3 km/h)
Test depth:75 m (246 ft)[3]
Complement:32[3]
Armament:6 × 100 cm (39.4 in) mine tubes[3]
14 × UC 200 mines
3 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 bow external; one stern)
7 × torpedoes
1 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) KL/45 deck gun[3]
Notes:15-second diving time[2]

SM UC-90 was a German Type UC III 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 and was launched on 19 January 1918. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 15 July 1918 as SM UC-90.[Note 1] As with the rest of the completed UC III boats, UC-90 conducted no war patrols and sank no ships. She was surrendered to Japan on 1 December 1918. The U-boat was renamed O-4 for Japanese service from 1920 to 1921. In 1921 O-4 was partially dismantled at the Kure Navy Yard. Between 1924 and 1926, the hulk of O-4 was used as an antisubmarine warfare target before being sold for scrap.[1]

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 1.7 1.8 1.9 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC-90". 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 Tarrant, p. 174.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Gardiner, p. 182.

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.