First patrol

Soon after she left Pola, UB-50 encountered the William H. Crawford, a 1,593 GRT American sailing ship. It sank after an attack from the U-boat stopped her.^[3] Four days later, UB-50 sighted the 800 GRT British barge R.B.40. UB 50 launched a torpedo which instead hit the British tug towing the ship, the 121 GRT H.s.3. The tug sank, but the barge was not sunk.^[4] The following day, UB-50 found two Portuguese sailboats Correiro De Sines and Comizianes Da Graca at 32 GRT and 32 GRT respectively.^[5] They were sunk 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) north of Cape Sines.^[6] A day later, she found the Portuguese 196 GRT ship Sado, which she sank about 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi) south of her prey the day before.^[7] Four days later, UB-50 finally encountered and sank a merchant, this being the 3,611 GRT British Polar Prince, carrying coal for Malta.^[8] Two days later, she sank the Fabian, a 2,246 GRT British steamer going to Liverpool, killing three.^[9] Later that day, she sank the Gioffredo Mameli, a 4,124 GRT ton Italian steamer carrying ore.^[10] The 2,464 GRT coal carrying Greek steamer Alkyon was attacked two days later by UB-50, sinking close off Oran.^[11] The UB 50 followed up with the sinking of the 1,670 GRT Norwegian steamer John Knudsen, killing one.^[12] Four days later, the 296 GRT Italian sailboat Ciro was scuttled after being hit by UB-50,^[13] the last ship she would sink before returning to base.

Second patrol

SM UB-50 began her second patrol with the sinking of the Marc Fraissinet, a 3,060 GRT French steamer carrying wood, munitions, and hay to Bizerte. It sank 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) north of Tabarca after being torpedoed by UB-50.^[14] Later that day UB 50 encountered the Senegal, an 845 GRT Italian steamer, sinking her off the coast of Algeria with no casualties.^[15] Three days after that, the Margram Abbey, a 4,367 GRT British steamer carrying coal, was found and torpedoed by UB-50. It was beached off the coast of Algeria, but the torpedo damage, which killed two, had wrecked the ship.^[16] UB 50 attacked the Antaeus, a 3,061 GRT British steamer, three days later off Cape Bon. There were no casualties, but the captain was taken prisoner. On the following day, UB 50 torpedoed the Amberton, a 4,556 GRT British steamer, but she was only damaged.^[17] Four days later, the submarine found her last target of her second patrol, the 2,774 GRT American steamer Rizal, which sank 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi) from Cape Cavallo.^[18]

Third patrol

UB-50 started out her third patrol by finding and sinking the 96 GRT Italian sailboat S. Giuseppe B. off the coast of Africa.^[19] She sank the 8,293 GRT British steamer City of Lucknow two days later 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) northeast of the Cani Rocks.^[20] On Christmas Day, 1917, UB-50 sank the Sant’ Antonio, an 843 GRT Italian sailing vessel, by gunfire near Bizerte.^[21] On New Year's Day, 1918, the Egyptian Transport, a 4,648 GRT British steamer, was damaged during an attack by UB-50, which killed five men. It was later beached but refloated.^[22] Two days later, the Allanton, a 4,253 GRT British steamer carrying coal, was sunk by UB-50,^[23] which also sunk the Steelville, a 3,649 GRT British steamer also carrying coal later that day.^[24] Four days later, UB-50 torpedoed the Arab, a 4,191 GRT British steamer coal off the coast of Cape Serrat, killing 21.^[25]

Fourth patrol

UB-50's fourth patrol was very successful. In less than a month, she sank six vessels. The first victim was the 2,457 GRT French steamer Saint Jean Ii, which went down 22 March 1918 off Cap Bon.^[26] That same day, UB-50 managed to damage the British steamer Shadwell off Bizerta.^[27] Four days later UB-50 sank the 11,495 GRT Italian steamer Volturno off Bone (Annaba), Algeria.^[28] On 6 April, UB-50 sank the French vessel Madeleine Iii and on 11 April, she sank the Italian sailing ship Carmela G and the British vessel Highland Prince.^[29][30]

Fifth patrol

UB-50 began her fifth war patrol by damaging the 3,926 GRT British steamer Elswick Grange carrying coal off the coast of Oran, killing one.^[31] Two days later, she ran across the 3,152 GRT British steamer Mavisbrook carrying coal. She was torpedoed south east of Cabo de Gata, killing 18.^[32] On that same day, she came upon the 168 GRT Danish three-masted iron-hulled schooner Kirstine Jesen, sinking after being fired upon from UB-50's deck gun with no deaths.^[33] Two days later, the New Sweden, a 5,319 GRT Swedish steamer, was hit by UB-50 and sank.^[34] Two days later, UB-50 found the 180 GRT Spanish steamer Maria Pia, which sank with no casualties.^[35] Three days after that, the 117 GRT French sailboat Animal Lafont and 257 GRT Italian sailboat Santa Teresa were torpedoed by the U-boat with no casualties.^[36][37]

Sixth patrol

Shortly before her sixth patrol, Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Kukat took over command from Kptlt. Becker.^[38] On her sixth patrol, UB-50 encountered the Imber, a 2,514 GRT British steamer and torpedoed her south of Cape St. Maria di Leuca, though she survived.^[39] Three days later, UB-50 sank the War Swallow, a 5,216 GRT British merchant ship carrying coal from the River Tyne to Port Said.^[40] Another three days passed before UB-50 found her next target, the Italian steamer Adria 1, a ship carrying cotton from Palermo to Tunis. It sank, but there were no deaths.^[41] Two days later, the 5,257 GRT British steamer Upada was torpedoed by UB-50 killing three, but was only damaged.^[42] UB-50 sank the Messidor, a 3,883 GRT British coal steamer two days later, sinking the ship and killing one.^[43] The following day, she torpedoed the Rutherglen, a 4,214 GRT British steam merchant carrying coal.^[44] That was followed by an attack on the Magellan, a 3,642 GRT British steamer on the following day. She sank with one man.^[45] The last ship sunk on the patrol was the Antonio S., a 175 GRT Italian sailboat sunk off the coast of Tunisia.^[46]

Seventh patrol

Britannia sinking in the Atlantic off Cape Trafalgar on 9 November 1918.

On 9 November 1918, two days before the Armistice with Germany, UB-50 sank the British battleship HMS Britannia. The Britannia was on a voyage to Gibraltar when she was torpedoed off Cape Trafalgar.^[47] After the initial explosion, the ship began listing ten degrees to port. A few minutes later, another explosion started a fire in a 9.2 in (230 mm) magazine, which resulted in a cordite explosion in the magazine. The Britannia stayed at 10-degrees for 2½ hours before sinking.^[1][47] Its 16,350-tons made it the largest ship the U-boat ever sank, and the only one UB-50 would sink during her last patrol.^[48]

Notes

Citations