History
German Empire
NameUC-1
OrderedNovember 1914[1]
BuilderAG Vulcan, Hamburg[2]
Yard number45[1]
Launched26 April 1915[1]
Commissioned5 July 1915[1]
FateMissing since 18 July 1917[1]
General characteristics [3]
Class and typeGerman Type UC I submarine
Displacement
  • 168 t (165 long tons), surfaced
  • 183 t (180 long tons), submerged
Length
Beam3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)
Draft3.04 m (10 ft)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 6.20 knots (11.48 km/h; 7.13 mph), surfaced
  • 5.22 knots (9.67 km/h; 6.01 mph), submerged
Range
  • 780 nmi (1,440 km; 900 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) surfaced
  • 50 nmi (93 km; 58 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth50 m (160 ft)
Complement14
Armament
  • 6 × 100 cm (39 in) mine tubes
  • 12 × UC 120 mines
  • 1 × 8 mm (0.31 in) machine gun
Service record
Part of:
  • Flandern Flotilla
  • 25 June 1915 – 19 July 1917
Commanders:
  • Oblt.z.S. Egon von Werner[4]
  • 7 May 1915 – 13 April 1916
  • Oblt.z.S. Kurt Ramien[5]
  • 14 April – 31 August 1916
  • Oblt.z.S. Heinrich Küstner[6]
  • 1 September – 3 November 1916
  • Oblt.z.S. Hugo Thielmann[7]
  • 4 November – 16 December 1916
  • Lt.z.S. Oskar Steckelberg[8]
  • 17 December 1916 – 7 January 1917
  • Oblt.z.S. Hugo Thielmann
  • 8 January 1917 – 17 March 1917
  • Oblt.z.S. Walter Warzecha[9]
  • 18 March – 1 June 1917
  • Oblt.z.S. Christian Mildenstein[10]
  • 2 June – 19 July 1917
Operations: 80 patrols
Victories:
  • 24 merchant ships sunk
    (53,249 GRT)
  • 5 warships sunk
    (3,067 tons)
  • 12 auxiliary warships sunk
    (2,620 GRT)
  • 9 merchant ships damaged
    (52,899 GRT)

SM UC-1 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 26 April 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 5 July 1915 as SM UC-1.[Note 1] Mines laid by UC-1 in her 80 patrols were credited with sinking 41 ships. UC-1 disappeared after 18 July 1917.[1] UC-1 was sunk on 24 July 1917 by F2B Felixstowe flying boat. Standard practice was to fly along the U boat and drop 2 250lb bombs astride it, hoping to cause leaks and give time for a destroyer to collect the submariners and sink it. On this occasion, by fluke, one bomb went through the conning tower and blew the base out of UC1. MFG Mill was awarded the DFC for this but he refused to wear it because of the total loss of life <london Gazette> <MFG Mill Diaries>

Design

A German Type UC I submarine, UC-1 had a displacement of 168 tonnes (165 long tons) when at the surface and 183 tonnes (180 long tons) while submerged. She had a length overall of 33.99 m (111 ft 6 in), a beam of 3.15 m (10 ft 4 in), and a draught of 3.04 m (10 ft). The submarine was powered by one Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft six-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine producing 90 metric horsepower (66 kW; 89 shp), an electric motor producing 175 metric horsepower (129 kW; 173 shp), and one propeller shaft. She was capable of operating at a depth of 50 metres (160 ft).[3]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 6.20 knots (11.48 km/h; 7.13 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 5.22 knots (9.67 km/h; 6.01 mph). When submerged, she could operate for 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 780 nautical miles (1,440 km; 900 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph). UC-1 was fitted with six 100 centimetres (39 in) mine tubes, twelve UC 120 mines, and one 8 millimetres (0.31 in) machine gun. She was built by AG Vulcan Stettin and her complement was fourteen crew members.[3]

Summary of raiding history

Date Name Nationality Tonnage[Note 2] Fate[11]
30 June 1915 HMS Lightning  Royal Navy 320 Sunk
14 July 1915 Rym  Norway 1,073 Sunk
15 July 1915 HMT Agamemnon II  Royal Navy 225 Sunk
30 July 1915 Prince Albert  Belgium 1,820 Sunk
31 July 1915 Galicia  United Kingdom 5,922 Damaged
8 August 1915 HMT Ben Ardna  Royal Navy 197 Sunk
14 August 1915 Highland Corrie  United Kingdom 7,583 Damaged
9 September 1915 Balakani  United Kingdom 3,696 Sunk
22 October 1915 HMT Scott  Royal Navy 288 Sunk
9 November 1915 Irene  United Kingdom 543 Sunk
27 November 1915 Klar  United Kingdom 518 Sunk
3 December 1915 HMT Etoile Polaire  Royal Navy 278 Sunk
16 December 1915 Levenpool  United Kingdom 4,844 Damaged
24 December 1915 HMT Carilon  Royal Navy 226 Sunk
24 December 1915 Embla  United Kingdom 1,172 Sunk
2 January 1916 Glocliffe  United Kingdom 2,211 Damaged
18 January 1916 Rijndam  Netherlands 12,527 Damaged
19 January 1916 Leoville  France 775 Sunk
28 January 1916 Perth  Norway 3,522 Damaged
30 January 1916 Maasdijk  Netherlands 3,557 Sunk
11 February 1916 Alabama  Norway 891 Sunk
25 March 1916 Duiveland  Netherlands 1,297 Sunk
27 March 1916 Empress of Midland  United Kingdom 2,224 Sunk
4 April 1916 Bendew  United Kingdom 3,681 Sunk
12 April 1916 Colombia  Netherlands 5,644 Damaged
20 April 1916 Lodewijk Van Nassau  Netherlands 3,350 Sunk
2 May 1916 Fridland  Sweden 4,960 Damaged
26 May 1916 El Argentino  United Kingdom 6,809 Sunk
18 June 1916 Mendibil-mendi  Spain 4,501 Sunk
26 June 1916 Astrologer  United Kingdom 912 Sunk
26 June 1916 HMT Tugela  Royal Navy 233 Sunk
28 June 1916 Mercurius  United Kingdom 129 Sunk
30 June 1916 HMT Whooper  Royal Navy 302 Sunk
16 July 1916 Alto  United Kingdom 2,266 Sunk
16 July 1916 Mopsa  United Kingdom 885 Sunk
30 July 1916 Claudia  United Kingdom 1,144 Sunk
11 August 1916 F. Stobart  United Kingdom 801 Sunk
23 August 1916 HMT Birch  Royal Navy 215 Sunk
27 August 1916 HMD Ocean Plough  Royal Navy 99 Sunk
31 August 1916 HMD Tuberose  Royal Navy 67 Sunk
1 September 1916 Dronning Maud  Norway 1,102 Sunk
4 September 1916 HMT Jessie Nutten  Royal Navy 187 Sunk
6 October 1916 Lanterna  United Kingdom 1,685 Sunk
8 November 1916 HMS Zulu  Royal Navy 1,027 Sunk
28 December 1916 Torpilleur 317  French Navy 100 Sunk
1 January 1917 Sussex  United Kingdom 5,686 Damaged
15 January 1917 Port Nicholson  United Kingdom 8,418 Sunk
11 May 1917 HMT Bracklyn  Royal Navy 303 Sunk
24 June 1917 HMS Kempton  Royal Navy 810 Sunk
24 June 1917 HMS Redcar  Royal Navy 810 Sunk

References

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.
  2. ↑ Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC 1". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  2. ↑ Tarrant, p. 173.
  3. 1 2 3 Gröner 1991, pp. 30–31.
  4. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Egon von Werner (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Kurt Ramien (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Heinrich Küstner". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  7. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Hugo Thielmann". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Oskar Steckelberg". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Walter Warzecha (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Christian Mildenstein". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  11. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UC 1". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 24 December 2014.

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.
  • Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (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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