German submarine Deutschland
History | |
---|---|
German Empire | |
Name | Deutschland |
Port of registry | Bremen |
Ordered | 27 October 1915 |
Builder | Flensburger Schiffbau |
Yard number | 382 |
Launched | 28 March 1916 |
Fate | Converted into U-155 |
German Empire | |
Name | U-155 |
Commissioned | 19 February 1917 |
Fate | Surrendered 24 November 1918; used as exhibition vessel; broken up at Rock Ferry in 1922. |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | German Type U 151 submarine |
Displacement |
|
Length |
|
Beam |
|
Height | 9.25 m (30 ft 4 in) |
Draught | 5.30 m (17 ft 5 in) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 2 × shafts, 2 × 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) propellers |
Speed |
|
Range | 25,000 nmi (46,000 km; 29,000 mi) at 5.5 knots (10.2 km/h; 6.3 mph) surfaced, 65 nmi (120 km; 75 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) submerged |
Test depth | 50 metres (160 ft) |
Complement | 6 officers, 50 enlisted |
Armament |
|
Service record | |
Part of: |
|
Commanders: |
|
Operations: | 3 patrols |
Victories: |
Deutschland was a blockade-breaking German merchant submarine used during World War I. It was developed with private funds and operated by the North German Lloyd Line. She was the first of seven U-151-class U-boats built and one of only two used as unarmed cargo submarines.
After making two voyages as an unarmed merchantman, she was taken over by the
Construction
Deutschland was one of seven submarines designed to carry cargo between the United States and Germany, through the naval blockade of the Entente Powers. Mainly enforced by Great Britain's Royal Navy, the blockade had led to great difficulties for German companies in acquiring raw materials which could not be found in quantity within the German sphere of influence, and thus substantially hindered the German war effort.
Deutschland was built together with her sister ship
Britain and France soon protested against the use of submarines as merchant ships, arguing that they could not be stopped and inspected for munitions in the same manner as other cargo vessels. The US, under diplomatic pressure for supposedly showing favoritism while having declared itself neutral, rejected the argument. Even submarines, as long as they were unarmed, were to be regarded as merchant vessels and accordingly would be permitted to trade.[2]
Only two submarines were completed according to the original design: Deutschland and Bremen, which was lost on its maiden voyage, also to the United States. Due to the United States' entry into the war, the other five submarine freighters were converted into long-range cruiser submarine (U-kreuzers), equipped with two 150mm deck guns and were known as the Type U 151 class.
Merchant service
First journey
Deutschland departed on her first voyage to the US on 23 June 1916 commanded by
Deutschland waited a week at
She stayed at Baltimore until 2 August, when she sailed for Bremerhaven, arriving on 24 August with a cargo of 341 tons of nickel, 93 tons of tin, and 348 tons of crude rubber (257 tons of which were carried outside the pressure hull). Her cargo was valued at $17.5 million, several times the submarine's construction costs.[10] She had traveled 8,450 nmi (15,650 km; 9,720 mi), having been submerged for 190 nmi (350 km; 220 mi) of them.
The successful completion of this first voyage was commemorated with a tongue-in-cheek medal created by German artist Ernst Zehle, with a dedication to the British Lord Robert Cecil, responsible for the blockade, on the front. On the reverse is a beaver swimming under some fishermen's nets with the phrase "Don't go over! Go under!"
Second journey
Deutschland made another round trip in November 1916 to New London, Connecticut with $10 million of cargo ($ 268,930,000 in 2024) including gems, securities, and medicinal products. At the same time the submarine U-53 also crossed the Atlantic to visit Newport, Rhode Island, and sank five Allied freighters just outside US territorial limits before returning home.
On 17 November as she was putting to sea, Deutschland accidentally rammed the tugboat T. A. Scott, Jr., which turned across her path suddenly while escorting her from New London to the open ocean. T. A. Scott, Jr., sank immediately with the loss of her entire crew of five. Deutschland's bow was damaged, and she had to return to New London for repairs, which delayed her departure by a week.[12][13] She finally left New London on 21 November 1916, with a cargo that included 6.5 tons of silver bullion.
Following his last voyage, Captain Paul König collaborated to write a book about the journeys of Deutschland, entitled Voyage of the Deutschland, the First Merchant Submarine (Verlag Ullstein & Co, Berlin 1916, and, Hearst International Library Co., New York 1916). The book was heavily publicized, as it was intended to sway public opinion in both Germany and the US.[14]
War service
A third voyage, planned for January 1917, was aborted as German-US relations had worsened following the sinking of shipping bound for the United Kingdom, often just outside US territorial waters. Deutschland was taken over by the
1917
During the summer of 1917 U-155 made a 105-day cruise, commanded by
During this patrol, the boat fired on the port city of Ponta Delgada in the Azore Islands on 4 July at 3 a.m. with its deck guns. Portuguese army units did not respond due to being equipped with obsolete artillery. The collier USS Orion happened to be in port at the time undergoing repairs. Its company returned U-155's fire and dueled with the German boat for about 12 minutes. U-155 submerged without being hit and eventually retired. While the raid was light in damage (it killed four people), it alarmed Allied naval authorities about the defenseless nature of the Azores and their possible use as a base by boats like U-155 in the future. Allied naval forces, led by the U.S. Navy, began to send ships and establish a naval operating base in Ponta Delgada as a result.
During her patrol she sank 19 merchant ships, most by either scuttling or gunfire. She attacked 19 Allied armed merchantmen but only succeeded in sinking 9 of them. Upon her return to Germany she had covered a distance of 10,220 nmi (18,930 km; 11,760 mi), of which 620 nmi (1,150 km; 710 mi) had been travelled submerged, one of the longest voyages made by a U-boat during World War I.[16]
1918
U-155 sailed from Kiel on 11 August 1918 commanded by Ferdinand Studt. Studt's orders directed him to cruise off the US coast in the region of the Nantucket lightship and lay mines off St. John's, Newfoundland and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was also directed to cut telegraph cables off Sable Island, 80 km (50 mi) southeast of Nova Scotia. His orders, however, proved problematic, and Studt came to believe that the St. Johns where he was to lay mines was actually Saint John, New Brunswick, in the Bay of Fundy.
On U-155's outbound voyage she had captured and scuttled the
On 13 September U-155 engaged in another gun fight with the British merchantman Newby Hall, which managed to damage the submarine, denting her armour and causing serious leaks in her pressure hull which made diving temporarily impossible.
On 19 September, Studt tried and failed to locate and cut the telegraph cable near Sable Island, then headed for Nantucket.[17]
Fate
U-155 returned to Germany from her final cruise on 12 November 1918 and was surrendered to the Allies at
Summary of raiding history
Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage[Note 2] | Fate[19] |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 June 1917 | Hafursfjord | Norway | 1,669 | Sunk |
10 June 1917 | Scottish Hero | Canada | 2,205 | Sunk |
14 June 1917 | Aysgarth | United Kingdom | 3,118 | Sunk |
30 June 1917 | Benguela | Norway | 4,612 | Sunk |
30 June 1917 | Siraa | Norway | 1,938 | Sunk |
7 July 1917 | Coblenz | United Kingdom | 1,338 | Damaged |
8 July 1917 | Ruelle | France | 3,583 | Sunk |
12 July 1917 | Calliope | United Kingdom | 2,883 | Sunk |
14 July 1917 | Chalkydon | Greece | 2,870 | Sunk |
18 July 1917 | Ellen | Norway | 3,877 | Sunk |
20 July 1917 | Hanseat | Norway | 3,358 | Sunk |
21 July 1917 | Doris | Kingdom of Italy | 1,355 | Sunk |
21 July 1917 | John Twohy | United States | 1,019 | Sunk |
21 July 1917 | Willena Gertrude | United Kingdom | 317 | Sunk |
31 July 1917 | Madeleine | France | 2,709 | Sunk |
31 July 1917 | Snowdonian | United Kingdom | 3,870 | Sunk |
1 August 1917 | Alexandre | France | 2,671 | Sunk |
2 August 1917 | Marthe | France | 3,119 | Sunk |
7 August 1917 | Christiane | United States | 964 | Sunk |
7 August 1917 | Iran | United Kingdom | 6,250 | Sunk |
16 February 1918 | Tea | Kingdom of Italy | 5,395 | Sunk |
18 February 1918 | Cecil L. Shave | United Kingdom | 102 | Sunk |
23 February 1918 | Sardinero | Spain | 2,170 | Sunk |
4 March 1918 | Antioco Accame | Kingdom of Italy | 4,439 | Sunk |
13 March 1918 | Wegadesk | Norway | 4,271 | Sunk |
15 March 1918 | Joaquina | Spain | 333 | Damaged |
18 March 1918 | Prometeo | Kingdom of Italy | 4,455 | Sunk |
18 March 1918 | Reidar | Norway | 3,574 | Sunk |
24 March 1918 | Avala | Kingdom of Italy | 3,834 | Sunk |
24 March 1918 | Jorgina | United Kingdom | 103 | Sunk |
25 March 1918 | Rio Ave | Portugal | 179 | Sunk |
27 March 1918 | Watauga | United Kingdom | 127 | Sunk |
1 April 1918 | Lusitano | Portugal | 529 | Sunk |
7 April 1918 | Sterope | Kingdom of Italy | 9,500 | Sunk |
13 April 1918 | Harewood | United Kingdom | 4,150 | Sunk |
16 April 1918 | Nirpura | United Kingdom | 7,640 | Sunk |
23 April 1918 | Frances | United Kingdom | 54 | Sunk |
31 August 1918 | Gamo | Portugal | 343 | Sunk |
2 September 1918 | Stortind | Norway | 2,510 | Sunk |
7 September 1918 | Sophia | Portugal | 162 | Sunk |
12 September 1918 | Leixoes | Portugal | 3,245 | Sunk |
20 September 1918 | Kingfisher | United States | 353 | Sunk |
3 October 1918 | Alberto Treves | Kingdom of Italy | 3,838 | Sunk |
4 October 1918 | Industrial | United Kingdom | 330 | Sunk |
12 October 1918 | Amphion | United States | 7,409 | Damaged |
17 October 1918 | Lucia | United States | 6,744 | Sunk |
See also
- Italian R-class submarine, World War II, Italian cargo submarines
- Italian submarine Barbarigo, World War II, Marcello-class submarine that was converted into a transport
- Italian submarine Luigi Torelli, World War II, Marcello-class submarine that was converted into a transport
- Submarine Cargo Vessel, modern Russian cargo submarine proposal
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ Gröner 1991, pp. 20–21.
- ^ a b "Primary Documents: German Submarine Deutschland's Atlantic Crossing, 9 July 1916". FirstWorldWar.com. 8 November 2003.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-86176-241-2.
- ^ "The Cargo of the Submarine "Deutschland"". Journal of the Chemical Society. XXXV (23): 1202. 15 December 1916.
- ^ "The Submarine "Deutschland"". ColorantsHistory.org. Archived from the original on 31 May 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Halsey, Francis Whiting (1919). History of the World War. Vol. IX. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company. pp. 308&309.
- ^ a b Gibson, p. 103
- ^ "Story of the Submarine Freighter Deutschland". Motorship. 1 (4). Seattle, Washington: Miller Freeman: 3–4. August 1916. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ Tom (30 September 2013). "German U-Boat Deutschland Arrives in Baltimore (1916)". Ghosts of Baltimore. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
- ^ ISBN 1-57488-594-4.
- ^ "MK-B | Zehle, Ernst: U-Deutschland 1916". ikmk.smb.museum. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "FIVE MEN DROWN AS DEUTSCHLAND CRASHES INTO TUG" (PDF). New York Times. 18 November 1916.
- ^ Bernard, Warren, "A U-Boat′s Turn," MHQ, Summer 2017, p. 47.
- ^ Directed Readings on the U-Boat War Archived 26 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Blake, Sam, East Carolina University, April 2003.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 155 (ex. Deutschland)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.
- ^ Gibson, p. 217
- ISBN 0-7735-0778-7.
- ISBN 978-1-5267-4198-1.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U 155". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
Bibliography
- Duncan, Francis (April 1965). "Deutschland – Merchant Submarine". Proceedings. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute: 68–75.
- Gibson, R.H.; Prendergast, Maurice (2002). The German Submarine War 1914–1918. Periscope Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-904381-08-1.
- 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.
- Jung, Dieter (2004). Die Schiffe der Kaiserlichen Marine 1914-1918 und ihr Verbleib [German Imperial Navy ships 1914-1918 and their fate] (in German). Bonn: ISBN 3-7637-6247-7.
- König, Paul (2001). Voyage of the Deutschland, the First Merchant Submarine. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-424-5.
- König, Paul (1916). Voyage of the Deutschland, the First Merchant Submarine. Hearst's International Library.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat Types: Type U 151". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: 155 (ex-Deutschland)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.
- A Political Submarine, 1916 (Scientific American, this Week in World War I: July 22, 1916)
- When Lloyd went Underwater (Photos, including under construction)
- Video: Merchant Submarine Deutschland arriving in Baltimore, 9 July 1916.
- Video: Historic footage of submarine Deutschland departing New London, Connecticut, 21 November 1916, following repairs from tugboat collision.
- Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. .
- German U-Boat Deutschland Arrives in Baltimore (1916) - Ghosts of Baltimore blog