SM U-20 (Austria-Hungary)

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Havmanden class built for the Royal Danish Navy
(Havmanden pictured)
History
Austria-Hungary
NameSM U-20
Ordered27 March 1915[2]
Builder
Pola Navy Yard, Pola[1]
Laid down29 September 1915[3]
Launched18 September 1916[1]
Commissioned20 October 1917[3]
FateSunk by Italian submarine F-12, 4 July 1918, raised and partially scrapped in 1962, remaining parts donated to museum[4]
Service record
Commanders:
  • Klemens Ritter von Bezard
  • 28 May 1916 – 14 April 1917[5]
  • Franz Rzemenowsky von Trautenegg
  • 28 July – 29 November 1917
  • Hermann Rigele
  • 29 November 1917 – 11 March 1918
  • Ludwig Müller
  • 11 March – 4 July 1918
Victories: None[5]
General characteristics
Class and typeU-20-class submarine
Displacement
  • 173 t, surfaced
  • 210 t, submerged[1]
Length127 ft 2 in (38.76 m)[1]
Beam13 ft (4.0 m)[1]
Draft9 ft (2.7 m)[1]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 12 knots (22 km/h) surfaced
  • 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged[1]
Range
  • 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced[6]
  • 23 nautical miles (43 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged
Complement18[1]
Armament

SM U-20 or U-XX was the

Fiume
), and was largely obsolete by the beginning of the war.

U-20 was just over 127 feet (39 m) long and was armed with two bow torpedo tubes, a deck gun, and a machine gun. U-20 had no wartime successes and was sunk in early July 1918 by the Italian submarine F-12. The wreck of U-20 was located in 1962 and salvaged. A portion of her conning tower is on display in a military museum in Vienna.

Design and construction

When it became apparent to the

Fiume, who had built three units.[6] Although the Austro-Hungarian Navy was not happy with the design, which was largely obsolete,[8][9] it was the only design for which plans were available and which could be begun immediately in domestic shipyards.[9] The Austro-Hungarian Navy unenthusiastically placed orders for U-20 and her three sister boats on 27 March 1915.[2]

U-20 was one of two boats of the class to be built at the Pola Navy Yard.[7] Due to demands by the Hungarian government,[2] subcontracts for the class were divided between Hungarian and Austrian firms,[1] but this politically expedient solution worsened technical problems with the design and resulted in numerous modifications and delays for the class in general.[7]

U-20 was a

propeller shaft, a single 450 bhp (340 kW) diesel engine for surface running, and a single 160 shp (120 kW) electric motor for submerged travel.[1] She was capable of 12 knots (22 km/h) while surfaced and 9 knots (17 km/h) while submerged. Although there is no specific notation of a range for U-20, the Havmanden class, upon which the U-20 class was based, had a range of 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h), surfaced, and 23 nautical miles (43 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged.[6]

U-20 was armed with two 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes located in the front and carried a complement of two torpedoes. She was also equipped with a 66 mm (2.6 in) deck gun and an 8 mm (0.31 in) machine gun.[1]

U-20 was

launched on 18 September 1916.[1]

Service career

Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna
Details of U-20 conning tower.

Upon completion, U-20 began diving trials. On her 15 March 1917 trial, she was accidentally rammed by

commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 20 October.[3]

After initially operating out of Pola, U-20 was transferred to

Adriatic between the Tagliamento estuary and Venice. U-20 had an encounter with an enemy submarine on 7 April but was not able to successfully launch an attack.[3]
On 3 July, Linienschiffsleutnant Ludwig Müller sailed U-20 out from Trieste for the Gulf of Venice. A day later, U-20 was spotted by the Italian submarine F-12, which was on patrol in the northern Adriatic. F-12 initially pursued U-20 underwater, and then on the surface. At a range of 650 yards (590 m), F-12 torpedoed U-20 at position 45°29′N 13°05′E / 45.483°N 13.083°E / 45.483; 13.083 (SM U-20), sinking her with all hands. There was no wreckage on the surface, only an oil slick.[4][Note 1] Like all of her sister boats,[7] U-20 had no wartime successes.[5]

In mid 1962, the wreck of U-20 was discovered in the northern Adriatic. Italian salvage crews raised the boat's rear portion on 22 July and her front section on 21 November.

Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna, where they are on display, while the rest of the boat was scrapped.[7] The remains of the crewmen were buried on the grounds of the Theresian Military Academy at Wiener Neustadt.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ Grant (p. 163) gives the date of U-20's loss as 4 July 1918. Compton-Hall (p. 235) reports it on 9 July, while Baumgartner and Sieche report it on 6 July.
    For Baumgartner and Sieche, see excerpt here (reprinted and translated into English by Sieche). Retrieved 29 November 2008.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Gardiner, p. 343.
  2. ^ a b c d e Halpern, p. 382.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Tengeralattjárók" (PDF) (in Hungarian). Imperial and Royal Navy Association. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  4. ^ a b c Grant, p. 163.
  5. ^ a b c Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: KUK U20". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  6. ^ a b c Gardiner, p. 354.
  7. ^ a b c d e Gardiner, p. 344.
  8. ^ Halpern, p. 383.
  9. ^ a b Gardiner, p. 341.
  10. ^ Baumgartner and Sieche, as excerpted here (reprinted and translated into English by Sieche). Retrieved 17 November 2008.

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SM_U-20_(Austria-Hungary)&oldid=1162233391"