SM UB-12

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For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-12.

History
German Empire
NameUB-12
Ordered15 October 1914[1]
BuilderAG Weser, Bremen[2]
Yard number221[1]
Laid down7 November 1914[1]
Launched2 March 1915[1]
Commissioned29 March 1915[1]
FateDisappeared after 19 August 1918[1]
General characteristics [3]
Class and typeGerman Type UB I submarine
Displacement
  • 127 t (125 long tons) surfaced
  • 141 t (139 long tons) submerged
Length27.88 m (91 ft 6 in) (
o/a
)
Beam3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)
Draft3.03 m (9 ft 11 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 7.45 knots (13.80 km/h; 8.57 mph) surfaced
  • 6.24 knots (11.56 km/h; 7.18 mph) submerged
Range
  • 1,500 nmi (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) surfaced
  • 45 nmi (83 km; 52 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth50 metres (160 ft)
Complement14
Armament
Notes33-second diving time
Service record
Part of:
  • Flandern Flotilla
  • 18 April 1915 – 19 August 1918
Commanders:
  • Oblt.z.S. Hans Nieland[4]
  • 29 March – 20 November 1915
  • Oblt.z.S. Wilhelm Kiel[5]
  • 21 November 1915 – 25 June 1916
  • Oblt.z.S. Georg Gerth[6]
  • 26 June – 4 November 1916
  • Oblt.z.S. Friedrich Moecke[7]
  • 5 November 1916 – 19 January 1917
  • Oblt.z.S. Ernst Steindorff[8]
  • 20 January – 7 August 1917
  • Oblt.z.S. Günther Wigankow[9]
  • 8 August – 23 September 1917
  • Oblt.z.S. Wilhelm Braun[10]
  • 24 September 1917 – 9 March 1918
  • Oblt.z.S. Freiherr Nikolaus von Lyncker[11]
  • 10 March – 9 May 1918
  • Oblt.z.S. Ernst Schöller[12]
  • 10 May – 19 August 1918
Operations: 98 patrols
Victories:
  • 17 merchant ships sunk
    (8,970 GRT)
  • 1 warship sunk
    (995 tons)
  • 5 auxiliary warships sunk
    (1,293 GRT)
  • 1 merchant ship taken as prize
    (654 GRT)

SM UB-12 was a German

German Imperial Navy (German
: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The submarine disappeared in August 1918.

UB-12 was ordered in October 1914 and was

launched and commissioned as SM UB-12 in March 1915.[Note 1]

UB-12 spent her entire career in the

mine
chutes. UB-12 disappeared after 19 August 1918.

Design and construction

After the

German Imperial Navy found itself without suitable submarines that could be operated in the narrow and shallow seas off Flanders.[13][14] Project 34, a design effort begun in mid-August 1914,[14] produced the Type UB I design: a small submarine that could be shipped by rail to a port of operations and quickly assembled. Constrained by railroad size limitations, the UB I design called for a boat about 28 metres (92 ft) long and displacing about 125 t (123 long tons) with two torpedo tubes.[13][Note 2]

UB-12 was part of the initial allotment of seven submarines—numbered

propeller shaft. Her top speeds were 7.45 knots (13.80 km/h; 8.57 mph), surfaced, and 6.24 knots (11.56 km/h; 7.18 mph), submerged.[2] At more moderate speeds, she could sail up to 1,500 nautical miles
(2,800 km; 1,700 mi) on the surface before refueling, and up to 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) submerged before recharging her batteries. Like all boats of the class, UB-12 was rated to a diving depth of 50 metres (160 ft), and could completely submerge in 33 seconds.

UB-12 was armed with two 45-centimeter (17.7 in) torpedoes in two bow torpedo tubes. She was also outfitted for a single 8-millimeter (0.31 in) machine gun on deck. UB-12's standard complement consisted of one officer and thirteen enlisted men.[16]

After work on UB-12 was complete at the Weser yard, she was readied for rail shipment. The process of shipping a UB I boat involved breaking the submarine down into what was essentially a

launched on 2 March,[1] she was loaded on a barge and taken through canals to Bruges where she underwent trials.[16]

Early career

The submarine was

first submarine offensive, begun in February. During this campaign, enemy vessels in the German-defined war zone (German: Kriegsgebiet), which encompassed all waters around the United Kingdom, were to be sunk. Vessels of neutral countries were not to be attacked unless they definitively could be identified as enemy vessels operating under a false flag.[18]

first submarine offensive
.

On 24 July, Nieland and UB-12 sank four British fishing vessels while patrolling between 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) east-northeast of

red ochre sails[21]—which were stopped, boarded by crewmen from UB-12, and sunk with explosives.[22] UB-12 similarly sank a pair of smacks off Lowestoft on 4 August,[22][23] and another trio from 23 to 25 August.[22][24]

On 21 November, Nieland was succeeded by Oberleutnant zur See (Oblt.) Wilhelm Kiel in command of UB-12.[25] Under Kiel's command, UB-12 sank three ships on 21 February 1916: the 92 GRT Belgian fishing ship La Petite Henriette,[26] the largest sunk to-date by UB-12,[19] and another pair of British smacks, Oleander and W.E. Brown.[27]

UB-12 sank her largest ship, Silksworth Hall of 4,777 

Reinhardt Scheer, the newest commander-in-chief of the High Seas Fleet, called off the merchant shipping offensive and ordered all boats at sea to return, and all boats in port to remain there.[30]

Grand Fleet ambush attempts

In mid-May, Scheer completed plans to draw out part of the British

British Admiralty had intelligence reports of the departure of the submarines which, coupled with an absence of attacks on shipping, aroused British suspicions.[31]

A delayed departure of the German High Seas Fleet for its sortie (which had been redirected to the Skagerrak) and the failure of several of the U-boats stationed to the north to receive the coded message warning of the British advance caused Scheer's anticipated ambush to be a "complete and disappointing failure".[32] In UB-12's group, only UB-10 sighted the Harwich forces, and they were too far away to mount an attack.[32] The failure of the submarine ambush to sink any British capital ships allowed the full Grand Fleet to engage the numerically inferior High Seas Fleet in the Battle of Jutland, which took place 31 May – 1 June.[33]

red ochre sails, like this contemporary smack.[21]

Kapitänleutnant Georg Gerth took command of UB-12 on 26 June,[34] Oblt.Kiel was assigned to command the new minelaying submarine UC-18.[25] Two months later, Admiral Scheer set up another ambush for the British fleet with plans for another High Seas Fleet raid on Sunderland (as had been the original intention in May). The German fleet planned to depart late in the day on 18 August and shell military targets the next morning. As in May, UB-12 was part of a group intended to attack the Harwich forces. As one of five boats forming the second line of boats from the Flanders Flotilla,[Note 5] UB-12 was stationed off Texel by the morning of 20 August.[35] Once again, British intelligence had given warning of the impending attack and ambush, causing the Grand Fleet to sortie at 16:00 on 18 August, five hours before the German fleet sailed. Faulty intelligence caused Scheer initially to divert from Sunderland, and then to eventually call off the whole operation. Although U-boats to the north sank two British light cruisers,[Note 6] UB-12 and her group played no part in the action.[35]

In September, Gerth led UB-12 in sinking two more ships and capturing a third ship as a prize. The 313 GRT Norwegian steamer Rilda was sunk on 6 September,[36] while the 55 GRT Marjorie was sunk on the 28th.[37] In between the Dutch ship Niobe was seized as a prize on the 7th.[38]

Conversion to minelayer

UB-12 and three sister boats—UB-10, UB-16, and UB-17—were all converted to

mine
chutes capable of carrying two mines each. In the process, the boats were lengthened to 105 feet (32 m), and the displacement increased to 147 t (145 long tons) on the surface, and 161 t (158 long tons) below the surface.

During this same time, Kapt. Gerth was transferred to SM UC-61,[34] and replaced on UB-12 by Oblt. Friedrich Moecke in early November.[40] Moecke was, in turn, replaced by Oblt. Ernst Steindorff in January 1917.[41]

By March, the newly converted submarine had begun laying mines off the French coast. The

minesweeper HMS Duchess of Montrose sank with a loss of 12 men after detonating a mine laid by UB-12 off Gravelines.[43]
On 23 March,
Cape Gris-Nez and went down with the loss of 59 men.[44]

In May, UB-12 was on a patrol with UB-39 in the English Channel.[45] On the night of 14/15 May while UB-12 was on the surface,[46] Steindorff noted a large underwater explosion some miles away in a British minefield, and when UB-39 failed to return to Zeebrugge, one of the bases for the Flanders Flotilla, reported what was likely the demise of UB-39 at the hands of a British mine.[47]

April found two more victims added to UB-12's tally. On the 20th, Nepaulin, another British auxiliary minesweeper was lost on one of UB-12's mines near the Dyck Lightvessel.[48] Six days later, the British steamer Alhama was mined while loaded with pit props destined for Dunkirk.[49] The 1,744 GRT cargo ship was the largest ship sunk by UB-12 since the Silksworth Hall, sunk the previous April. UB-12 sank another two ships under Steindorff's command, one each in June and July.[19] The steamer Dulwich—carrying coal from Seaham for London—was mined and sunk with the loss of five men on 10 June.[50] One month later, the French patrol vessel Jupiter I was mined off Calais.[51] These were the last two ships credited to mines from UB-12 for the next fourteen months.[19]

Fate

UB-12's activities over the next year are not well documented, and no specific record of her can be found in English-language sources. However, it is known that during this period, she was helmed by four different commanders,

Helgoland sometime in August.[54] Author Dwight Messimer considers this unlikely given that Helgoland is nowhere near the route that UB-12 could have taken to get to the Downs.[53] A postwar German study concluded the two most likely fates for UB-12 were that she either struck a British mine or was destroyed by one of her own mines that malfunctioned during deployment.[53] Messimer also considers it possible that UB-12 may have had a diving accident related to her conversion to a minelayer.[53]

Some two months after UB-12's presumed loss, she was credited with the sinking of her final ship.[19] On 27 October, two weeks before the end of the war, the 92 GRT British ship Calceolaria struck one of UB-12's mines near the Elbow Lightvessel and sank.[55]

Summary of raiding history

Ships sunk or damaged by SM UB-12[19]
Date Name Nationality Tonnage[Note 7] Fate
24 July 1915 Activity  United Kingdom 56 Sunk
24 July 1915 Henry Charles  United Kingdom 41 Sunk
24 July 1915 Kathleen  United Kingdom 59 Sunk
24 July 1915 Prosper  United Kingdom 45 Sunk
4 August 1915 Challenger  United Kingdom 50 Sunk
4 August 1915 Heliotrope  United Kingdom 28 Sunk
23 August 1915 Boy Bert  United Kingdom 57 Sunk
23 August 1915 Integrity  United Kingdom 52 Sunk
25 August 1915 Young Frank  United Kingdom 49 Sunk
21 February 1916 La Petite Henriette  Belgium 92 Sunk
21 February 1916 Oleander  United Kingdom 34 Sunk
21 February 1916 W.E. Brown  United Kingdom 58 Sunk
10 April 1916 Silksworth Hall  United Kingdom 4,777 Sunk
6 September 1916 Rilda  Norway 313 Sunk
7 September 1916 Niobe  Netherlands 654 Captured as prize
28 September 1916 Marjorie  United Kingdom 55 Sunk
13 March 1917 Elisabeth  French Navy 302 Sunk
18 March 1917 HMS Duchess of Montrose  Royal Navy 322 Sunk
23 March 1917 HMS Laforey  Royal Navy 995 Sunk
20 April 1917 HMS Nepaulin  Royal Navy 314 Sunk
26 April 1917 Alhama  United Kingdom 1,744 Sunk
10 June 1917 Dulwich  United Kingdom 1,460 Sunk
10 July 1917 Jupiter I  French Navy 263 Sunk
27 October 1918 HMT Calceolaria  Royal Navy 92 Sunk
Total: 11,912

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. mine chutes but changing little else—evolved into the Type UC I coastal minelaying
    submarine. See: Miller, p. 458.
  3. ^ Nieland was in the Navy's April 1905 cadet class with 36 other future U-boat captains, including Hermann von Fischel, Carl-Siegfried Ritter von Georg, Kurt Hartwig, Hans von Mellenthin, and Wilhelm Werner. See: Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI Officer Crews: Crew 4/05". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  4. ^ The other five boats for the May action were UB-6, UB-10, UB-16, UB-17, and UB-29.
  5. ^ The other four boats for the August action were UB-6, UB-16, UB-19, and UB-37.
  6. ^ U-52 sank HMS Nottingham; U-66 and U-63 teamed up to sink HMS Falmouth.
  7. gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UB 12". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  2. ^ a b Tarrant, p. 172.
  3. ^ Gröner 1991, pp. 22–23.
  4. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Hans Nieland". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  5. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Wilhelm Kiel". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  6. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Georg Gerth". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  7. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Friedrich Moecke". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  8. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Ernst Steindorff (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  9. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Günther Wigankow". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  10. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Wilhelm Braun". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  11. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Freiherr Nikolaus von Lyncker". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  12. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Ernst Schöller". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  13. ^ a b c Miller, pp. 46–47.
  14. ^ a b Karau, p. 48.
  15. ^ Williamson, p. 12.
  16. ^ a b c d Karau, p. 49.
  17. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Hans Nieland". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  18. ^ Tarrant, p. 14.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UB 12". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  20. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Activity". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Henry Charles". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Kathleen". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Prosper". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.. U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  21. ^
    Penwith District Council (2009). "Boat Types". Penzance: Penwith District Council. Archived from the original
    on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  22. ^
    His Majesty's Stationery Office
    . 1919.
  23. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Challenger". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Heliotrope". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.. U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  24. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Boy Bert". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Integrity". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Young Frank". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.. U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  25. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Wilhelm Kiel". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  26. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: La Petite Henriette". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  27. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Oleander". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: W.e. Brown". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.. U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  28. ^ a b Tennent, p. 175.
  29. ^ "Spanish liner sunk". The Washington Post. 11 April 1916. p. 1.
  30. ^ Tarrant, p. 30.
  31. ^ a b c Gibson and Prendergast, p. 97.
  32. ^ a b c d e Tarrant, p. 32.
  33. ^ Tarrant, pp. 32–33.
  34. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Georg Gerth". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  35. ^ a b Tarrant, p. 33.
  36. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Rilda". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  37. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Marjorie". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  38. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Niobe (p.)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  39. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Hans Ewald Niemer". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  40. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Friedrich Moecke". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  41. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Ernst Steindorff". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  42. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Elisabeth". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  43. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Duchess of Montrose". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  44. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Laforey (hms)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  45. ^ Bridgland, p. 81.
  46. ^ Messimer, p. 161.
  47. ^ McCartney, p. 161.
  48. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Nepaulin". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  49. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Alhama". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  50. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Dulwich". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  51. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Jupiter I". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  52. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Ernst Schöller". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  53. ^ a b c d Messimer, p. 133
  54. ^ Gibson and Prendergast, p. 318.
  55. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Calceolaria". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.

Bibliography

External links
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