SM UB-6

Coordinates: 51°53′N 3°58′E / 51.883°N 3.967°E / 51.883; 3.967
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For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-6.
sister boat SM UB-4
, pictured here in 1915.
History
German Empire
NameUB-6
Ordered15 November 1914[2]
Builder
Germaniawerft, Kiel[3]
Yard number244[2]
Laid down22 November 1914[2]
LaunchedMarch 1915[1]
Commissioned8 April 1915[2]
FateScuttled at Hellevoetsluis, 18 March 1917; broken up at Brest, July 1921[2]
General characteristics [4]
Class and typeGerman Type UB I submarine
Displacement
  • 127 t (125 long tons) surfaced
  • 142 t (140 long tons) submerged
Length28.10 m (92 ft 2 in) (
o/a
)
Beam3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)
Draught3.03 m (9 ft 11 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 6.47 knots (11.98 km/h; 7.45 mph) surfaced
  • 5.51 knots (10.20 km/h; 6.34 mph) submerged
Range
  • 1,650 nmi (3,060 km; 1,900 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)
Test depth50 metres (160 ft)
Complement14
Armament
Notes33-second diving time
Service record
Part of:
Commanders:
  • Oblt. Erich Haecker
  • 8 April – 12 November 1915[2]
  • Oblt. Ernst Voigt
  • 13 November 1915 – 26 April 1916
  • Oblt. Karl Neumann
  • 27 April – 21 July 1916
  • Oblt. Karsten von Heydebreck
  • 22 July 1916 – 9 January 1917
  • Oblt. Oskar Steckelberg
  • 10 January – 12 March 1917
Operations: 60 patrols[2]
Victories:
  • 15 merchant ships sunk
    (5,966 GRT)[2]
  • 1 warship sunk
    (335 tons)
  • 2 merchant ships damaged
    (1,098 GRT)
  • 1 merchant ship taken as prize
    (1,328 GRT)

SM UB-6 was a German

German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The submarine was interned after running aground in neutral Dutch waters, and was scuttled by her crew at Hellevoetsluis
.

UB-6 was ordered in October 1914 and was

commissioned as SM UB-6 in April.[Note 1]

UB-6 spent her entire career in the

Flanders Flotilla and sank HMS Recruit, the first warship credited to the flotilla in May 1915. Through September 1916, the U-boat accounted for fifteen additional ships sunk, two ships damaged, and one ship seized as a prize. On 12 March 1917, UB-6 ran aground near the Meuse (Maas) in the Netherlands due to a navigational error by her commander; the submarine and crew were interned by the neutral country and taken to Hellevoetsluis. Six days later, UB-6 was scuttled by her crew, which remained interned for the rest of the war. The wreck of UB-6 was ceded to France in 1919 and broken up at Brest
in July 1921.

Design and construction

Railtransport of UB-I class U-Boat

After the

Germaniawerft of Kiel, just shy of two months after planning for the class began.[5][7]

River transport of UB-6 in Belgium

UB-6 was

propeller shaft. Her top speeds were 6.47 knots (11.98 km/h; 7.45 mph), surfaced, and 5.51 knots (10.20 km/h; 6.34 mph), submerged.[3] At more moderate speeds, she could sail up to 1,650 nautical miles
(3,060 km; 1,900 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-6 was rated to a diving depth of 50 metres (160 ft), and could completely submerge in 33 seconds.

UB-6 was armed with two 45-centimeter (17.7 in) torpedoes in two bow torpedo tubes. She was also outfitted for a single 8mm MG 08 Deck gun. UB-6's standard complement consisted of one officer and thirteen enlisted men.[8]

After work on UB-6 was complete at the Germaniwerft yard, UB-6 was readied for rail shipment. The process of shipping a UB I boat involved breaking the submarine down into what was essentially a

launched sometime in March,[1] she was loaded on a barge and taken through canals to Bruges where she underwent trials.[8]

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.[10]

The UB I boats of the Flanders Flotilla were initially limited to patrols in the

displacement ship in half, killing 34 men; 26 men were rescued.[12][13] One month later, on 1 June, UB-6 sank what would be her largest ship,[14] the British cargo ship Saidieh, of 3,303 gross register tons (GRT). Saidieh was en route to Hull from Alexandria with a load of onions and cottonseed when UB-6 sank her at the mouth of the Thames; eight crewmen lost their lives in the attack.[15]

first submarine offensive
.

In late June,

Boulogne. UB-6 sailed past Dunkirk on the surface and made Boulogne in the early morning of the 22nd, having to crash dive once during the voyage when discovered by a British destroyer. UB-6 immediately made the return trip and arrived safely at Zeebrugge later the same day.[16] Three other UB I boats, UB-2, UB-5, and UB-10, soon followed with patrols in the Channel, but bad weather and fog hampered the boats and none had any success.[16][17] Even though no ships were sunk during these forays into the English Channel, by successfully completing their voyages, the submarines helped further prove the feasibility of defeating the British countermeasures in the Straits of Dover.[16]

On 12 July, while patrolling between 18 and 23 nautical miles (33 and 43 km; 21 and 26 mi) off

red ochre sails[19]—which were stopped, boarded by crewmen from UB-6, and sunk with explosives.[20] Two weeks later, UB-6 torpedoed and sank the 406 GRT Firth 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) from the Aldborough Napes Buoy.[21] UB-6 sank the 57 GRT Leader, another smack, on 11 August.[20][22]

Germany's submarine offensive was suspended on 18 September by the chief of the

prize regulations.[23] It would be five months before UB-6 would sink another ship.[14]

In mid-November, Oberleutnant zur See (Oblt.z.S.) Ernst Voigt succeeded Haecker as commander of UB-6;[2] it was the first U-boat command for the 25-year-old Voigt.[24][Note 4] Under his command, UB-6 sank her next vessel in January 1916. The 57 GRT smack Crystal was boarded and sunk by explosives 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) southeast of Southwold on the 27th.[20][25]

Second submarine offensive

By early 1916, the British blockade of Germany was beginning to have an effect on Germany and her imports. The Royal Navy had stopped and seized more cargo destined for Germany than the quantity of cargo sunk by German U-boats in the first submarine offensive.[26] As a result, the German Imperial Navy began a second offensive against merchant shipping on 29 February.[27] The final ground rules agreed upon by the German Admiralstab were that all enemy vessels in Germany's self-proclaimed war zone would be destroyed without warning, that enemy vessels outside the war zone would be destroyed only if armed, and—to avoid antagonizing the United States—that enemy passenger steamers were not to be attacked, regardless of whether in the war zone or not.[27]

UB-6's first attack in the new offensive came on 17 March, when the U-boat torpedoed the Swedish ship Ask near the North Hinder lightship. The 1,041 GRT ship was en route to London from

ballast and in the process of sailing from Rouen to Rotterdam when sent under without loss of life.[29]

In March, UB-6's commander, Voigt, was assigned to the newly commissioned UB-23,[24] and replaced on UB-6 by Kapitänleutnant Karl Neumann, the former commander of two of the submarine's sister ships, UB-2 and UB-13.[30][Note 5] In his U-boat career, Neumann sank over 100,000 tons of shipping,[30] but only sank one ship at the helm of UB-6.[14] In July, Neumann was succeeded by Oberleutnant zur See Karsten von Heydebreck, a 26-year-old, first-time U-boat captain,[31] who was Voigt's classmate in April 1908 cadet class.[32]

Near the end of April 1916, Admiral

Reinhardt Scheer, the newest commander-in-chief of the German 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.[33] As with the end of the first offensive in August 1915, UB-6 would not sink any more ships for the next five months.[14]

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.[34]

A delayed departure of the German 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".[35] In UB-6's group, only UB-10 sighted the Harwich forces, and they were too far away to mount an attack.[35] 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.[36]

Later in August, the Germans set up another ambush for the British fleet, when they drew up 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-6 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 7] UB-6 was stationed off Texel by the morning of 20 August.[37] 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 8] UB-6 and her group played no part in the action.[37]

On 10 September, UB-6 was patrolling off the

lighters.[39] The following day, the Dutch ship Batavier II was seized as a prize and sailed into Zeebrugge by a prize crew from UB-6.[40][Note 9] Batavier II was the last success for Heydebreck in command of UB-6; he was assigned to command the newly commissioned minelaying submarine UC-63 in January 1917.[31][41] Oberleutnant zur See Oskar Steckelberg,[2] another member of the April 1908 cadet class,[32] replaced Heydebreck on UB-6.[2]

Unrestricted submarine warfare

The British blockade of Germany, which prevented neutral shipping from reaching German ports, had severely limited imports of food and fuel into Germany.

resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare to begin on 1 February 1917 to help force the British to make peace.[44] The new rules of engagement specified that no ship was to be left afloat.[45]

SM UB-6 in Hellevoetsluis

On 10 March, UB-6 departed Zeebrugge to patrol off the Mass lightship. Two days later, UB-6 entered Dutch territorial waters after Steckelberg made a navigational error, and ran aground at the mouth of the Meuse (Maas). Because the Netherlands was neutral during the war, and UB-6 did not leave Dutch territorial waters within 24 hours as required by international law, the submarine and her crew were interned by the Dutch. The Germans protested, but because UB-6's grounding was merely the result of an error and not because of distress, the Dutch could not release the submarine.[46] UB-6 was taken to the port of Hellevoetsluis for internment, where, on 18 March, UB-6's crew scuttled her.[2] The crew of UB-6 was interned for the duration of the war.[46] After the end of the war, UB-6's wreck was surrendered to France, taken to Brest, and broken up in July 1921.[2]

Summary of raiding history

Ships sunk or damaged by SM UB-6[14]
Date Name Nationality Tonnage[Note 10] Fate
1 May 1915 HMS Recruit  Royal Navy 335 Sunk
1 June 1915 Saidieh  United Kingdom 3,303 Sunk
12 July 1915 Emerald  United Kingdom 57 Damaged
12 July 1915 Merlin  United Kingdom 47 Sunk
12 July 1915 Purple Heather  United Kingdom 42 Sunk
12 July 1915 Speedwell  United Kingdom 38 Sunk
12 July 1915 Woodbine  United Kingdom 29 Sunk
25 July 1915 Firth  United Kingdom 406 Sunk
11 August 1915 Leader  United Kingdom 57 Sunk
27 January 1916 Crystal  United Kingdom 57 Sunk
17 March 1916 Ask  Sweden 1,041 Damaged
31 March 1916 Hollandia  Sweden 1,115 Sunk
23 June 1916 Alexander Maurice  Belgium 70 Sunk
10 September 1916 Lindborg  Norway 400 Sunk
23 September 1916 Germaine  Belgium 106 Sunk
23 September 1916 Lichtevreden II  Belgium 69 Sunk
23 September 1916 Maria Da Jonge  Belgium 98 Sunk
23 September 1916 Rosalie  Belgium 129 Sunk
24 September 1916 Batavier II  Netherlands 1,328 Captured as prize
[Note 11]Sunk:
Damaged:
Total: 		7,629
1,098
8,727

Victims Gallery

  • HMS Recruit, first victim of UB-6
    HMS Recruit, first victim of UB-6
  • Several of UB-6's victims were fishing smacks, traditionally outfitted with red ochre sails
    Several of UB-6's victims were
    red ochre
    sails
  • SS Hollandia, a Swedish cargo ship, was sunk by UB-6 in March 1916.
    SS Hollandia, a Swedish cargo ship, was sunk by UB-6 in March 1916.

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. ^ Haecker was in the Navy's April 1906 cadet class with 34 other future U-boat captains, including Wilhelm Marschall, Matthias Graf von Schmettow, Max Viebeg, and Erwin Waßner. See: Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI Officer Crews: Crew 4/06". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  4. ^ Voigt was in the Navy's April 1908 cadet class with 46 other future U-boat captains, including Reinhold Saltzwedel. See: Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI Officer Crews: Crew 4/08". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  5. ^ Neumann was in the Navy's April 1907 cadet class with 34 other future U-boat captains, including Werner Fürbringer, Heino von Heimburg, Hans Howaldt, Otto Steinbrinck, and Ralph Wenninger. See: Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI Officer Crews: Crew 4/07". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  6. ^ The other five boats for the May action were UB-10, UB-12, UB-16, UB-17, and UB-29.
  7. ^ The other four boats for the August action were UB-12, UB-16, UB-19, and UB-37.
  8. ^ U-52 sank HMS Nottingham; U-66 and U-63 teamed up to sink HMS Falmouth.
  9. ^ Batavier II was sunk by gunfire from British submarine E55 north of Texel on 27 July 1917. See: "Batavier II (5600938)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  10. gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement
  11. ^ Tonnage of ships captured as prizes is included in tonnage sunk.

References

  1. ^ a b "UB-6 (6104977)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UB 6". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  3. ^ a b Tarrant, p. 172.
  4. ^ Gröner 1991, pp. 22–23.
  5. ^ a b c Miller, pp. 46–47.
  6. ^ a b Karau, p. 48.
  7. ^ Williamson, p. 12.
  8. ^ a b c d Karau, p. 49.
  9. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Erich Haecker". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  10. ^ Tarrant, p. 14.
  11. ^ a b Karau, p. 50.
  12. ^ a b Gibson and Prendergast, p. 39.
  13. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Recruit (hms)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UB 6". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  15. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Saidieh". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  16. ^ a b c Karau, p. 51.
  17. ^ Gibson and Prendergast, p. 50.
  18. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Emerald (d.)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Merlin". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Purple Heather". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Speedwell". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Woodbine". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved on 6 March 2009.
  19. Penwith District Council (2009). "Boat Types". Penzance: Penwith District Council. Archived from the original
    on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  20. ^
    His Majesty's Stationery Office
    . 1919.
  21. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Firth". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  22. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Leader". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  23. ^ Tarrant, pp. 21–22.
  24. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Ernst Voigt". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  25. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Crystal". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  26. ^ Tarrant, p. 25.
  27. ^ a b Tarrant, p. 26.
  28. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Ask (d.)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  29. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Hollandia". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  30. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Karl Neumann". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  31. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Karsten von Heydebreck". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  32. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI Officer Crews: Crew 4/08". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  33. ^ Tarrant, p. 30.
  34. ^ a b c Gibson and Prendergast, p. 97.
  35. ^ a b c d e Tarrant, p. 32.
  36. ^ Tarrant, pp. 32–33.
  37. ^ a b Tarrant, p. 33.
  38. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Lindborg". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  39. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Germaine". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Lichtevreden Ii". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Maria Da Jonge". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net., Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Rosalie". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved on 6 March 2009.
  40. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Batavier Ii (p.)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
  41. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC 63". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  42. ^ Tarrant, pp. 44–45.
  43. ^ Tarrant, p. 45.
  44. ^ Tarrant, pp. 45–46.
  45. ^ Tarrant, p. 46.
  46. ^ a b Messimer, p. 130.

Bibliography

51°53′N 3°58′E / 51.883°N 3.967°E / 51.883; 3.967

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