| German Type UB III submarine | |
|---|---|
 UB-86 washed ashore 1921 | |
| Class overview | |
| Builders: |
AG Weser, Bremen Blohm & Voss, Hamburg AG Vulcan, Hamburg Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Operators: |
 Kaiserliche Marine Imperial Japanese Navy French Navy |
| Preceded by: | UB II |
| Built: | 1916–1918 |
| In commission: | 1917–1935 |
| Building: | 145 |
| Planned: | 201 |
| Completed: | 95 |
| Cancelled: | 56 |
| Lost: | 37 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Coastal submarine |
| Displacement: |
508–555 t (500–546 long tons; 560–612 short tons) ↑ 629–684 t (619–673 long tons; 693–754 short tons) ↓ |
| Length: | 55.3–57.8 m (181–190 ft) o/a |
| Beam: | 5.76–5.8 m (18.9–19.0 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.67–3.85 m (12.0–12.6 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
2 shafts 6-cylinder diesel engines, 1,060–1,100 ihp (790–820 kW) electric motors, 788 ihp (588 kW) |
| Speed: |
13.2–13.9 knots (24.4–25.7 km/h; 15.2–16.0 mph) ↑ 7.4–8 knots (13.7–14.8 km/h; 8.5–9.2 mph) ↓ |
| Range: |
7,120–9,090 nmi (13,190–16,830 km; 8,190–10,460 mi) at 6 kn (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) ↑ 50–55 nmi (93–102 km; 58–63 mi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) ↓ |
| Test depth: | 50 m (160 ft) |
| Complement: | 3 officers, 31 men |
| Armament: |
• 4 × 50 cm (19.7 in) bow torpedo tubes • 1 × stern tube (10 torpedoes) • 1 × 8.8 cm or 10.5 cm deck gun |
The Type UB III submarine was a class of U-boat built during World War I by the German Imperial Navy.
UB III boats carried 10 torpedoes and were usually armed with either a 8.8 cm (3.5 in) or a 10.5 cm (4.1 in) deck gun. They carried a crew of 34 and had a cruising range of 7,200-9,000 miles. Between 1916 and 1918, 96 were built.[1]
The UB III type coastal submarine, despite being a submersible torpedo boat was less akin to UB-II type "attack" (i.e. torpedo-launching) boats that preceded it than the highly successful UC-II type minelaying submarine. The UC-IIs had gained their fearsome reputation by sinking more than 1,800 Allied and neutral vessels.[2] German engineers did not miss the chance of expanding the potential of this capable design by incorporating some of her features into a new submersible torpedo boat.
The UB-IIIs joined the conflict mid-1917, after the United States of America declared war on Germany and the United States Navy was added to the ranks of their enemies. When the convoy system was introduced, it became more difficult to engage enemy merchant shipping without being spotted by destroyer escorts.[3] Nevertheless, the UB-IIIs performed their duties with distinction, sinking 507 ships with a total of 1,212,553 gross register tons (GRT) and 12 warships, including the battleship HMS Britannia before the end of hostilities.
More than 200 UB III boats were ordered, of these 96 were completed and 89 commissioned into the German Imperial Navy. 37 boats were lost, four of which in accidents.[4] Surviving boats had to be surrendered to the Allies in accordance with the requirements of the Armistice with Germany, some of these boats served until 1935.[5]
Germany was prohibited from acquiring a new submarine force by the Treaty of Versailles, but her admirals had no intention of allowing their nation to forget how to construct submarines. Germany started to manufacture and to export slightly modified versions of UB-IIs and UB-IIIs. Having kept the skills of their engineers polished by this means, they eventually ordered the construction of a new coastal submarine. The resulting design was an improved UB-III that had the benefit of new, all-welded construction techniques and an array of electronic and electromechanical gadgets: the famous Type VII submarine, the most common U-boat of the Kriegsmarine, was born.[6]
List of Type UB III submarines[]
There were 95 Type UB III submarines commissioned into the German Imperial Navy.
References[]
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1922
- Gröner, Erich (1985). U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher. III. Koblenz: Bernhard&Graefe. ISBN 3-7637-4802-4.
- Bendert, Harald (2000). Die UB-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine, 1914-1918. Einsätze, Erfolge, Schicksal. Hamburg: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn GmbH. ISBN 3-8132-0713-7.
- ↑ uboat.net
- ↑ uboat.net - U-boats in WWI
- ↑ Greg Goebel, The First Battle of the Atlantic, http://www.vectorsite.net/twsub2.html>
- ↑ Bendert 2000, p. 9.
- ↑ Gröner, pp. 53-56.
- ↑ G.Williamson and I.Palmer, U-Boats of the Kaiser's Navy, 2002
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