SM U-7 (Germany)

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-7.

SM U-7 (Germany)
Career (German Empire)
Name:	U-7
Ordered:	8 April 1908
Builder:	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Cost:	2,540,000 Goldmark
Yard number:	149
Laid down:	6 May 1909
Launched:	28 July 1910
Commissioned:	18 July 1911
Fate:	Sunk by U-22 in a friendly fire incident, 26 dead.
General characteristics
Class & type:	German Type U 5 submarine
Displacement:	505 metric tons (557 short tons) ↑ 636 metric tons (701 short tons) ↓
Length:	57.3 m (188.0 ft) (OA) 43.1 m (141.4 ft) (pressure hull)
Beam:	5.6 m (18.4 ft) (overall) 3.75 m (12.3 ft) (pressure hull)
Draught:	3.55 m (11.6 ft)
Propulsion:	2 shafts 2 × Körting 6-cylinder and 2 × Körting 8-cylinder two stroke paraffin motors with 900 PS (890 hp) 2 × SSW electric motors with 1,040 PS (1,030 hp) 550 rpm ↑ 600 rpm ↓
Speed:	13.4 kn (24.8 km/h) ↑ 10.2 kn (18.9 km/h) ↓
Range:	3,300 nmi (6,100 km; 3,800 mi) @ 9 kn (17 km/h)
Test depth:	30 m (98 ft)
Boats & landing craft carried:	1 dingi
Complement:	4 officers, 24 men
Armament:	4 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 each bow and stern) with 6 torpedoes 1 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss gun

SM U-7 was a Type U 5 U-boat, one of the 329 that served in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-7 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.

Fate

On 21 January 1915, U-7 was torpedoed and sunk by SM U-22, which had mistaken her for an enemy submarine. Twenty-four crew were killed, and only one survived.

References

• Spindler, Arno (1932,1933,1934,1941/1964,1966). Der Handelskrieg mit U-Booten. 5 Vols. Berlin: Mittler & Sohn. Vols. 4+5, dealing with 1917+18, are very hard to find: Guildhall Library, London, has them all, also Vol. 1-3 in an English translation: The submarine war against commerce. 
• Beesly, Patrick (1982). Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914-1918. London: H Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-10864-2. 
• Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-85728-498-0. 
• Roessler, Eberhard (1997). Die Unterseeboote der Kaiserlichen Marine. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-5963-7. 
• Schroeder, Joachim (2002). Die U-Boote des Kaisers. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-6235-4. 
• Koerver, Hans Joachim (2008). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914-1918. Vol I., The Fleet in Action. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN 978-3-902433-76-3. 
• Koerver, Hans Joachim (2009). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914-1918. Vol II., The Fleet in Being. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN 978-3-902433-77-0. 

External links

• Photos of cruises of German submarine U-54 in 1916-1918.
• A 44 min. German film from 1917 about a cruise of the German submarine U-35.
• Uboat.net: More detailed information about U-7.
• Room 40: original documents, photos and maps about World War I German submarine warfare and British Room 40 Intelligence from The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, UK.