| SM UB-27 | |
|---|---|
 SM UB-45 a u-boat similar to UB-27 | |
| Career (German Empire) |  |
| Name: | UB-27 |
| Ordered: | 30 April 1915[1] |
| Builder: | AG Weser, Bremen[1] |
| Cost: | 1,291,000 German Papiermark[2] |
| Yard number: | 241[1] |
| Launched: | 10 February 1916[1] |
| Commissioned: | 23 February 1916[2] |
| Fate: | sunk by British warship on 29 July 1917[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | German Type UB II submarine |
| Displacement: |
265 t (261 long tons) ↑[2] 291 t (286 long tons) ↓[2] |
| Length: | 36.13 m (118 ft 6 in)[2] |
| Beam: | 436 m (1,430 ft 5 in)[2] |
| Draft: | 3.66 m (12 ft 0 in)[2] |
| Propulsion: |
2 × propeller shafts 2 × Benz diesel engines, 270 shp (200 kW)[2] 2 × Siemens-Schuckert electric motor, 280 shp (210 kW)[2] |
| Speed: |
8.9 knots (16.5 km/h) ↑[2] 5.72 knots (10.59 km/h) ↓[2] |
| Range: |
7,200 nautical miles (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) @ 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) ↑[2] 45 nmi (83 km; 52 mi) @ 4 knots ↓[2] |
| Test depth: | 50 m (160 ft)[2] |
| Complement: | 2 officers, 21 men[2] |
| Armament: |
2 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes[2] 4 × torpedoes (later 6) 1 × 5 cm SK L/40 gun[2] |
| Notes: | 30-second diving time[2] |
SM UB-27 was a German Type UB II submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German language: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 30 April 1915 and launched on 10 February 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 23 February 1916 as SM UB-27.[Note 1] UB-27 sank 13 ships in 17 patrols for a total of 19,437 gross register tons (GRT).[3]
On 29 April 1916 in the North Sea about 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) south-east of Souter Point near Whitburn, County Durham, UB-27 opened with her deck gun fire at SS Wandle, an 889 GRT "flat-iron" collier of the Wandsworth, Wimbledon and Epsom District Gas Company.[4] The collier engaged the submarine and survived.[4] Afterwards in Britain it was believed Wandle had sunk UB-27 and the master, G.E.A. Mastin, and his crew were celebrated.[5][6]
UB-27 disappeared after 22 July 1917. HMS Halcyon reported ramming and depth charging a U-boat on 29 July 1917. A postwar German study concluded that it was possible that Halcyon sank UB-27 at 52°47′N 2°24′E / 52.783°N 2.4°ECoordinates: 52°47′N 2°24′E / 52.783°N 2.4°E.[2]
Notes[]
- ↑ "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Rössler 1979, p. 54.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 Gröner 1985, p. 50.
- ↑ Bendert 2000, p. 195.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Helgason, Guðmundur (1995-2011). "Wandle". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. http://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/ship.html?shipID=6433. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ↑ "Wandsworth and District Gas Company". Access to Archives. The National Archives. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=1866-sewnd&cid=0#0. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ↑ Central Office of Information; for Ministry of Transport (1947). British Coaster: The Official Story. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 53–54.
Bibliography[]
- 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.
- Rössler, Eberhard (1979). U-Bootbau bis Ende des 1. Weltkrieges, Konstruktionen für das Ausland und die Jahre 1935 - 1945. I. Munich: Bernhard&Graefe. ISBN 3-7637-5213-7.
The original article can be found at SM UB-27 and the edit history here.