SM U-70
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} Germany | |
| Name | SM U-70 |
| Ordered | 2 February 1913 |
| Builder | Germaniawerft, Kiel[2] |
| Yard number | 207[1] |
| Laid down | 11 February 1914, as U-11 (Austria-Hungary)[1] |
| Launched | 20 July 1915[1] |
| Commissioned | 22 September 1915[1] |
| Fate | surrendered 20 November 1918; broken up, 1919–20 |
| Service record | |
| Part of: |
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|
| Commanders: |
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|
| Operations: | 12 war patrols[1] |
| Victories: |
list error: <br /> list (help) 53 ships (137,775 GRT GRT uses unsupported parameter (help)) sunk[1] 4 ships (20,369 GRT) damaged 1 warship (1,290 t displ.) sunk |
| General characteristics (as ordered) | |
| Type | U-7-class submarine (Austria-Hungary) |
| Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 695 metric tons (766 short tons) surfaced 885 metric tons (976 short tons) submerged[3] |
| Length | 228 ft (69 m) (OA)[3] |
| Beam | 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)[3] |
| Draft | 12 ft 5 in (3.78 m)[3] |
| Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 2 × shaft 2 × diesel engines, 2,300 bhp (1,700 kW) total 2 × electric motors, 1,240 shp (920 kW) total[3] |
| Speed | list error: <br /> list (help) 17 knots (31 km/h) surfaced 11 knots (20 km/h) submerged[2] |
| Complement | unknown[3] |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) 5 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern); 9 torpedoes 1 × 66 cm/26 (2.6 in) deck gun[3] |
| General characteristics (as completed) | |
| Class and type | Type U 66 submarine |
| Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 791 t (872 short tons) surfaced 933 t (1,028 short tons) submerged[2] |
| Length | 228 ft (69 m)[2] |
| Beam | 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)[2] |
| Draft | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)[2] |
| Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 2 × shaft 2 × Germania 6-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines, 2,300 bhp (1,700 kW) total 2 × electric motors, 1,260 shp (940 kW) total[2] |
| Speed | list error: <br /> list (help) 16.8 knots (31.1 km/h) surfaced 10.3 knots (19 km/h) submerged[2] |
| Range | list error: <br /> list (help) 7,880 nmi (14,590 km) @ 7 kn (13 km/h), surfaced[4] 115 nautical miles (213 km) @ 4 knots (7.4 km/h), submerged[2] |
| Test depth | 50 m (160 ft)[2] |
| Complement | 36[2] |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) 5 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern); 12 torpedoes 1 × 8.8 cm KL/30 (3.45 in) deck gun[2] |
SM U-70 was a Type U 66 submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during the First World War. She had been laid down in February 1914 as U-11 the final boat of the U-7 class for the Austro-Hungarian Navy ([Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or K.u.K. Kriegsmarine] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) but was sold to Germany, along with the others in her class, in November 1914.
The submarine was ordered as U-11 from Germaniawerft of Kiel as the last of five boats of the U-7 class for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Navy became convinced that none of the submarines of the class could be delivered to the Adriatic via Gibraltar. As a consequence, the entire class, including U-11, was sold to the German Imperial Navy in November 1914. Under German control, the class became known as the U 66 type and the boats were renumbered; U-11 became U-70, and all were redesigned and reconstructed to German specifications. U-70 was launched in July 1915 and commissioned in September. As completed, she displaced 791 metric tons (872 short tons), surfaced, and 933 metric tons (1,028 short tons), submerged. The boat was 228 feet (69 m) long and was armed with five torpedo tubes and a deck gun.
A part of the 4th Flotilla throughout the war, U-70 sank 53 merchant ships with a combined gross register tonnage (GRT) of 137,775. Included in that total was Southland—at 11,899 GRT, one of the largest ships of the war sunk by a U-boat—sunk in June 1917. In addition she sank one British Flower-class sloop and damaged four merchant ships (20,369 GRT). On 20 November 1918, nine days after the Armistice, U-70 was surrendered to the British. She was broken up at Bo'ness in 1919–20.
Design and construction
After the Austro-Hungarian Navy had competitively evaluated three foreign submarine designs, it selected the Germaniawerft 506d design, also known as the Type UD, for its new U-7 class of five submarines.[5] The Navy ordered five boats on 1 February 1913.[3]
The U-7 class was seen by the Austro-Hungarian Navy as an improved version of its U-3 class, which was also a Germaniawerft design.[3][Note 2] As designed for the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the boats were to displace 695 metric tons (766 short tons) on the surface and 885 metric tons (976 short tons) while submerged. The doubled-hulled boats were to be 228 feet (69 m) long (OA) with a beam of 20 feet 8 inches (6.30 m) and a draft of 12 feet 5 inches (3.78 m). The Austrian specifications called for two shafts with twin diesel engines (2,300 brake horsepower (1,700 kW) total) for surface running at up to 17 knots (31 km/h), and twin electric motors (1,240 shaft horsepower (920 kW) total) for a maximum of 11 knots (20 km/h) when submerged.[3] The boats were designed with five 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes; four located in the bow, one in the stern. The boats' armament was to also include a single 66 cm/26 (2.6 in) deck gun.[3]
U-11 was laid down on 11 February 1914, the final boat of the class begun.[6] Her construction was slated to be complete within 29 to 33 months.[3]
Neither U-11 nor any of her sister boats were complete when World War I began in August 1914.[6] With the boats under construction at Kiel, the Austrians became convinced that it would be impossible to take delivery of the boats, which would need to be towed into the Mediterranean past Gibraltar, a British territory.[3][Note 3] As a result, U-11 and her four sisters were sold to the Imperial German Navy on 28 November 1914.[2][Note 4]
U-11 was renumbered by the Germans as U-70 when her class was redesignated as the Type U 66. The Imperial German Navy had the submarines redesigned and reconstructed to German standards, which increased the surface displacement by 96 metric tons (106 short tons) and the submerged by 48 metric tons (53 short tons). The torpedo load was increased by a third, from 9 to 12, and the deck gun was upgraded from the 66 mm (2.6 in) gun originally specified to an 88 mm (3.5 in) one.[2]
Service career
U-70 was launched on 20 July 1915.[2] On 22 September, SM U-70 was commissioned into the Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Kapitänleutnant Otto Wünsche.[1]
In January 1916 U-70 escorted the German blockade runner Marie through the North Sea.[7] Early the next month, U-70 was assigned to the IV. U-Halbflotille in which she remained for the duration of the war.[8] Later that same month, U-70 again served as an escort, this time for the German merchant raider Greif.[7][Note 5]
U-70 sank her first ship on 16 March,[9] when she dispatched the British sailing vessel Willie 60 nautical miles (110 km) northwest by west of Fastnet Rock.[10] The same day she also damaged the British cargo ship Berwindale, en route to Avonmouth with a load of wheat from Galveston, Texas.[11] Throughout the rest of March and into early April, U-70 sank an additional five ships of 14,557 GRT;[9] the largest being the British cargo vessel Eagle Point, carrying a load of hay and oats from Saint John, New Brunswick, torpedoed and sunk on 28 March.[12]
U-70's next success came in December when she sank the 5,587-ton British steamer Pascal on 17 December. Over the next month she sank an additional 15 ships (20,545 GRT).[9] Near the end of February 1917, U-70 shelled the British-flagged tanker San Patricio, but she survived the attack.[13][Note 6] From 3 March to 30 April, U-70 sank 23 ships of 49,238 GRT, four of them on the same day, 24 April.[9]
U-70 had no successes during May 1917, but her captain, Otto Wünsche, was awarded the House Order of Hohenzollern.[14] U-70 kicked off another productive month by sinking the American Line ocean liner Southland on 4 June. At 11,899 GRT, Southland was the largest ship sunk by U-70,[9] and one of the largest ships sunk during the war by a U-boat.[15] Southland was carrying a general cargo from Liverpool to Philadelphia when U-70 sank her at position 56°10′N 12°14′W / 56.167°N 12.233°W, some 140 nautical miles (260 km) from Tory Island.[16] Throughout the rest of the month, U-70 sank another seven ships. After June 1917, U-70 only sank another three ships throughout the rest of the war, one of which was the British Flower-class sloop Rhododendron on 5 May 1918.[9]
In total U-70 sank 54 ships with a combined tonnage of 139,065 and damaged four with a tonnage of 20,369 in her twelve war patrols. She was surrendered to the British on 20 November 1918, nine days after the Armistice, and broken up at Bo'ness in 1919–20.[1]
Ships sunk or damaged
| Date | Name | Tonnage | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 March 1916 | Berwindvale* | 5,242 | British |
| 16 March 1916 | Willie | 185 | British |
| 17 March 1916 | Lindfjeld | 2,230 | Norwegian |
| 22 March 1916 | Bougainville | 2,248 | French |
| 24 March 1916 | Fenay Bridge | 3,838 | British |
| 28 March 1916 | Eagle Point | 5,222 | British |
| 2 April 1916 | Arena | 1,019 | Norwegian |
| 17 December 1916 | Pascal | 5,587 | British |
| 18 December 1916 | Eugene Gaston | 184 | French |
| 18 December 1916 | Flimston | 5,751 | British |
| 18 December 1916 | Hirondelle | 148 | French |
| 22 December 1916 | Avanti | 1,673 | Italian |
| 22 December 1916 | Thyra* | 749 | Norwegian |
| 24 December 1916 | Harry W. Adams | 127 | British |
| 26 December 1916 | Spinaway | 96 | British |
| 30 December 1916 | Borre | 741 | Norwegian |
| 30 December 1916 | Edda | 1,138 | Norwegian |
| 1 January 1917 | Tsiropinas | 3,015 | Greek |
| 2 January 1917 | Aconcagua | 1,313 | French |
| 2 January 1917 | Odda | 1,101 | Norwegian |
| 2 January 1917 | San Leandro | 1,616 | Spanish |
| 4 January 1917 | Ruby | 949 | Russian |
| 9 January 1917 | Excellent | 1,944 | British |
| 27 February 1917 | San Patricio* | 9,712 | British |
| 3 March 1917 | Kincardine | 4,108 | British |
| 9 March 1917 | Inverlogie | 2,347 | British |
| 10 March 1917 | Mediterranean | 105 | British |
| 10 March 1917 | T. Crowley | 97 | British |
| 12 March 1917 | Winnebago* | 4,666 | British |
| 13 March 1917 | Alma | 335 | Russian |
| 13 March 1917 | Elizabeth Eleanor | 169 | British |
| 13 March 1917 | Pera | 1,737 | Russian |
| 15 March 1917 | Balaguier | 2,293 | French |
| 15 March 1917 | Circe | 4,133 | French |
| 16 March 1917 | Norma Pratt | 4,416 | British |
| 16 March 1917 | Vigilancia | 4,115 | American |
| 18 March 1917 | Joshua Nicholson | 1,853 | British |
| 21 April 1917 | Sebek | 4,601 | British |
| 24 April 1917 | Clan Galbraith | 2,168 | Norwegian |
| 24 April 1917 | Eos | 179 | Danish |
| 24 April 1917 | Valkyrian | 233 | Swedish |
| 24 April 1917 | Vestdal | 1,690 | Norwegian |
| 26 April 1917 | Harflete | 4,814 | British |
| 27 April 1917 | Manchester Citizen | 4,251 | British |
| 28 April 1917 | Anne Marie | 441 | Norwegian |
| 29 April 1917 | Daleby | 3,628 | British |
| 30 April 1917 | Delamere | 1,525 | British |
| 4 June 1917 | Southland | 11,899 | British |
| 9 June 1917 | Appledore | 3,843 | British |
| 9 June 1917 | Egyptiana | 3,818 | British |
| 9 June 1917 | Harbury | 4,572 | British |
| 10 June 1917 | Galicia | 1,400 | British |
| 11 June 1917 | City Of Perth | 3,427 | British |
| 18 June 1917 | Queen Adelaide | 4,965 | British |
| 19 June 1917 | Buffalo | 4,106 | British |
| 25 August 1917 | Malda | 7,896 | British |
| 5 May 1918 | HMS Rhododendron | 1,290 | British |
| 7 July 1918 | Carl | 2,486 | Danish |
* damaged but not sunk
Notes
- ^ On the U 70 page at Uboat.net, Helgason reports that Otto Wünsche was in command only through October 1917, but the listing of ships hit by U-70 from the same website reports that he was still in command as late as July 1918.
- ^ The U-3-class submarines, however, were less than half the displacement and nearly 90 feet (27 m) shorter than the U-7 design. See: Gardiner, pp. 342–43.
- ^ The Austro-Hungarian Navy's Germaniawerft-built U-3 class boats had been towed from Kiel to Pola via Gibraltar in 1909. See: Sieche, p. 19.
- ^ In April 1915, just five months later, the German U-21 successfully entered the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar, proving that delivery would have been possible after all. See: Gardiner, p. 343.
- ^ Greif and British armed merchant cruiser Alcantara met and sank each other on 29 February in the North Sea.
- ^ Although San Patricio survived two different U-boat attacks in 1917—U-70's gunfire attack on 27 February and a torpedo attack on 8 May by UC-65—she was torpedoed and sunk in March 1943 (as Southern Princess) by U-600 during World War II. See: Helgason, Guðmundur. "Allied Ships hit by U-boats: Southern Princess". Fighting the U-boats. Uboat.net.
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References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 70". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessdaymonth=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Gardiner, p. 177.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gardiner, p. 343.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 170.
- ^ Gardiner, p. 340.
- ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. WWI U-boats: U 66, WWI U-boats: U 67, WWI U-boats: U 68, WWI U-boats: U 69, WWI U-boats: U 70. U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved on 9 December 2008.
- ^ a b Gibson and Prendergast, p. 83.
- ^ Tarrant, p. 34.
- ^ a b c d e f g Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Ships hit by U 70". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessdaymonth=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Willie". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessdaymonth=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Berwindale". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessdaymonth=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Tennent, p. 97.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: San Patricio". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessdaymonth=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Otto Wünsche". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessdaymonth=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Ships over 10.000 tons hit by U-boat during WWI". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessdaymonth=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Tennent, p. 138
Bibliography
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9780870219078. OCLC 12119866.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Gibson, R. H. (2003) [1931]. The German Submarine War, 1914–1918. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781591143147. OCLC 52924732.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Sieche, Erwin F. (1980). "Austro-Hungarian Submarines". Warship, Volume 2. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9780870219764. OCLC 233144055.
- Tarrant, V. E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive: 1914–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9780870217647. OCLC 20338385.
- Tennent, A. J. (2006) [1990]. British Merchant Ships Sunk by U boats in the 1914–1918 War. Penzance: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 1904381367.
External links