SM U-29 (Germany)
![]() SM U 29, Commander Otto Weddigen, leaving harbour for the last cruise
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History | |
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Name | U-29 |
Ordered | 19 February 1912 |
Builder | Kaiserliche Werft Danzig |
Launched | 11 October 1913 |
Commissioned | 1 August 1914 |
Fate | Rammed and sunk by HMS Dreadnought on 18 March 1915 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | German Type U 27 submarine |
Displacement |
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Length | 64.70 m (212 ft 3 in) (o/a) |
Beam | 6.32 m (20 ft 9 in) |
Draught | 3.48 m (11 ft 5 in) |
Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 50 m (164 ft) |
Complement | 4 officers, 31 enlisted |
Armament |
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Service record | |
Part of: |
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Commanders: |
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Operations: | 1 patrol |
Victories: |
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SM U-29[Note 1] was a Type U-27 U-boat of the Imperial German Navy. She served during the First World War.
U-29's last commander was Captain Otto Weddigen. U-29 was sunk with all hands on 18 March 1915 in the Pentland Firth after being run down while defenseless on the surface by HMS Dreadnought.[2] She is the only submarine known to have been sunk by a battleship. Although called a "ramming" the actual act of a very large ship intentionally running into and either over or through a much smaller ship intending to destroy it and its occupants is a premeditated, criminal act under maritime law. Ramming another ship intentionally "bow on" to hole or crush the hull while occupants inside are unaware of the impending collision and likely to rush to portholes or hatches to look out if alerted by alarm and announcement is also a criminal act but both are virtually impossible to prove intentional in peacetime and are essentially unprosecutable in the "fog of war".
Summary of raiding history
Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage[Note 2] | Fate[3] |
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11 March 1915 | Adenwen | ![]() |
3,798 | Damaged |
11 March 1915 | Auguste Conseil | ![]() |
2,952 | Sunk |
12 March 1915 | Andalusian | ![]() |
2,349 | Sunk |
12 March 1915 | Headlands | ![]() |
2,988 | Sunk |
12 March 1915 | Indian City | ![]() |
4,645 | Sunk |
14 March 1915 | Atalanta | ![]() |
519 | Damaged |
References
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.
- ^ Tonnages are in gross register tons
Citations
- ^ Gröner 1991, pp. 6–7.
- ^ History.ney.mil, Dreadnought
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U 29". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
Bibliography
- Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
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