U-14
History
Germany
NameU-14
Ordered23 February 1909
BuilderKaiserliche Werft Danzig
Cost2,101,000 Goldmark
Yard number9
Launched11 July 1911
Commissioned24 April 1912
FateDisabled by gunfire from armed trawler Oceanic II and sunk off Peterhead at position 57°16′N 1°16′E / 57.267°N 1.267°E / 57.267; 1.267 on 5 June 1915
General characteristics
Class and typeGerman Type U 13 submarine
Displacement
  • 516 t (508 long tons) surfaced
  • 644 t (634 long tons) submerged
Length57.88 m (189 ft 11 in)
Beam6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Draught3.44 m (11 ft 3 in)
Propulsion
  • 2 shafts
  • 2 × Körting 6-cylinder and 2 × Körting 8-cylinder two stroke paraffin motors with 900 PS (660 kW; 890 shp)
  • 2 × SSW electric motors with 1,040 PS (760 kW; 1,030 shp)
  • 550 rpm surfaced
  • 600 rpm submerged
Speed
  • 14.8 knots (27.4 km/h; 17.0 mph) surfaced
  • 10.7 knots (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph) submerged
Test depth50 m (160 ft)
Boats & landing
craft carried		1 dinghy
Complement4 officers, 25 men
Armament
Service record
Part of:
  • I Flotilla
  • 1 August 1914 – 5 June 1915
Commanders:
  • Kptlt. Walther Schwieger[1]
  • 1 August – 15 December 1914
  • Kptlt. Otto Dröscher[2]
  • 17 December 1914 – 15 April 1915
  • Oblt.z.S. Max Hammerle[3]
  • 16 April – 5 June 1915
Operations: 1 patrol
Victories: 2 merchant ships sunk
(3,907 GRT)

SM U-14[Note 1] was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.

Service history

U-14 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic. U-14 was damaged by an air raid on the German-occupied port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, on the night of 12 February 1915.[4]

Fate

On 5 June 1915, U-14 approached the trawler Oceanic II off Peterhead, firing a couple of warning shots, but Oceanic II was armed and was acting as a decoy and returned fire, being joined by the armed trawler Hawk. U-14 was hit several times, and, unable to escape by submerging, sank, with six officers and 21 ratings being rescued, and one man, her commanding officer, being killed.[5][6]

Summary of raiding history

Date Ship Name Nationality Tonnage[Note 2] Fate[7]
2 June 1915 Cyrus  Denmark 1,669 Sunk
3 June 1915 Lappland  Sweden 2,238 Sunk

References

Notes

  1. ^ "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
  2. ^ Tonnages are in gross register tons

Citations

  1. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Walther Schwieger (Pour le Mérite)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  2. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Otto Dröscher (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  3. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Max Hammerle". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  4. ^ Karau 2014, p. 27.
  5. ^ Grant 1964, pp. 24–25.
  6. ^ Corbett 1923, pp. 45–46.
  7. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U 14". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 19 February 2014.

Bibliography

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