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SM U-152

Coordinates: 50°00′00″N 01°17′45″W / 50.00000°N 1.29583°W / 50.00000; -1.29583
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U-152 departs at Kiel, 5 September 1918
History
German Empire
NameU-152
Ordered29 November 1916
BuilderReiherstiegwerft, Hamburg
Launched20 May 1917
Commissioned17 October 1917
Fate
  • Surrendered, November 1918
  • Scuttled English Channel 30 June 1921
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeType U 151 submarine
Displacement
  • 1,512 tonnes (1,488 long tons) (surfaced)
  • 1,875 tonnes (1,845 long tons) (submerged)
  • 2,272 tonnes (2,236 long tons) (total)
Length
Beam
  • 8.90 m (29 ft 2 in) (o/a)
  • 5.80 m (19 ft) (pressure hull)
Height9.25 m (30 ft 4 in)
Draught5.30 m (17 ft 5 in)
Installed power
  • 800 PS (590 kW; 790 bhp) (surfaced)
  • 800 PS (590 kW; 790 bhp) (submerged)
Propulsion2 × shafts, 2 × 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) propellers
Speed
  • 12.4 knots (23.0 km/h; 14.3 mph) surfaced
  • 5.2 knots (9.6 km/h; 6.0 mph) submerged
Range25,000 nmi (46,000 km; 29,000 mi) at 5.5 knots (10.2 km/h; 6.3 mph) surfaced, 65 nmi (120 km; 75 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) submerged
Test depth50 metres (160 ft)
Complement6 officers, 50 enlisted
Armament
Service record
Part of:
  • U-Kreuzer Flotilla
  • 20 October 1917 - 11 November 1918
Commanders:
  • Kptlt. Constantin Kolbe
  • 20 October 1917 – 3 May 1918
  • KrvKpt. Gehrard von Zitzewitz
  • 4 May – 24 August 1918
  • Kptlt. Adolf Franz
  • 25 August – 15 November 1918
Operations: 2 patrols
Victories:
  • 19 merchant ships sunk
    (37,505 GRT)
  • 3 merchant ships damaged
    (11,406 GRT)

SM U-152 was a Type U 151 submarine of the Imperial German Navy during World War I.

Built at Hamburg, the submarine was commissioned in October 1917. Initially intended as a submersible merchantman for transporting critical war materiel through the British blockade, she was converted to a combat ship while under construction.

Service history

[edit]

U-152 was actively employed in the Atlantic during the last year of the conflict. Among her victims were two American schooners, Julia Frances (sunk on 27 January 1918) and A.E. Whyland (sunk on 13 March 1918), the Norwegian barque Stifinder (boarded and scuttled on 13 October 1918), the Spanish Giralda (sunk on 25 January 1918), and the U.S. Navy cargo ship USS Ticonderoga. The latter was sunk, after a two-hour gun battle, with heavy casualties among her crew and passengers, on 30 September 1918. The previous day, 29 September, the submarine had also fought a gun battle with the Navy oiler USS George G. Henry, but despite being badly damaged the American ship escaped.

After returning to Germany in November 1918, at the end of her final wartime cruise, U-152 was surrendered to the Allies at Harwich on 24 November 1918 in accordance with the requirements of the Armistice with Germany. She was exhibited at Tower Bridge in London in December 1918, and then laid up at Portsmouth. On 30 June 1921, she was towed out into the English Channel and scuttled.[2][3]

Summary of raiding history

[edit]
Date Name Nationality Tonnage[Note 1] Fate[4]
25 January 1918 Giralda  Spain 2,194 Sunk
26 January 1918 Germano  Portugal 236 Sunk
26 January 1918 Serra Do Gerez  Portugal 257 Sunk
27 January 1918 Julia Frances  United States 183 Sunk
28 January 1918 Neptuno  Portugal 321 Sunk
5 February 1918 Sebastian  Spain 2,563 Sunk
9 February 1918 Ceferino  Spain 3,647 Sunk
15 February 1918 Neguri  Spain 1,859 Sunk
16 February 1918 Mar Caspio  Spain 2,723 Sunk
24 February 1918 Gaetana Costanzo  Kingdom of Italy 1,027 Sunk
26 February 1918 Siljestad  Norway 4,298 Sunk
6 March 1918 Elector  Portugal 134 Sunk
7 March 1918 Luigi  Kingdom of Italy 3,549 Sunk
13 March 1918 A. E. Whyland  United States 130 Sunk
16 March 1918 Ellaston  United Kingdom 3,192 Sunk
31 March 1918 Indien  Denmark 4,199 Sunk
3 April 1918 Elsie Birdett  United Kingdom 118 Sunk
11 September 1918 Constance  Denmark 199 Damaged
29 September 1918 USS George G. Henry  United States Navy 6,936 Damaged
30 September 1918 USS Ticonderoga  United States Navy 5,130 Sunk
14 October 1918 Stifinder  Norway 1,745 Sunk
15 October 1918 Messina  United Kingdom 4,271 Damaged
[edit]
  • USS Ticonderoga in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts
    USS Ticonderoga in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts
  • Newspaper report on the sinking of USS Ticonderoga
    Newspaper report on the sinking of USS Ticonderoga
  • Bark Stifinder sinking
    Bark Stifinder sinking
  • James Jonas Madison
    James Jonas Madison
  • Two U.S. Navy officers captured when the submarine sank USS Ticonderoga on 30 September 1918. They are Lt. Frank L. Muller, USNRF (left), and Lt. (j.g) Junius H. Fulcher, USNRF
    Two U.S. Navy officers captured when the submarine sank USS Ticonderoga on 30 September 1918. They are Lt. Frank L. Muller, USNRF (left), and Lt. (j.g) Junius H. Fulcher, USNRF
  • USS George G. Henry
    USS George G. Henry
  • Officers, crewmen and a former prisoner of war, Lt. Frank L. Muller, USNRF, Executive Officer of USS Ticonderoga (standing third from right, wearing his uniform and a civilian cap), on the submarine's foredeck, while she was passing through the Kiel Canal on the way to Harwich, England to be surrendered, 28 November 1918.
    Officers, crewmen and a former prisoner of war, Lt. Frank L. Muller, USNRF, Executive Officer of USS Ticonderoga (standing third from right, wearing his uniform and a civilian cap), on the submarine's foredeck, while she was passing through the Kiel Canal on the way to Harwich, England to be surrendered, 28 November 1918.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Gröner 1991, pp. 20–21.
  2. ^ *McCartney, Innes (2002). Lost patrols : submarine wrecks of the English Channel. Penzance: Periscope. ISBN 978-1-90438-104-4.
  3. ^ Dodson, Aidan; Cant, Serena (2020). Spoils of War: the fate of enemy fleets after the two World Wars. Barnsley: Seaforth. pp. 54, 12. ISBN 978-1-5267-4198-1.
  4. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U 152". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 5 June 2018.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
  • Bodo Herzog/Günter Schomaekers: Ritter der Tiefe – Die erfolgreichsten U-Bootkommandanten der Welt. Verlag Welsermühl, Wels und München 1976, ISBN 3-85339-136-2
  • Jung, Dieter (2004). Die Schiffe der Kaiserlichen Marine 1914-1918 und ihr Verbleib [German Imperial Navy ships 1914-1918 and their fate] (in German). Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 3-7637-6247-7.
  • Paul Kemp: Die deutschen und österreichischen U-Boot Verluste in beiden Weltkriegen. Urbes Verlag Hans Jürgen Hansen, Gräfelfing vor München 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7
  • Eberhard Möller / Werner Brack: Enzyklopädie deutscher U-Boote, Von 1904 bis zur Gegenwart, Motorbuch Verlag, ISBN 3-613-02245-1
[edit]

50°00′00″N 01°17′45″W / 50.00000°N 1.29583°W / 50.00000; -1.29583

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