WWI U-boats

U 15


The first lost. SM U 15 (Kptlt. Pohle) was rammed and sunk by British light cruiser HMS Birmingham.

Type U 13
ShipyardKaiserliche Werft, Danzig (Werk 10)
Ordered 23 Feb 1909
Launched 18 Sep 1911
Commissioned 7 Jul 1912
Commanders
1 Aug 1914 - 9 Aug 1914 Kptlt. Richard Pohle
Career 1 patrol
1 Aug 1914 - 9 Aug 1914 II Flotilla
SuccessesNo successes
Fate 9 Aug 1914 - Rammed by HMS Birmingham in the North Sea.. 25 dead (all hands lost).

The engines had apparently failed as she was laying stopped on the surface in heavy fog when HMS Birmingham spotted her and could clearly hear hammering from inside the boat (presumably from attempted repairs). The cruiser fired on her but missed, and as the boat began to dive, she rammed her cutting her in two. The wreck of U 15 was located in 2021.

This was the first U-boat loss to an enemy warship.

There was another U 15 in World War Two
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 15 Feb 1936 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 7 Mar 1936. Take a look at U 15 from WWII.

Media links


German Submarine Warfare 1914-1918 in the Eyes of British Intelligence

Koerver, Hans Joachim


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