SM UB-53
![]() UB-148 at sea, a U-boat similar to UB-53.
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History | |
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Name | UB-53 |
Ordered | 20 May 1916[2] |
Builder | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
Cost | 3,276,000 German Papiermark |
Yard number | 298 |
Launched | 9 March 1917[1] |
Commissioned | 21 August 1917[1] |
Fate | sunk 3 August 1918 at 39°40′N 18°40′E / 39.667°N 18.667°ECoordinates: 39°40′N 18°40′E / 39.667°N 18.667°E by mines, 10 dead[1] |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | German Type UB III submarine |
Displacement |
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Length | 55.30 m (181 ft 5 in) (o/a) |
Beam | 5.80 m (19 ft) |
Draught | 3.68 m (12 ft 1 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 50 m (160 ft) |
Complement | 3 officers, 31 men[1] |
Armament |
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Service record | |
Part of: |
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Commanders: |
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Operations: | 5 patrols |
Victories: | 14 merchant ships sunk (16,586 GRT) |
SM UB-53 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the Imperial German Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. She was commissioned into the Pola Flotilla of the German Imperial Navy on 21 August 1917 as SM UB-53.[Note 1]
She operated as part of the Pola Flotilla based in Cattaro. UB-53 was sunk by mines of the Otranto Barrage on 3 August 1918 at 39°40′N 18°40′E / 39.667°N 18.667°E in the Otranto Strait, 10 crew members died.[1]SS Athenia (1914). On 7 April 1918 the submarine saw an airship catch fire accidentally and crash into the sea near the Strait of Otranto with the loss of all hands. It apparently was the German Navy Zeppelin L 59, modified for long-range flights, on the outbound leg of a flight from Yambol, Bulgaria, in an attempt to bomb the Royal Navy base at Malta.[3]
Construction[]
UB-53 was ordered by the GIN on 20 May 1916. She was built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 9 March 1917. UB-53 was commissioned later that same year under the command of Kptlt. Robert Sprenger. Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-53 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun. UB-53 would carry a crew of up to 3 officer and 31 men and had a cruising range of 9,040 nautical miles (16,740 km; 10,400 mi). UB-53 had a displacement of 516 t (508 long tons) while surfaced and 651 t (641 long tons) when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at 13.6 knots (25.2 km/h; 15.7 mph) when surfaced and 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) when submerged.
Summary of raiding history[]
Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage[Note 2] | Fate[4] |
---|---|---|---|---|
17 December 1917 | Nina | ![]() |
126 | Sunk |
31 December 1917 | Lily | ![]() |
2,993 | Sunk |
20 February 1918 | Taxiarchis | ![]() |
292 | Sunk |
26 February 1918 | Saida | ![]() |
82 | Sunk |
2 March 1918 | Euxeinos | ![]() |
2,891 | Sunk |
6 March 1918 | Kalgan | ![]() |
1,862 | Sunk |
9 April 1918 | Aveiro | ![]() |
2,209 | Sunk |
22 April 1918 | Kheda Moulekar | ![]() |
40 | Sunk |
22 April 1918 | Marshalla | ![]() |
77 | Sunk |
22 April 1918 | Sadika | ![]() |
45 | Sunk |
22 April 1918 | Welbeck Hall | ![]() |
5,643 | Sunk |
24 April 1918 | Mabrouska | ![]() |
256 | Sunk |
27 April 1918 | Azizeh | ![]() |
30 | Sunk |
27 April 1918 | Nemaat Kheda | ![]() |
40 | Sunk |
References[]
Notes[]
Citations[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Gröner 1991, pp. 25–30.
- ^ Rössler, p.65
- ^ Whitehouse, Arch, The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN number, p. 236.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UB-53". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
Bibliography[]
- Bendert, Harald (2000). Die UB-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine, 1914-1918. Einsätze, Erfolge, Schicksal (in German). Hamburg: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn GmbH. ISBN 3-8132-0713-7.
- Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
- Rössler, Eberhard (1979). U-Bootbau bis Ende des 1. Weltkrieges, Konstruktionen für das Ausland und die Jahre 1935 – 1945. Die deutschen U-Boote und ihre Werften (in German). I. Munich: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 3-7637-5213-7.
- German Type UB III submarines
- World War I submarines of Germany
- U-boats commissioned in 1917
- U-boats sunk in 1918
- Maritime incidents in 1918
- World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
- U-boats sunk by mines
- 1917 ships
- Ships built in Hamburg