German U-Boat ? torpedoed RMS Lusitania in 1915
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/U-Boote_Kiel_1914.jpg/300px-U-Boote_Kiel_1914.jpg) U-20 (second from left) in Kiel harbour, 1914
|
History
|
German Empire
|
Name
| U-20
|
Ordered
| 25 November 1910
|
Builder
| Kaiserliche Werft Danzig
|
Cost
| 2,450,000
Goldmark
|
Yard number
| 14
|
Laid down
| 7 November 1911
|
Launched
| 18 December 1912
|
Commissioned
| 5 August 1913
|
Fate
| Grounded 4 November 1916 and destroyed by her crew the next day.
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| German Type U 19 submarine
|
Displacement
|
- 650
t
(640
long tons
) surfaced
- 837 t (824 long tons) submerged
|
Length
| 64.15 m (210 ft 6 in)
|
Beam
| 6.10 m (20 ft)
|
Height
| 7.30 m (23 ft 11 in)
|
Draught
| 3.58 m (11 ft 9 in)
|
Propulsion
|
- 2 shafts
- 2 × MAN 8-cylinder two stroke
diesel
motors with 1,700 PS (1,250 kW; 1,680 shp)
- 2 × AEG double Motordynamos with 1,200 PS (880 kW; 1,180 shp)
- 320 rpm submerged
|
Speed
|
- 15.4 knots (28.5 km/h; 17.7 mph) surfaced
- 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) submerged
|
Range
|
- 9,700 nautical miles (18,000 km; 11,200 mi) at 8 kn surfaced
- 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) at 5 kn submerged
|
Test depth
| 50 m (164 ft 1 in)
|
Boats & landing
craft carried
| 1 dinghy
|
Complement
| 4 officers, 31 men
|
Armament
| |
Service record
|
Part of:
|
- III Flotilla
- 1 August 1914 ? 4 November 1916
|
Commanders:
|
|
Operations:
|
7 patrols
|
Victories:
|
- 37 merchant ships sunk
(145,830
GRT
)
- 1 merchant ship damaged
(2,246
GRT
)
- 1 warship damaged
(397 tons)
|
SM
U-20
[Note 1]
was a German
Type
U 19
U-boat
built for service in the
Imperial German Navy
. She was
launched
on 18 December 1912, and
commissioned
on 5 August 1913. During World War I, she took part in operations around the
British Isles
.
U-20
became infamous following her
sinking
of the British ocean liner
RMS
Lusitania
on 7 May 1915, an act that dramatically reshaped the course of World War I.
Career
[
edit
]
On 7 May 1915,
U-20
was patrolling off the southern coast of Ireland under the command of
Kapitanleutnant
Walther Schwieger
. Three months earlier, on 4 February, the Germans had established a U-boat
blockade
around the British Isles and had declared any vessel in it a legitimate target.
At about 13:40 Schwieger was at the
periscope
and saw a vessel approaching. From a distance of about 700 metres (770 yd) Schwieger noted she had four funnels and two masts, making her a passenger liner of some sort. He fired a single torpedo. It hit on the starboard side, almost directly below the bridge. Schwieger wrote that he was surprised by the size of the explosion, reasoning that a second explosion must have happened, possibly caused by coal dust, a boiler explosion, or powder. According to his logs, only then did he recognise her as the
Lusitania
, a vessel in the British Fleet Reserve.
[4]
In 18 minutes,
Lusitania
sank with 1,197 casualties. The wreck lies in 300 feet (91 m) of water.
Fifteen minutes after he had fired his torpedo, Schwieger noted in his war
diary
:
- "It looks as if the ship will stay afloat only for a very short time. [I gave order to] dive to 25 metres (82 ft) and leave the area seawards. I couldn't have fired another torpedo into this mass of humans desperately trying to save themselves."
Halftone photograph of a drawing by
Claus Bergen
, 1915
There was at the time a great controversy about the sinking, over whether
Lusitania
was armed, carrying troops or illegal explosives to England and over Schwieger's method of attack. The Allies and the United States originally thought the
U-20
fired two torpedoes. Postwar investigations showed only one was fired.
Before he got back to the docks at
Wilhelmshaven
for refuelling and resupply, the United States had formally protested to Berlin against the brutality of his action.
Kaiser
Wilhelm II
wrote in the margins of the American note, "Utterly impertinent", "outrageous", and "this is the most insolent thing in tone and bearing that I have had to read since the Japanese note last August." Nevertheless, to keep America out of the war, in June the Kaiser was compelled to rescind
unrestricted submarine warfare
and require all passenger liners be left unmolested.
On 4 September 1915 Schwieger was back at sea with
U-20
, 85 nautical miles (157 km; 98 mi) off the
Fastnet Rock
in the south
Irish Sea
. This rock held one of the key navigational markers in the western ocean, the
Fastnet Lighthouse
, and any ships passing in and out of the Irish Sea would be within visual contact of it.
RMS
Hesperian
was beginning a run outward bound from
Liverpool
to
Quebec
and
Montreal
, with a general cargo, also doubling as a
hospital ship
, and carrying about 800 passengers when she was attacked and sunk by U-20 off the Fastnet.
The History of the Great War: The Merchant Navy, Vol. II
, by Hurd, reads:
- "Only a few days before,
Count Bernsdorff
, the German Ambassador, had assured the United States government that passenger liners will not be sunk without warning and without ensuring the safety of the non-combatants aboard providing that the liners do not try to escape or offer resistance."
Schwieger was reprimanded by the Admiralty but was unrepentant. The Germans decided to report that the ship was hit by a mine.
Fate and legacy
[
edit
]
U-20
grounded on the
Danish
coast in 1916. Torpedoes had been exploded in the bow in efforts to completely destroy the boat
On 4 November 1916,
U-20
grounded on the
Danish
coast south of Vrist, a little north of Thorsminde after suffering damage to its engines. Her crew attempted to destroy her with explosives the following day, succeeding, however, only in damaging the boat's bow (see picture) but making it effectively inoperative as a warship.
[5]
The
U-20
remained on the beach until 1925 when the Danish government blew it up in a "spectacular explosion".
[6]
The Danish navy removed the
deck gun
and made it unserviceable by cutting holes in vital parts. The gun was kept in the naval stores at Holmen in Copenhagen for almost 80 years.
[7]
The conning tower was removed and placed on the front lawn of the local museum Strandingsmuseum St. George Thorsminde, where it still is today.
[6]
[8]
[9]
Novelist
Clive Cussler
claimed his
National Underwater and Marine Agency
(NUMA) located the remains of
U-20
in 1984, about 400 yards from shore.
[10]
Summary of raiding history
[
edit
]
Date
|
Name
|
Nationality
|
Tonnage
[Note 2]
|
Fate
[11]
|
30 January 1915
|
Ikaria
|
United Kingdom
|
4,335
|
Sunk
|
30 January 1915
|
Oriole
|
United Kingdom
|
1,489
|
Sunk
|
30 January 1915
|
Tokomaru
|
United Kingdom
|
6,084
|
Sunk
|
7 March 1915
|
Bengrove
|
United Kingdom
|
3,840
|
Sunk
|
9 March 1915
|
Princess Victoria
|
United Kingdom
|
1,108
|
Sunk
|
11 March 1915
|
Florazan
|
United Kingdom
|
4,658
|
Sunk
|
5 May 1915
|
Earl of Lathom
|
United Kingdom
|
132
|
Sunk
|
6 May 1915
|
Candidate
|
United Kingdom
|
5,858
|
Sunk
|
6 May 1915
|
Centurion
|
United Kingdom
|
5,495
|
Sunk
|
7 May 1915
|
Lusitania
|
United Kingdom
|
30,396
|
Sunk
|
8 July 1915
|
Marion Lightbody
|
Russia
|
2,176
|
Sunk
|
9 July 1915
|
Ellesmere
|
United Kingdom
|
1,170
|
Sunk
|
9 July 1915
|
Leo
|
Russia
|
2,224
|
Sunk
|
9 July 1915
|
Meadowfield
|
United Kingdom
|
2,750
|
Sunk
|
13 July 1915
|
Lennok
|
Russia
|
1,142
|
Sunk
|
2 September 1915
|
Roumanie
|
United Kingdom
|
2,599
|
Sunk
|
3 September 1915
|
Frode
|
Denmark
|
1,875
|
Sunk
|
4 September 1915
|
Hesperian
|
United Kingdom
|
10,920
|
Sunk
|
5 September 1915
|
Dictator
|
United Kingdom
|
4,116
|
Sunk
|
5 September 1915
|
Douro
|
United Kingdom
|
1,604
|
Sunk
|
5 September 1915
|
Rhea
|
Russia
|
1,145
|
Sunk
|
6 September 1915
|
Guatemala
|
France
|
5,913
|
Sunk
|
7 September 1915
|
Bordeaux
|
France
|
4,604
|
Sunk
|
7 September 1915
|
Caroni
|
United Kingdom
|
2,652
|
Sunk
|
8 September 1915
|
Mora
|
United Kingdom
|
3,047
|
Sunk
|
30 April 1916
|
Bakio
|
Spain
|
1,906
|
Sunk
|
1 May 1916
|
Bernadette
|
France
|
486
|
Sunk
|
2 May 1916
|
Ruabon
|
United Kingdom
|
2,004
|
Sunk
|
3 May 1916
|
Marie Molinos
|
France
|
1,946
|
Sunk
|
6 May 1916
|
Galgate
|
United Kingdom
|
2,356
|
Sunk
|
8 May 1916
|
Cymric
|
United Kingdom
|
13,370
|
Sunk
|
1 August 1916
|
Aaro
|
United Kingdom
|
2,603
|
Sunk
|
29 August 1916
|
Ibo
|
Portuguese Navy
|
397
|
Damaged
|
26 September 1916
|
Thelma
|
United Kingdom
|
1,002
|
Sunk
|
18 October 1916
|
Ethel Duncan
|
United Kingdom
|
2,510
|
Sunk
|
23 October 1916
|
Arromanches
|
France
|
1,640
|
Sunk
|
23 October 1916
|
Chieri
|
Italy
|
4,400
|
Sunk
|
23 October 1916
|
Felix Louis
|
France
|
275
|
Sunk
|
26 October 1916
|
Fabian
|
United Kingdom
|
2,246
|
Damaged
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"SM" stands for "Seiner Majestat" (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
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Bailey, Thomas A.; Ryan, Paul B. (1975).
The Lusitania Disaster: An Episode in Modern Warfare and Diplomacy
. New York/London: Free Press/Collier Macmillan.
- Groner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991).
German Warships 1815?1945, U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels
. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press.
ISBN
0-85177-593-4
.
- Spindler, Arno (1966) [1932].
Der Handelskrieg mit U-Booten. 5 Vols
. Berlin: Mittler & Sohn. Vols. 4+5, dealing with 1917+18, are very hard to find:
Guildhall Library
, London, has them all, also Vol. 1-3 in an English translation: The submarine war against commerce.
- Beesly, Patrick (1982).
Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914?1918
. London: H Hamilton.
ISBN
978-0241108642
.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1920).
A Naval History of World War I
. New York: Routledge.
ISBN
978-1857284980
.
- Roessler, Eberhard (1997).
Die Unterseeboote der Kaiserlichen Marine
. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe.
ISBN
978-3763759637
.
- Schroeder, Joachim (2002).
Die U-Boote des Kaisers
. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe.
ISBN
978-3763762354
.
- Koerver, Hans Joachim (2008).
Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914?1918. Vol I., The Fleet in Action
. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch.
ISBN
978-3-902433-76-3
.
- Koerver, Hans Joachim (2009).
Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914?1918. Vol II., The Fleet in Being
. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch.
ISBN
978-3-902433-77-0
.
External links
[
edit
]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1916
|
---|
Shipwrecks
| |
---|
Other incidents
| |
---|
|
56°35′00″N
08°07′50″E
/
56.58333°N 8.13056°E
/
56.58333; 8.13056