Type UC I submarine

On 18 August 1914, ten days after the start of World War I, the German Navy started to explore the idea of small, coastal submarines which could be built in a matter of months. On 11 September the idea was rejected but on 25 August as the German Army made rapid advances in Belgium and reached the coast, the idea was revived and the German Navy asked naval yards to design a small U-boat which could be transported by rail. On 15 October fifteen Type UB I U-boats were ordered, with an expected construction time of four months only. Based on the same Type UB I, the German Navy ordered on 23 November a further fifteen Type UC I coastal minelaying U-boats. As the traditional U-boat yards, Kaiserliche Werft Danzig and Germaniawerft, were already overloaded with orders and since AG Weser had started U-boat construction with the previous Type UB I, ten Type UC I were ordered from the AG Vulcan yard in Hamburg, and a further five from AG Weser. These yards expected a building time of five to six months. The Type UC I had a revised bow section housing inclined minelaying tubes and uprated engines to compensate for the increased displacement and less streamlined form. The boats were armed with six internal mine tubes with 12 mines. To make it possible to lay mines whilst moving, the mine shaft were not mounted vertically but at a slope. The minelaying system was difficult to operate, and when some U-boats were lost without trace it was suspected that mines became armed before exiting their tubes and exploded prematurely. Most of the wrecks of these U-boats have been located and dived on, their mine shafts were found empty, contradicting the premature explosion theory. The ten Type UC I submarines – built by AG Vulcan Hamburg were powered on the surface by a four-cylinder, four-stroke Daimler RS166 diesel engine producing , whilst the five U-boats – , built by AG Weser received six-cylinder, four-stroke Benz diesel engine producing . The pressure hull of the Hamburg U-boats was long, on the Weser U-boats the pressure hull was long. This caused small differences in weight, draught, speed and endurance between these two series of U-boats: UC-1 – UC-10 had a maximum surface speed of and could travel at . UC-11 – UC-15 had a maximum surface speed of and could travel at . The Type UC I had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged and had a draught of . UC-11 – UC-15 displaced submerged and had a draught of . They had a length overall of and a beam of . Whilst submerged, the submarines were powered by an electric motor producing , and one propeller shaft, which provided a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, they could operate for at . They were capable of operating at a depth of . They were fitted with six mine tubes, twelve UC 120 mines, and one machine gun. The mine shafts were not mounted in the pressure hull, but were open to the sea. The mines were kept in wet storage and were not accessible from within the U-boat. The depth setting had to be determined before they were stowed in the tubes so once the U-boat left on patrol, the target zone could not be altered anymore, unless it required the same depth setting.'' Their complement was fourteen crew members. In 1916 UC-11'' was fitted with a single external bow torpedo tube. In the summer of 1915 it became clear that the war was not going to end soon, and more coastal U-boats were needed. The small Type UB I and Type UC I U-boats had fulfilled the expectations, but had their disadvantages. When the one-shaft drivetrain broke down, the U-boat was helpless. A two-shaft drivetrain would be more robust and secure. The lack of any offensive weapons like a deck gun or torpedoes caused much frustration as U-boat commanders could not engage any target going back and forth between the English coast. Therefore no more Type UC I were ordered, but these issues were corrected in the subsequent Type UC II. == History ==