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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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SM UB-107

SM UB-107 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 16 February 1918 as SM UB-107.

The submarine conducted 4 patrols and sank 11 ships during the war for a total loss of 26,147 GRT. UB-107 was sunk on 27 July 1918 by HMS Vanessa (D29) and HMT Calvis at 54°23′N 0°24′W / 54.383°N 0.400°W / 54.383; -0.400.

Construction

UB-107 was ordered by the GIN on 23 September 1916. She was built by Blohm & Voss of Hamburg and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 21 July 1917. UB-107 was commissioned early the next year . Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-107 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun. UB-107 would carry a crew of up to 3 officer and 31 men and had a cruising range of 7,420 nautical miles (13,740 km; 8,540 mi). UB-107 had a displacement of 519 t (511 long tons) while surfaced and 649 t (639 long tons) when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at 13.3 knots (24.6 km/h; 15.3 mph) when surfaced and 7.4 knots (13.7 km/h; 8.5 mph) when submerged.

Fate

The first recorded fate of UB-107 was noted as sunk by depth charge on 27 July 1918 by the Royal Navy trawler Calvia and destroyer Vanessa at position 54°23′N 00°24′E / 54.383°N 0.400°E / 54.383; 0.400. It has since been argued that the UB-107 was probably not present for the attack by Calvis and Vanessa as it was the only U-boat that could have been responsible for the sinking of steamers Chloris and John Rettig two and a half hours later at position 53°52′N 00°10′E / 53.867°N 0.167°E / 53.867; 0.167.

SS Malvina on the River Thames

In 1985 divers discovered the wreck of UB-107 one mile north of Flamborough Head at position 54°08′N 00°00′W / 54.133°N -0.000°E / 54.133; -0.000 entangled with another wreck, the SS Malvina, a British steamer torpedoed and sunk on 3 August 1918 reported as being by UB-104, though UB-104's record says it was not in the area nor that it attacked a ship on that day. UB-107 was identified by the markings on her propellers. It is suggested that either UB-107 suffered an accident of some sort or was lost on a British mine between 28 July and 3 August 1918, leaving all hands lost (38 dead).

Summary of raiding history

Date Name Nationality Tonnage Fate
10 May 1918 Erich Lea  Norway 1,630 Sunk
10 May 1918 Naparima  Sweden 1,685 Damaged
6 June 1918 Koningin Regentes  Netherlands 1,970 Sunk
8 June 1918 Hogarth  United Kingdom 1,231 Sunk
13 June 1918 Agnes  Sweden 1,334 Sunk
13 June 1918 Kalo  United Kingdom 1,957 Sunk
15 June 1918 Kieldrecht  United Kingdom 1,284 Sunk
8 July 1918 Chicago  United Kingdom 7,709 Sunk
8 July 1918 War Crocus  United Kingdom 5,296 Sunk
9 July 1918 Fryken  Sweden 943 Sunk
27 July 1918 Chloris  United Kingdom 984 Sunk
27 July 1918 John Rettig  Sweden 1,809 Sunk

Television Documentary

The fate of UB-107 was the subject of an episode of the documentary television series Deep Sea Detectives: "Mystery U-Boat of WWI". The documentary offered various scenarios for the sinking based on historical evidence and exploratory diving at the wreck site.

References

Notes

  1. ^ "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
  2. ^ Tonnages are in gross register tons

Citations

  1. ^ Gröner 1991, pp. 25–30.
  2. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UB 107". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  3. ^ Rössler 1979, p. 66.
  4. ^ Kemp p.53
  5. ^ UB 107 at uboat.net; retrieved 28 October 2021
  6. ^ "UB-107 (Wreck)". wikimapia.org. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  7. ^ "100 Best Wreck Dives THE MALVINA AND UB-107 – 49". divernet.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  8. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UB 107". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Deep Sea Detectives - Season 2, Episode 17: Mystery U-boat of World War I - TV.com". www.tv.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012.

Bibliography