SM U-103 explained

SM U-103 was an Imperial German Navy Type U 57 U-boat that was rammed and sunk by during the First World War. U-103 was built by AG Weser in Bremen, launched on 9 June 1917 and commissioned 15 July 1917. She completed five tours of duty under Kptlt. Claus Rücker and sank eight ships totalling before being lost in the English Channel on 12 May 1918.^[1]

Sinking

In the early hours of 12 May 1918, the surfaced U-103 sighted Olympic, the older sister of, which was carrying US troops to France. The crew prepared to launch torpedoes from her stern torpedo tubes but was unable to flood them in time before the submarine was spotted by Olympic, whose gunners opened fire as the transport ship turned to ram.

SM U-103 started to crash dive to 30m (100feet) in an attempt to turn to a parallel course to the liner. But there was not enough time before the port propeller of Olympic sliced through the submarine's pressure hull just aft of its conning tower. The crew of U-103 blew ballast tanks before scuttling their sinking submarine. Nine crewmen lost their lives. Olympic did not stop to pick up the survivors but continued on to Cherbourg. later sighted a distress flare and took 35 survivors to Queenstown.^{[2] [3]}

Wreck

The remains of U-103 lie at a depth of 90m (300feet) in the English Channel about midway between England and France . Its deep location makes it largely inaccessible to divers but the wreck was surveyed and identified by a remotely operated underwater vehicle in 2012.^[4]

Summary of raiding history

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage^[5]	Fate^[6]
12 September 1917	St. Margaret	United Kingdom	943	Sunk
12 November 1917	Depute Pierre Goujon	France	4,121	Sunk
16 November 1917	Garron Head	United Kingdom	1,933	Sunk
26 January 1918	Cork	United Kingdom	1,232	Sunk
29 January 1918	Glenfruin	United Kingdom	3,097	Sunk
17 March 1918	Cressida	United Kingdom	150	Sunk
17 March 1918	Sea Gull	United Kingdom	976	Sunk
18 March 1918	Grainton	United Kingdom	6,042	Damaged
20 March 1918	Kassanga	United Kingdom	3,015	Sunk

See also

• U-boat Campaign (World War I)

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Book: Gröner. Erich. Jung. Dieter. Maass. Martin. Thomas. Keith. Magowan. Rachel. 1991. U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. 2. German Warships 1815–1945. London. Conway Maritime Press. 0-85177-593-4. CITEREFGröner1991.

Notes and References

1. 103. U 103. 1sub. 25 January 2010.
2. Book: McCartney, Innes . Jak Mallmann-Showell . Lost Patrols: Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel . Periscope Publishing Ltd. . 2002 . 1-904381-04-9. 36.
3. Book: Kemp, Paul. U-Boats Destroyed (German submarine losses in the World Wars). Arms and Armour Press . 1997 . London . 1-85409-321-5. 49.
4. Web site: SM U-103. www.forgottenwrecks.maritimearchaeologytrust.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20210525103405/https://forgottenwrecks.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/wrecks-and-sites/explore-the-wrecks/articles/sm-u-103. 25 May 2021. 25 May 2021.
5. Tonnages are in gross register tons
6. u103. U 103. 1boat. 26 January 2015.