SM U-15 (Austria-Hungary) explained

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Ship Country:Austria-Hungary
Ship Name:SM U-15
Ship Builder:AG Weser, Bremen[1]
Ship Yard Number:232[2]
Ship Launched:September 1915[3]
Ship Commissioned:6 October 1915
Ship Fate:Handed over to Italy as war reparations and scrapped, 1920
Is Ship:yes
Is Multi:yes
Commanders:
  • Friedrich Schlosser
  • 6 October – 18 November 1915[4]
  • Friedrich Fähndrich
  • 28 November 1915 – 25 March 1916
  • Franz Rzemenowsky von Trautenegg
  • 25 March – 10 May 1916
  • Friedrich Fähndrich
  • 10 May – 11 December 1916
  • Franz Rzemenowsky von Trautenegg
  • 9 – 28 October 1916
  • Otto Molitor
  • 11 December 1916 – 15 June 1917
  • Franz Rzemenowsky von Trautenegg
  • 1 – 12 June 1917
  • Otto Molitor
  • 12 June – 17 July 1917
  • Ludwig Müller
  • 17 July 1917 – 9 March 1918
  • Andreas Korparic
  • 17 March – 31 October 1918
Victories:
  • 5 merchant ships sunk
  • 1 warship sunk
    (745 tons)
Ship Displacement:
  • 125.52NaN2 surfaced
  • 140.25LT submerged
Ship Length:
  • 28.1m (92.2feet) (o/a)
  • 23.62m (77.49feet) pressure hull
Ship Beam:3.15m (10.33feet)
Ship Draught:3.03m (09.94feet)
Ship Propulsion:
Ship Speed:
  • 6.5kn surfaced
  • submerged
Ship Range:
  • 1500nmi at surfaced
  • 45nmi at submerged[5]
Ship Complement:17
Ship Armament:
  • 2 × 451NaN1 torpedo tubes (both in front)
  • 2 torpedoes
  • 1 × 37 mm/23 (1.5 in) QF gun, October 1916
  • 1 × 47sp=usNaNsp=us/33 QF gun, November 1917

SM U-15 or U-XV was a or U-boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or German: K.u.K. Kriegsmarine) during World War I. U-15 was constructed in Germany and shipped by rail to Pola where she was assembled and launched in April 1915. She was commissioned in October 1915. U-15 was the most successful boat of the U-10 class, sinking six ships totaling and 745 tons. The boat survived the war and was handed over to Italy as a war reparation and scrapped in 1920.

Design and construction

U-15 was constructed at AG Weser in Bremen for the Austro-Hungarian Navy and then shipped by rail in sections to the navy yard at Pola, where the sections were riveted together. Though there is no specific mention of how long it took for U-15s sections to be assembled, a sister boat, the German Type UB I submarine UB-3, shipped to Pola from Germany in mid-April 1915, was assembled in about two weeks.[6] [7] U-15 was launched in April.

U-15 was a small, coastal submarine that displaced 125.5LT surfaced and 140.25LT submerged. She featured a single shaft, a single 44kW Daimler diesel engine for surface running, and a single 89kW electric motor for submerged travel. U-15 was capable of up to while surfaced and while submerged at a diving depth of up to 50m (160feet). She was designed for a crew of 17 officers and men.

U-15 was equipped with two 451NaN1 torpedo tubes located in the front and carried a complement of two torpedoes. In October 1916, U-15s armament was supplemented with a 37 mm/23 (1.5 in) quick-firing (QF) gun. This gun was replaced by a 47sp=usNaNsp=us/33 QF gun in November 1917.

Operational history

SM U-15 was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 6 October under the command of Linienschiffsleutnant Friedrich Schlosser. On 28 November, Linienschiffsleutnant Friedrich Fähndrich was assigned to the first of two stints in command of the boat. On 18 December, Fähndrich and U-15 attacked and sank two Albanian sailing vessels near Lezhë. The Erzen, of, and the Figlio Preligiona, of, were both sunk at position 41.7833°N 50°W.[8] [9] After being relieved by Linienschiffsleutnant Franz Rzemenowsky von Trautenegg from late March to early May 1916, Fähndrich resumed command on 10 May. One week later, on 17 May, U-15 torpedoed and sank the Italian steamer in the Adriatic some 18nmi east of Brindisi.[10] [11]

The following month, Fähndrich and the crew of U-15 scored their second double kill when they sank the Italian auxiliary cruiser and the French destroyer Fourche (745 tons).[12] [13] While about 20nmi east of Otranto on 23 June, U-15 torpedoed and sank Cittá di Messina. The escorting destroyer Fourche began a depth charge attack on U-15 and assumed success when an oil slick appeared on the surface. After the captain of Fourche turned his attentions to the rescue Cittá di Messinas survivors, U-15 launched a single torpedo that struck Fourche amidships and sank her.[14]

On 25 October, U-15, back under the command of von Trautenegg, sank the Italian steamer,[15] a sister ship to Stura (sunk by U-15 in May).[16] Polcevera was the last ship sunk by U-15.

From October 1916 to the end of the fighting in November 1918, U-15s activities are unknown. U-15 was at Pola at the end of the war when Austria-Hungary handed her over to Italy.[17] U-15 was scrapped at Pola by 1920.

Summary of raiding history

DateNameNationalityTonnage[18] Fate[19]
18 December 1915Erzen Albania25Sunk
18 December 1915Figlio Preligiona Albania80Sunk
17 May 1916Stura2,237Sunk
23 June 1916Citta Di Messina3,495Sunk
23 June 1916745Sunk
25 October 1916Polceverra2,207Sunk

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Gardiner, p. 343.
  2. Baumgartner and Sieche, as excerpted here (reprinted and translated into English by Sieche). Retrieved 17 November 2008.
  3. Gibson and Pendergast, p. 385.
  4. KUK U15. KUK+U15. 1sub. 6 November 2008.
  5. Gardiner, p. 180.
  6. Messimer, p. 126–27.
  7. The Austro-Hungarian and the German Type UB I were virtually identical.
  8. Erzen. 2013. 1ship. 4 November 2008.
  9. Figlio Preligiona. 2173. 1ship. 4 November 2008.
  10. Stura. 5815. 1ship. 4 November 2008.
  11. Stura, launched in 1883, had sailed in passenger duty for Navigazione Generale Italiana between the Mediterranean and New York before the war. See: Immigration Information Bureau, pp. 8–9, 16, 23.
  12. Citta Di Messina. 1287. 1ship. 4 November 2008.
  13. Fourche. 2243. 1ship. 4 November 2008.
  14. Compton-Hall, p. 230.
  15. Polceverra. 2243. 1ship. 4 November 2008. Helgason refers to the ship as "Polceverra", but Haworth, and Swiggum & Kohli identify the ship as "Polcevera".
    For Haworth, see: Web site: Polcevera . Miramar Ship Index . R.B.Haworth . 4 November 2008 .
    For Swiggum & Kohli, see: Web site: Swiggum . S. . M. Kohli . Società Italiana di Transporti Marittimi Raggio & Co., Genoa 1882-1885 . 13 October 2006 . TheShipsList.com . 4 November 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081117195604/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/sitmr.htm . 17 November 2008 .
  16. Web site: Swiggum . S. . M. Kohli . Società Italiana di Transporti Marittimi Raggio & Co., Genoa 1882-1885 . 13 October 2006 . TheShipsList.com . 4 November 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081117195604/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/sitmr.htm . 17 November 2008 .
  17. Gibson and Pendergast, p. 388.
  18. Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.
  19. kuk15. KUK U 15. 1boat. 21 January 2015.

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