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SM U-1 (Germany)
1906 German Type U 1 submarine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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SM U-1, also known in English as the German Type U 1 submarine, is the first U-boat class of the U-boat series of submarines produced for the German Empire's Imperial German Navy. Only one was built. The U-1 was constructed by Germaniawerft in Kiel and was commissioned on 14 December 1906.[3] When World War I began in 1914, the U-1 was deemed obsolete and was used only for training until 19 February 1919, when it was struck by another vessel while on an exercise.
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Design
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At the beginning of the 20th century, when submarine development gathered pace, the commander of the Imperial German Navy Alfred von Tirpitz was reluctant to participate in it; instead he focussed on building the High Seas Fleet with which he intended to challenge the supremacy of the Royal Navy, and saw no role for submarines in his fleet. Only when Krupp received an order for three Karp-class U-boats from Russia, did Tirpitz order a first submarine, the U-1.[4][5]
The U-1 was a redesigned Karp class submarine by Austrian-born Spanish[6] engineer Raimundo Lorenzo de Equevilley Montjustín[7] working for the German shipbuilding company Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft. The main improvements over the export Karp class included trim tanks instead of a moveable weight, a redesigned forecastle to improve seagoing ability, a 10 cm (3.9 in) larger diameter, a strengthened pressure hull, fuel tanks installed extarnally to avoid leakage through rivets, a rearrangement of the internal equipment and a stronger ballast keel.[8]
The Imperial German Navy avoided the use of gasoline due to the perceived risk of fires and explosions that had caused many accidents in early submarines, and instead of the gasoline engines that had powered the Karp boats, U-1 was given much safer Körting kerosene engines. While normally kerosene engines were started using gasoline, the U-1's engines avoided even this and instead used electrically-heated air.[9]
The Körting engines could not be reversed and also had to run at full speed, since their rpm could not be varied to any useful extent, and as a consequence U-1 was fitted with Variable-pitch propellers to allow her speed to be controlled.[10] These variable pitch- propellers were abandoned in subsequent designs due to their poor efficiency.[11] Although diesel propulsion had already been considered for the preceding Karp-class U-boats, the kerosene-electric propulsion continued to be used in the following years. Diesel engines became finally available in 1912-1913 and were installed from the U-19 class onwards.[12]
U-1 had an overall length of 42.39 m (139 ft 1 in), their pressure hulls were 32.50 m (106 ft 8 in) long. The boats' beam was 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in) (o/a), while the pressure hull measured 2.80 m (9 ft 2 in). U-1 had a draught of 3.17 m (10 ft 5 in) , she displaced 238 tonnes (234 long tons) when surfaced and 283 t (279 long tons) when submerged.[2][13]
U-1 was fitted with two Körting 6-cylinder two-stroke kerosene engines with a total of 400 metric horsepower (294 kW; 395 bhp) for use on the surface and two Garbe, Lahmeyer. double-acting electric motors with a total of 300 kW (408 PS; 402 shp) for underwater use. These engines powered two shafts, which gave the boats a top surface speed of 10.8 knots (20.0 km/h; 12.4 mph), and 8.7 knots (16.1 km/h; 10.0 mph) when submerged. Cruising range was 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) on the surface, and 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged. Diving depth was 30 m (98 ft 5 in).[2][13]
U-1 was armed with one 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tube fitted in the bow and carried 3 torpedoes.[2][13]
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History
U-1 was ordered on 3 December 1904 from the Germaniawerft.[14] She was commissioned on 14 December 1906,[3] and with this occasion, Germany was the last major navy to adopt submarines.[4] The boat began already its trials in August 1906, a year later than originally planned. The total cost amounted to 1,905,000 Mark (equivalent to €11,620,000 in 2016).[15][2]
U-1 was used for crew training and as a test boat. She did not see active service during World War I.[16]
After suffering damage from a collision while on a training exercise in 1919, U-1 was sold to the Germaniawerft foundation at the Deutsches Museum in Munich where it was restored and can be viewed on display. A large portion of the starboard hull has been removed to allow visitors to see the submarine's interior.[17]
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