SM U-32 (Austria-Hungary) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

SM U-32 or U-XXXII was a U-27 class

U-27 class submarine (Austria-Hungary)

The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.After the Austro-Hungarian Navy...

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

or submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

for the Austro-Hungarian Navy

Austro-Hungarian Navy

The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....

. U-32, built by the Hungarian firm of Ganz Danubius at Fiume, was launched in May 1917 and commissioned in June.

U-32 had a single hull

Submarine hull

The term light hull is used to describe the outer hull of a submarine, which houses the pressure hull, providing hydrodynamically efficient shape, but not holding pressure difference...

and was just over 121 feet (36.9 m) in length. She displaced

Displacement (ship)

A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

nearly 265 metric tons (261 LT) when surfaced and over 300 metric tons (295 LT) when submerged. Her two diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

s moved her at up to 9 knots on the surface, while her twin electric motor

Electric motor

An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...

s propelled her at up to 7.5 knots while underwater. She was armed with two bow torpedo tube

Torpedo tube

A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...

s and could carry a load of up to four torpedoes. She was also equipped with a 75 mm (3 in) deck gun

Deck gun

A deck gun is a type of artillery cannon mounted on the deck of a ship or submarine.The deck gun was used as a defensive weapon against smaller boats or ships and in certain cases where torpedo use was limited. Typically a crew of three; gunner, loader, and layer, operated the gun, while others...

and a machine gun

Machine gun

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

.

In her service career U-32 hit five ships of , sinking four and damaging one. At Pola at war's end, the boat was handed over to Italy and scrapped in 1920.

Design and construction

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

's U-boat fleet was largely obsolete at the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The Austro-Hungarian Navy

Austro-Hungarian Navy

The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....

satisfied its most urgent needs by purchasing five Type UB I

German type UB I submarine

The Type UB I was a class of small coastal submarines built in Germany at the beginning of the First World War. Twenty boats were constructed, most of which went into service with the German Imperial Navy. Boats of this design were also operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy and the Bulgarian...

submarines that comprised the from Germany, by raising and recommissioning the sunken French submarine Curie

French submarine Curie (Q 87)

SM U-14 or U-XIV was a U-boat or submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War. She was launched in 1912 as the French Curie , but captured and rebuilt for service in the Austro-Hungarian Navy...

as ,Curie

French submarine Curie (Q 87)

had been caught in an anti-submarine net

Anti-submarine net

An anti-submarine net is a device placed across the mouth of a harbour or a strait for protection against submarines.-Examples of anti-submarine nets:*Lake Macquarie anti-submarine boom*Indicator net*Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign...

while trying to enter the harbor at Pola

Pula

Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...

on 20 December 1914. See: Gardiner, p. 343. and by building four submarines of the that were based on the 1911 Danish Havmanden class

Havmanden class submarine (1911)

The Havmanden class was a class of six submarines built for the Royal Danish Navy from 1911 to 1914. Also later known as the A class, the boats were designed by the Austro-Hungarian firm Whitehead & Co. of Fiume...

.The plans for the Danish Havmanden class submarines

Havmanden class submarine (1911)

, three of which were built in Austria-Hungary, were seized from Whitehead & Co. in Fiume. See: Gardiner, pp. 344, 354.

After these steps alleviated their most urgent needs, the Austro-Hungarian Navy selected the German Type UB II

German type UB II submarine

The UB II type submarine was a class of U-boat built during World War I by the Kaiserliche Marine. They were enlarged from the preceding type UB I and were more effective vessels. The boats were a single hull design with a 50 metre maximum diving depth and a 30-45 second diving time...

design for its newest submarines in mid 1915. The Germans were reluctant to allocate any of their wartime resources to Austro-Hungarian construction, but were willing to sell plans for up to six of the UB II boats to be constructed under license in Austria-Hungary. The Austria-Hungarian Navy agreed to the proposal and purchased the plans from AG Weser

AG Weser

Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser was one of the great German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1873 it was finally closed in 1983. Altogether, AG Weser built about 1400 ships of different types, including many war ships...

of Bremen

Bremen

The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

.

U-32 displaced 264 metric tons (259.8 LT) surfaced and 301 metric tons (296.2 LT) submerged. She had a single hull

Submarine hull

The term light hull is used to describe the outer hull of a submarine, which houses the pressure hull, providing hydrodynamically efficient shape, but not holding pressure difference...

with saddle tank

Saddle tank (submarine)

Saddle tanks are a type of ballast tank configuration fitted to mid-era submarines, those of World War II.Saddle tanks are fitted in pairs external to the pressure hull, one on each side, in a similar manner to that of a horse's saddle-bags, the positioning of which they resemble in appearance.-...

s, and was 121 in 1 in (36.91 m) long with a beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

of 14 in 4 in (4.37 m) and a draft

Draft (hull)

The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...

of 12 in 2 in (3.71 m). For propulsion, she had two shafts, twin diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

s of 270 bhp for surface running, and twin electric motor

Electric motor

An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...

s of 280 shp for submerged travel. She was capable of 9 knots while surfaced and 7.5 knots while submerged. Although there is no specific notation of a range for U-32 in Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921, the German UB II boats, upon which the U-27 class was based, had a range of over 6000 nautical miles (11,112 km) at 5 knots surfaced, and 45 nautical miles (83.3 km) at 4 knots submerged. U-27-class boats were designed for a crew of 23–24.

U-32 was armed with two 45 cm (17.7 in) bow torpedo tube

Torpedo tube

s and could carry a complement of four torpedoes. She was also equipped with a 75 mm/26 (3.0 in) deck gun

Deck gun

and an 8 mm (0.31496062992126 in) machine gun

Machine gun

.

After intricate political negotiations to allocate production of the class between Austrian and Hungarian firms, U-27 was ordered from Ganz Danubius on 12 October 1915. She was laid down on 18 July 1916 at Fiume and launched on 11 May 1917.

Service career

After launching, the U-boat made her way to Pola

Pula

, where, on 29 April 1917, SM U-32 was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy under the command of Linenschiffleutnant Gaston Vio. Vio, a 30-year-old native of Fiume, was a first-time submarine commander. Vio and U-32 began their first patrol on 3 July when they sailed from Pola for a Mediterranean deployment. East of Manfredonia

Manfredonia

Manfredonia is a town and comune of Puglia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is 35 kilometres northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and giving its name to the gulf to the east of it...

two days later, an enemy submarine launched a spread of three torpedoes at U-32 but the Austro-Hungarian submarine avoided them all. Two days later, U-32 had an at-sea rendezvous with the German U-boat . The following day, Vio failed to hit a steamer in the Gulf of Taranto

Gulf of Taranto

The Gulf of Taranto is a gulf of the Ionian Sea, in southern Italy.The Gulf of Taranto is almost square, 140 km long and wide, and is delimited by the capes Santa Maria di Leuca and Colonna...

.

On 15 July, U-32 launched torpedoes against the British steamer Incemore. Hit 225 nautical miles (416.7 km) east-southeast of Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, the 3,060-ton ship was en route from Marseilles to Salonika when she was attacked. Incemore was damaged but continued on her way; no one aboard the steamer was killed in the attack.Incemore was not so lucky the following month when the German attacked and sank her 52 nautical miles (96.3 km) from Pantelleria

Pantelleria

Pantelleria , the ancient Cossyra, is an Italian island in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and just east of the Tunisian coast. Administratively Pantelleria is a comune belonging to the Sicilian province of Trapani...

. The U-boat docked in Cattaro to end her first patrol four days later.

The next Mediterranean patrol for U-32 began on 14 August. Sister boat met up with her at sea on 29 August. Two days later, U-32 stopped a Greek sailing vessel, Agios Georgios and examined her, but let her go on her way. Vio put in his boat at Cattaro on 4 September, ending the boat's second patrol. On 12 October, U-32 departed Cattaro for Durazzo, arriving the next day. On the 18th, the submarine departed there for Brindisi

Brindisi

Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...

, screening for a sortie by the Austro-Hungarian cruiser and a destroyer group. When U-32 reached Brindisi the following day, she was greeted by Italian torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

s which dropped five depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

s over her. After putting in at Cattaro on the 19th, she quickly departed for Pola to repair damage to her conning tower

Conning tower

A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....

.

After two months of repairs at Pola, U-32 set out on 27 December but had to return with engine problems. She departed for the Mediterranean the following day and cruised between Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

and Malta, but returned to Cattaro in late January 1918 without success. Another patrol beginning in late February was similarly fruitless and U-32 returned to Cattaro empty-handed again on 26 March.

While at Cattaro, Vio was relieved of command on 24 April and replaced by Linenschiffleutnant Otto Kasseroller, who had formerly been in command of . Kasseroller was a 31-year-old Salzburg

Salzburg

-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

native. On 8 May, U-32 began her first cruise with Kasseroller at the helm. Five days out, the Greek sailing ship Julia was stopped near Cape Matapan

Cape Matapan

Cape Tainaron , also known as Cape Matapan , is situated at the end of the Mani, Laconia, Greece. Cape Matapan is the southernmost point of mainland Greece. It separates the Messenian Gulf in the west from the Laconian Gulf in the east.-History:...

. After allowing Julias crew to board a lifeboat

Lifeboat (shipboard)

A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...

, Kasseroller sank Julia with fire from the U-boat's deck gun

Deck gun

. After the 48-ton ship was sunk, U-32 towed the lifeboat close to the shore. As a result, none of the Greek ship's crew died in the attack.

A week later, on 20 May, U-32 sank two more Greek sailing ships: the 58-ton Agios Dionysios, and the 30-ton Angeliki. The following day Kasseroller torpedoed a British steamer. Chatham, of , was headed from Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

to Marseilles with grain and onions when U-32 sent her down 80 nautical miles (148.2 km) from Cape Matapan. Continuing her most successful patrol, U-32 met with the German off the coast of Africa on 3 June, but returned to Cattaro on the 6th.

During the remainder of June and into July, U-32 patrolled in the Adriatic out of Cattaro, calling at the Albanian ports of Durazzo and San Giovanni di Medua. Continuing this same duty into August, U-32 was forced to crash dive

Crash dive

A crash dive is a maneuver performed by a submarine to submerge as quickly as possible to avoid attack. Crash diving from the surface to avoid attack has been largely rendered obsolete with the advent of nuclear-powered submarines as they operate constantly submerged and are unlikely to be found on...

to avoid an attack by another submarine on 19 August. Five days later an airplane attacked the U-boat, dropping a total of five bombs. After the attack, U-32 made her way to Cattaro and, in early September, headed back to Pola. After making a stop at Fiume, the submarine docked at Pola on 13 September and remained there through the end of the war. She was ceded to Italy as a war reparation, and scrapped in 1920. In total, U-32 sank four ships and damaged one other ship, hitting a combined total of .

Ships sunk or damaged

Ships sunk or damaged by SM U-32
Name	Tonnage	Nationality
Incemore*	3,060	British
Julia	48	Greek
Agios Dionysios	58	Greek
Angeliki	30	Greek
Chatham	3,592	British
Sunk: Damaged: Total:	3,728 3,060 6,788

* damaged but not sunk

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