SM UB-115
Encyclopedia
SM UB-115 was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Type UB III
German type UB III submarine
The Type UB III submarine was a class of U-boat built during World War I by the Kaiserliche Marine.UB III boats carried 10 torpedoes and were armed with one 88 mm deck gun. They carried a crew of 34 and had a cruising range of around 9,000 miles...
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...
or U-boat
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...
of the Kaiserliche Marine
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
. She was the only German submarine commissioned with the number 115.
She was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 4 November 1917 by Blohm & Voss of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 28 May 1918. On 29 September 1918 while under the command of Reinhold Thomsen, UB-115 was engaged by armed trawlers
Naval trawler
A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...
, the airship R27, and . UB-115 was 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...
d until destroyed and went down at position 55°14.460′N 1°22.454′W (WGS84), about 4.5 nautical miles (8.3 km) northeast of Beacon Point, Newton-by-the-Sea
Newton-by-the-Sea
Newton-by-the-Sea is a civil parish in the former district of Alnwick, Northumberland in Northern England.There are two distinct settlements High Newton-by-the-Sea and the coastal Low Newton-by-the-Sea, owned by the National Trust. The area is notable for the diversity of birds to be observed...
, off Northumberland. All 39 men aboard the submarine died in the attack and sinking.
UB-115s wreck lies in two pieces and is covered in soft corals and an accretion formed from fly ash
Fly ash
Fly ash is one of the residues generated in combustion, and comprises the fine particles that rise with the flue gases. Ash which does not rise is termed bottom ash. In an industrial context, fly ash usually refers to ash produced during combustion of coal...
from a local power plant.