SM UB-16
Encyclopedia
SM UB-16 was a German 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...
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...
in the German Imperial Navy during 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 submarine was sunk by a British submarine in May 1918.
UB-16 was ordered in November 1914 and was laid down at the 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...
shipyard in 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...
in February 1915. UB-16 was a little under 92 feet (28 m) in length and 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...
between 127 and 141 MT (140 and 155.4 ST), depending on whether surfaced or submerged. She carried two torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es for her 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 was also armed with a deck-mounted 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....
. UB-16 was broken into sections and shipped by rail to Antwerp for reassembly. She was launched in April 1915 and commissioned as SM UB-16 in May."SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
UB-16 spent her entire career in the Flanders Flotilla and sank 23 merchant ships, about half of them British fishing vessels. The U-boat was also responsible for sinking the new British destroyer in 1917. In 1918, UB-16 was converted into a minelayer
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
with the replacement of her torpedo tubes with four mine chutes. On 10 May 1918, UB-16 was torpedoed by the British submarine off the British east coast. Of the 16 men on board, only UB-16s commander survived the attack.
Design and construction
After the German ArmyGerman Army (German Empire)
The German Army was the name given the combined land forces of the German Empire, also known as the National Army , Imperial Army or Imperial German Army. The term "Deutsches Heer" is also used for the modern German Army, the land component of the German Bundeswehr...
's rapid advance along the North Sea coast in the earliest stages of World War I, the German Imperial Navy found itself without suitable submarines that could be operated in the narrow and shallow seas off Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. Project 34, a design effort begun in mid-August 1914, produced the 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...
design: a small submarine that could be shipped by rail to a port of operations and quickly assembled. Constrained by railroad size limitations, the UB I design called for a boat about 92 feet (28 m) long and displacing about 125 metric tons (137.8 ST) with two 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.A further refinement of the design—replacing the torpedo tubes with mine chutes but changing little else—evolved into the Type UC I
German Type UC I submarine
The Type UC I submarines were a class of small coastal minelaying U-boats built in Germany during the early part of World War I. They were the first operational minelaying submarines in the world . A total of fifteen boats were built...
coastal minelaying
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
submarine. See: Miller, p. 458.
UB-16 and sister boat comprised an order of two submarines placed on 25 November 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...
, a little more than three months after planning for the class began. UB-16 was laid down by Weser in Bremen on 21 February 1915. As built, UB-16 was 91 in 6 in (27.89 m) long, 10 in 6 in (3.2 m) abeam
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...
, and had a draft of 9 in 10 in (3 m). She had a single 60 bhp Körting
Körting Hannover
Körting Hannover AG is a long-standing industrial engineering company in Hanover.At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the company played a leading role in the development of injector pumps in Germany and Europe.Körting still produces pump and pump-based vacuum technology, but...
4-cylinder 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...
for surface travel, and a single 120 shp Siemens-Schuckert
Siemens-Schuckert
Siemens-Schuckert was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966....
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...
for underwater travel, both attached to a single propeller shaft. Her top speeds were 7.45 knots, surfaced, and 6.24 knots, submerged. At more moderate speeds, she could sail up to 1500 nautical miles (2,778 km) on the surface before refueling, and up to 45 nautical miles (83.3 km) submerged before recharging her batteries. Like all boats of the class, UB-16 was rated to a diving depth of 50 metres (164 ft), and could completely submerge in 33 seconds.
UB-16 was armed with two 45 centimetres (17.7 in) torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es in 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. She was also outfitted for a single 8 millimetre (0.31496062992126 in) 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....
on deck. UB-16s standard complement consisted of one officer and thirteen enlisted men.
After work on UB-16 was complete at the Weser yard, she was readied for rail shipment. The process of shipping a UB I boat involved breaking the submarine down into what was essentially a knock down kit. Each boat was broken into approximately fifteen pieces and loaded on to eight railway flatcar
Flatcar
A flatcar is a piece of railroad or railway rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck on four or six wheels or a pair of trucks or bogies . The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads...
s. In early 1915, the sections of UB-16 were shipped to Antwerp for assembly in what was typically a two- to three-week process. After UB-16 was assembled and launched on 26 April, she was loaded on a barge and taken through canals to Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
where she underwent trials.
Early career
The submarine was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy as SM UB-16 on 12 May 1915 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See (Oblt.) Hans Valentiner, a 26-year-old first-time U-boat commander.Valentiner was in the Navy's April 1907 cadet class with 34 other future U-boat captains, including Werner FürbringerWerner Fürbringer
Werner "Fips" Fürbringer was a successful German U-boat commander in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I, sinking 101 ships.He was present on U-20, but left prior to the U-20s sinking of in 1915. He exclusively commanded small, coastal U-boats, starting with UB-2 in February 1915...
, Heino von Heimburg
Heino von Heimburg
Heino von Heimburg was a German U-boat commander in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I and served also as Vice Admiral in the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-World War I:...
, Hans Howaldt
Hans Howaldt
Hans Howaldt was a successful and highly decorated German U-boat commander in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I and also active in World War II...
, Otto Steinbrinck
Otto Steinbrinck
Brigadier General Otto Steinbrinck was a German industrialist and an accused in the Nuremberg Flick Trial....
, and Ralph Wenninger. See: On 1 June, UB-16 joined the Flanders Flotilla , which had been organized on 29 March. When UB-16 joined the flotilla, Germany was in the midst of its first submarine offensive, begun in February. During this campaign, enemy vessels in the German-defined war zone , which encompassed all waters around the United Kingdom, were to be sunk. Vessels of neutral countries were not to be attacked unless they definitively could be identified as enemy vessels operating under a false flag
False flag
False flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is flying the flag of a country other than one's own...
.
Lowestoft
Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...
. All three of the sunken ships were smack
Smack (ship)
A smack was a traditional fishing boat used off the coast of England and the Atlantic coast of America for most of the 19th century, and even in small numbers up to the Second World War. It was originally a cutter rigged sailing boat until about 1865, when the smacks became so large that cutter...
s—sailing vessels traditionally rigged with red ochre sails—which were stopped, boarded by crewmen from UB-16, and sunk with explosives. On 12 June, UB-16 torpedoed and sank the 3,027-ton British cargo ship
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
Leuctra 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) from the Shipwash Lightship. Nine days later, the U-boat torpedoed the British steamer Tunisiana off Lowestoft. After being hit, the 4,220-ton ship's master
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
beached her on Barnard Sands to save the cargo of wheat shipped from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, but the ship was a complete loss. Tunisiana was the largest ship sunk by UB-16. In her first month of action, UB-16s totals were five ships sunk of 7,432 tons, more than half of the flotilla's June total of 14,080 tons. No lives were lost on any of UB-16s June victims.
UB-16s next two successes came on consecutive days in late July. On the 27th, Westward Ho!, a 57-ton smack was boarded and sunk by UB-16s crew 25 nautical miles (46.3 km) southeast of Lowestoft. The following day, the 1,821-ton Mangara was torpedoed without warning one-quarter nautical mile (500 m) from the Sizewell Buoy at Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club...
. Eleven men died when the ship and her cargo of iron ore were sent to the bottom.
Although the Flanders Flotilla sank 31 ships in August, UB-16 did not add to that total. In a four-day span in September, however, she accounted for three of the eight ships sunk by the flotilla during the month. On the 7th, she sank two more fishing smacks, Emblem and Victorious, 44 nautical miles (81.5 km) from Lowestoft.UB-16 was probably patrolling with sister boat during this time. UB-2 is credited with sinking two fishing smacks on 7 September in the same location. See: Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Constance", "Emanuel". U-Boat War in World War I. Uboat.net. Retrieved on 12 March 2009. On 10 September, UB-16 sank the 51-ton Nimrod in the same vicinity.
Germany's submarine offensive was suspended on 18 September by the chief of the Admiralstab, Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff
Henning von Holtzendorff
Henning von Holtzendorff was a German admiral during World War I who became famous for his Dec 1916 memo to Kaiser Wilhelm II about unrestricted submarine warfare against the United Kingdom...
, in response to American demands after German submarines had sunk the Cunard Line
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
steamer in May 1915 and other high profile sinkings in August and September. Holtzendorff's directive from ordered all U-boats out of the English Channel and the South-Western Approaches and required that all submarine activity in the North Sea be conducted strictly along prize regulations. UB-16 did not sink any vessels over the next four months, but resumed attacks on 18 January 1916, sinking three more smacks—Evelyn, Foam Crest, and Sunshine—between 25 and 35 nmi (46.3 and 64.8 km) from Lowestoft.
Second submarine offensive
By early 1916, the British blockade of Germany was beginning to have an effect on Germany and her imports. The Royal Navy had stopped and seized more cargo destined for Germany than the quantity of cargo sunk by German U-boats in the first submarine offensive. As a result, the German Imperial Navy began a second offensive against merchant shipping on 29 February. The final ground rules agreed upon by the German Admiralstab were that all enemy vessels in Germany's self-proclaimed war zone would be destroyed without warning, that enemy vessels outside of the war zone would be destroyed only if armed, and—to avoid antagonizing the United States—that enemy passenger steamers were not to be attacked, regardless of whether in the war zone or not.
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
on the 1st, while the Dutch sailing vessel Elziena Helena was damaged in an attack two days later east of Southwold
Southwold
Southwold is a town on the North Sea coast, in the Waveney district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is around south of Lowestoft and north-east...
.
On 5 April, Valentiner was succeeded by Kapitänleutnant Paul Hundius, a 27-year-old, first-time U-boat skipper.Hundius was in the Navy's April 1909 cadet class with 60 other future U-boat captains, including Johannes Lohs
Johannes Lohs
Lieutenant junior grade Johannes Lohs was a successful and highly decorated German U-boat commander in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I....
. Three of UB-16s later commanders—Hugo Thielmann, Günther Bachmann, and Rudolf Stier—were also members of this cadet class. See: In the first two weeks under Hundius' command, UB-16 sank two British steamers: the 2,978-ton Robert Adamson on the 10th, and the 3,091-ton Tregantle on the 22nd. Robert Adamson was sunk 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) from the Shipwash Lightship while en route from Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
to Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
with a cargo of props
Pit prop
A pit prop or mine prop is a length of lumber used to prop up the roofs of tunnels in coal mines.Canada traditionally supplied pit props to the British market...
. Tregantle had sailed from Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, via Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, with a load of wheat for Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, but was sunk off Lowestoft.
Near the end of April 1916, Admiral Reinhardt Scheer, the newest commander-in-chief of the German High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
, called off the merchant shipping offensive and ordered all boats at sea to return, and all boats in port to remain there. UB-16 did not sink any more ships for the next eight months.
Grand Fleet ambush attempts
In mid-May, Scheer completed plans to draw out part of the British Grand Fleet. The German High Seas Fleet would sortie for a raid on Sunderland, luring the British fleet across nests' of submarines and mine-fields". In support of the operation, UB-16 and five other Flanders boats set out at midnight 30/31 May to form a line 18 nautical miles (33.3 km) east of Lowestoft.The other five boats for the May action were , , , UB-17, and . This group was to intercept and attack the British light forces from HarwichHarwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
, should they sortie north to join the battle. Unfortunately for the Germans, the British Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
had intelligence reports of the departure of the submarines which, coupled with an absence of attacks on shipping, aroused British suspicions.
A delayed departure of the German High Seas Fleet for its sortie (which had been redirected to the Skagerrak
Skagerrak
The Skagerrak is a strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, which leads to the Baltic Sea.-Name:...
) and the failure of several of the U-boats stationed to the north to receive the coded message warning of the British advance caused Scheer's anticipated ambush to be a "complete and disappointing failure". In UB-16s group, only UB-10 sighted the Harwich forces, and they were too far away to mount an attack. The failure of the submarine ambush to sink any British capital ships allowed the full Grand Fleet to engage the numerically inferior High Seas Fleet in the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
, which took place 31 May – 1 June.
UB-16s activities over the next two months are not reported, but on 2 August the submarine was patrolling off the Mass Lightship and torpedoed the Norwegian steamer John Wilson, sending her cargo of food destined for London to the bottom. Later in August, Scheer set up another ambush for the British fleet, when he drew up plans for another High Seas Fleet raid on Sunderland (as had been the original intention in May). The German fleet planned to depart late in the day on 18 August and shell military targets the next morning. As in May, UB-16 was part of a group intended to attack the Harwich forces. As one of five boats forming the second line of boats from the Flanders Flotilla,The other four boats for the August action were UB-6, UB-12, , and . UB-16 was stationed off Texel
Texel
Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...
by the morning of 20 August. Once again, British intelligence had given warning of the impending attack and ambush, causing the Grand Fleet to sortie at 16:00 on 18 August, five hours before the German fleet sailed. Faulty intelligence caused Scheer initially to divert from Sunderland, and then to eventually call off the whole operation. Although U-boats to the north sank two British light cruisers, sank ; and teamed up to sink . UB-16 and her group played no part in the action.
Later, on 24 August, UB-16 was again patrolling off the Mass Lightship when Hundius stopped Velox, another Norwegian steamer headed for London. Crewmen from UB-16 boarded the 312-ton cargo ship, planted explosives, and sank the vessel and her general cargo. Velox was the last ship sunk by the UB-16 for nearly eight months, and the last sunk by Hundius before he was replaced by Oblt. Ernst Müller-Schwarz late in the month. Neither Müller-Schwartz, nor his January 1917 replacement, Oblt. Hans Ewald Niemer, sank any ships while in command of UB-16.
Unrestricted submarine warfare
By the time of the so-called "turnip winter" of 1916–17, the Royal Navy blockade of Germany had severely limited imports of food and fuel into Germany. Among the results were an increase in infant mortalityInfant mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...
and as many as 700,000 deaths attributed to starvation
Starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...
or hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
during the war. With the blockade having such dire consequences, Kaiser Wilhelm II personally approved a resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare to begin on 1 February 1917 to help force the British to make peace. The new rules of engagement specified that no ship was to be left afloat.
With the new campaign already underway, Niemer was replaced as UB-16s commander by Oblt. Hugo Thielmann on 18 March. Although only in command of UB-16 for little more than a month, Thielmann sank one ship on UB-16. The 107-ton Dutch motor vessel Arie was sunk in the Hoofden area on 20 April; there were no reports of casualties.
Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Rhein was assigned to UB-16 on 23 April, and under his command, UB-16 may have been responsible for damaging the Norwegian cargo ship Kongsli on 26 April.According to Uboat.net, Kongsli is identified as being damaged by UB-16 on 26 April 1917 under the command of Kurt Siewert. According to the list of commanding officers of UB-16 (link), Wilhelm Rhein was in command of UB-16 on that date. Further, Kurt Siewert is not listed as commanding officer of any U-boat until assuming command of on 21 July 1917 (link). On 9 August, UB-16 torpedoed and sank the British destroyer 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) from the North Hinder Lightship. Recruit, commissioned four months earlier, sank with 54 of her complement.Coincidentally, the previous , a destroyer launched in 1896, had been sunk by , a sister boat of UB-16 in May 1915. See: Rhein was succeeded by Oblt. Günther Bachmann on 26 August, and he, in turn, was succeeded by Oblt. Alfred Krameyer on 25 December.
Conversion to minelayer
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
submarines by 1918. The conversion involved removing the bow section containing the pair of torpedo tubes from each U-boat and replacing it with a new bow containing four mine chutes capable of carrying two mines each. In the process, the boats were lengthened to 105 feet (32 m), and the displacement increased to 147 metric tons (162 ST) on the surface, and 161 metric tons (177.5 ST) below the surface. Exactly when this conversion was performed on UB-16 is not reported, but UB-12 was at the dockyard from November 1916 to January 1917. The lack of reported successes by UB-16 during this same span makes it a possibility that her conversion was accomplished in a similar timeframe.
On 13 March, UB-16, now under the command of Oblt. Rudolf Stier, was responsible for sinking the 895-ton steamer Lisette near the Shipwash Lightship. One month later, on 13 April, the fishing smack Ruth was boarded and sunk by UB-16; Ruth was the final ship sunk by UB-16.
On 28 April, British forces attempted to block the canal at Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach.-Location:...
and bottle up the vessels of the Flanders Flotilla in the Zeebrugge Raid
Zeebrugge Raid
The Zeebrugge Raid, which took place on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to neutralize the key Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge...
. In the raid, the British succeeded in sinking two obsolete cruisers, and , in the narrowest part of the canal. British admiral Roger Keyes, who had planned the raid, believed that the Flanders Flotilla ships were bottled up for a long period of time. However, the following day, after the Germans had removed two piers, UB-16—under Oblt. Vicco von der Lühe, her newest commander—made the first sortie from Zeebrugge after the raid.
Sinking
UB-16 departed Zeebrugge for what would be the final time on 6 May 1918 for a patrol off Harwich. At 18:50 on 10 May, the British submarine spotted UB-16 on the surface near Harwich. Although E34s commanding officer Lieutenant Pulleyne initially believed that UB-16 was a British submarine, he submerged out of caution because of UB-16s proximity to Harwich. After identifying the submarine as a German boat, Pulleyne maneuvered to attack. At 19:15, E34 launched two torpedoes at UB-16 from a distance of 400 yards. The first hit UB-16s bow and failed to detonate, but the second hit below the conning tower and exploded, sinking UB-16 at position 52°6′N 2°1′E in less than five minutes. After a further five minutes, E34 surfaced near where UB-16 had gone down, and rescued von der Lühe from the oily water; he was the only survivor. Von der Lühe was imprisoned in a British prisoner of warPrisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp, where he died of influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
on 1 March 1919. British divers dispatched to the site of UB-16s demise a week later could only find some plating and a few pipes and concluded that UB-16 had disintegrated after the torpedo hit.
Ships sunk or damaged
| Date | Name | Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement 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... Tonnage | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boy Horace | 69 | British | |
| E&C | 60 | British | |
| Economy | 56 | British | |
| Leuctra | 3,027 | British | |
| Tunisiana | 4,220 | British | |
| Westward Ho! | 47 | British | |
| Mangara | 1,821 | British | |
| Emblem | 50 | British | |
| Victorious | 43 | British | |
| Nimrod | 51 | British | |
| Evelyn | 55 | British | |
| Foam Crest | 46 | British | |
| Sunshine | 52 | British | |
| Springflower | 59 | British | |
| Young Harry | 43 | British | |
| Perth | 653 | British | |
| Elziena Helena* | 131 | Dutch | |
| Robert Adamson | 2,978 | British | |
| Tregantle | 3,091 | British | |
| John Wilson | 798 | Norwegian | |
| Velox | 312 | Norwegian | |
| Arie | 107 | Dutch | |
| Kongsli* | 5,822 | Norwegian | |
| 1,075 | British | ||
| Lisette | 895 | British | |
| Ruth | 44 | British | |
| Sunk: Damaged: Total: |
19,652 5,953 25,605 |