SM UB-6 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

SM UB-6 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 interned after running aground in neutral Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

waters, and was scuttled by her crew at Hellevoetsluis

Hellevoetsluis

Hellevoetsluis is a small city and municipality on Voorne-Putten Island in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland...

.

UB-6 was ordered in October 1914 and was laid down at the Germaniawerft

Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft

Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft was a German shipbuilding company, located in the harbour at Kiel, and one of the largest and most important builders of U-boats for the Kaiserliche Marine in World War I and the Kriegsmarine in World War II.-History:The company was founded in 1867 by Lloyd Foster, as...

shipyard in Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

in November. UB-6 was a little more than 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 142 MT (140 and 156.5 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-6 was broken into sections and shipped by rail to Antwerp for reassembly. She was launched in March 1915 and commissioned as SM UB-6 in April."SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.

UB-6 spent her entire career in the Flanders Flotilla and sank , the first warship credited to the flotilla in May 1915. Through September 1916, the U-boat accounted for fourteen additional ships sunk, two ships damaged, and one ship seized as a prize

Prize (law)

Prize is a term used in admiralty law to refer to equipment, vehicles, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of prize in this sense is the capture of an enemy ship and its cargo as a prize of war. In the past, it was common that the capturing force would be allotted...

. On 12 March 1917, UB-6 ran aground near the Maas River in the Netherlands due to a navigational error by her commander; the submarine and crew were interned by the neutral country and taken to Hellevoetsluis. Six days later, UB-6 was scuttled by her crew, which remained interned for the rest of the war. The wreck of UB-6 was ceded to France in 1919 and broken up

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

at Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

in July 1921.

Design and construction

After the German Army

German 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

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

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-6 was part of the initial allotment of eight submarines—numbered to —ordered on 15 October from Germaniawerft

Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft

of Kiel

Kiel

, just shy of two months after planning for the class began.

UB-6 was laid down by Germaniawerft in Kiel on 22 November. As built, UB-6 was 92 in 2 in (28.09 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 Daimler 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 6.47 knots, surfaced, and 5.51 knots, submerged. At more moderate speeds, she could sail up to 1650 nautical miles (3,055.8 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-6 was rated to a diving depth of 50 metres (164 ft), and could completely submerge in 33 seconds.

UB-6 was armed with two 45 centimetres (17.7 in) torpedo

Torpedo

es in two bow torpedo tube

Torpedo tube

s. She was also outfitted for a single 88 millimetres (3.5 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...

. UB-6s standard complement consisted of one officer and thirteen enlisted men.

After work on UB-6 was complete at the Germaniwerft yard, UB-6 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-6 were shipped to Antwerp for assembly in what was typically a two- to three-week process. After UB-6 was assembled and launched sometime in March, 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-6 on 8 April under the command of Kapitänleutnant Erich Haecker, a 29-year-old first-time U-boat commander.Haecker was in the Navy's April 1906 cadet class with 34 other future U-boat captains, including Wilhelm Marschall

Wilhelm Marschall

Wilhelm Marschall was a German admiral during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Pour le Mérite which he received as commander of the German U-boat during World War I...

, Matthias Graf von Schmettow, Max Viebeg, and Erwin Waßner. See: On 19 April, UB-6 joined the other UB I boats then comprising the Flanders Flotilla , which had been organized on 29 March. When UB-6 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...

.

The UB I boats of the Flanders Flotilla were initially limited to patrols in the Hoofden, the southern portion of the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Although had made both the first sortie and sunk the first ship of the flotilla in April, UB-6 sank the first warship credited to the flotilla. On 1 May, Haecker spotted two old Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

destroyers, and , about 30 nautical miles (55.6 km) southwest of the Galloper light vessel. Just before noon, Haecker launched a torpedo that hit Recruit and split the 335 metric tons (369.3 ST) displacement ship in half, killing 34 men; 26 men were rescued. One month later, on 1 June, UB-6 sank what would be her largest ship, the 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...

Saidieh, of . Saidieh was en route to 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...

from 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...

with a load of onions and cottonseed when UB-6 sank her at the mouth of the Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

; eight crewmen lost their lives in the attack.

In late June, Korvettenkapitän Karl Bartenbach, head of the Flanders Flotilla, used UB-6 to test a theory that British defenses in the Straits of Dover—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...

s and mines—were not insurmountable. On the evening of 21 June, UB-6 departed 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:...

for a round-trip to Boulogne. UB-6 sailed past Dunkirk on the surface and made Boulogne in the early morning of the 22nd, having 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...

once during the voyage when discovered by a British destroyer. UB-6 immediately made the return trip and arrived safely at Zeebrugge later the same day. Three other UB I boats, , , and , soon followed with patrols in the Channel, but bad weather and fog hampered the boats and none had any success. Even though no ships were sunk during these forays into the English Channel, by successfully completing their voyages, the submarines helped further prove the feasibility of defeating the British countermeasures in the Straits of Dover.

On 12 July, while patrolling between 18 and 23 nmi (33.3 and 42.6 km) off Lowestoft

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...

, UB-6 attacked five British fishing vessels, sinking four of them. All four 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-6, and sunk with explosives. Two weeks later, UB-6 torpedoed and sank the 406-ton Firth 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) from the Aldborough Napes Buoy. UB-6 sank the 57-ton Leander, another smack, on 11 August.

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 the sinking of 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 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. It would be five months before UB-6 would sink another ship.

In mid-November, Oberleutnant zur See Ernst Voigt succeeded Haecker as commander of UB-6; it was the first U-boat command for the 25-year-old Voigt.Voigt was in the Navy's April 1908 cadet class with 46 other future U-boat captains, including Reinhold Saltzwedel

Reinhold Saltzwedel

Oberleutnant zur See Reinhold Saltzwedel was a successful and highly decorated German U-boat commander in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I.Saltzwedel sank a total of 111 merchant vessels for...

. See: Under his command, UB-6 sank her next vessel in January 1916. The 57-ton smack Crystal was boarded and sunk by explosives 25 nautical miles (46.3 km) southeast 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 the 27th.

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.

UB-6s first attack in the new offensive came on 17 March, when the U-boat torpedoed the Swedish ship Ask near the North Hinder lightship. The 1,041-ton ship was en route to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

from Westervik with a load of timber, but did not sink; there were no reports of casualties on the damaged ship. The attack on Ask was followed up two weeks later by the sinking of another Swedish ship. The 1,115-ton Hollandia was at anchor 0.25 nautical miles (463 m) from the Galloper lightship when UB-4 torpedoed her on the last day of March. Hollandia was in ballast and in the process of sailing from Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

to Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

when sent under without loss of life.

In March, UB-6s commander, Voigt, was assigned to the newly commissioned , and replaced on UB-6 by Kapitänleutnant Karl Neumann, the former commander of two of the submarine's sister ships, and .Neumann was in the Navy's April 1907 cadet class with 34 other future U-boat captains, including Werner Fürbringer

Werner 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: In his U-boat career, Neumann sank over 100,000 tons of shipping, but none at the helm of UB-6. In July, Neumann was succeeded by Oberleutnant zur See Karsten von Heydebreck, a 26-year-old, first-time U-boat captain, who was Voigt's classmate in April 1908 cadet class.

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. As with the end of the first offensive in August 1915, UB-6 would not sink any more ships for the next five 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-6 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 , , , , and . This group was to intercept and attack the British light forces from Harwich

Harwich

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 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-6s 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.

Later in August, the Germans set up another ambush for the British fleet, when they 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-6 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 , , , and . UB-6 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-6 and her group played no part in the action.

On 10 September, UB-6 was patrolling off the Maas lightship and torpedoed the 400-ton Norwegian steamer Lindborg, with a general cargo for London; there were no casualties. While patrolling in the same area on the 23rd, UB-6 sank four Belgian lighters. The following day, the Dutch ship was seized as a prize

Prize (law)

and sailed into Zeebrugge

Zeebrugge

by a prize crew

Prize crew

Prize crew is a term used to indicate a number of crew members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship.In the early days of sailing and up into the American Civil War, capturing enemy ships was quite common...

from UB-6. was sunk by gunfire from British submarine north of Texel on 27 July 1917. See: Batavier II was the last success for Heydebreck in command of UB-6; he was assigned to command the newly commissioned minelaying

Minelayer

submarine in January 1917. Oberleutnant zur See Oskar Steckelberg, another member of the April 1908 cadet class, replaced Heydebreck on UB-6.

Unrestricted submarine warfare

The British blockade of Germany, which prevented neutral shipping from reaching German ports, had severely limited imports of food and fuel into Germany. Among the results were an increase in infant mortality

Infant 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.

On 10 March, UB-6 departed Zeebrugge to patrol off the Mass lightship. Two days later, UB-6 entered Dutch territorial waters after Steckelberg made a navigational error, and ran aground at the mouth of the Maas River. Because the Netherlands was neutral during the war, and UB-6 did not leave Dutch territorial waters within 24 hours as required by international law, the submarine and her crew were interned by the Dutch. The Germans protested, but because UB-6s grounding was merely the result of an error and not because of distress, the Dutch could not release the submarine. UB-6 was taken to the port of Hellevoetsluis

Hellevoetsluis

Hellevoetsluis is a small city and municipality on Voorne-Putten Island in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland...

for internment, where, on 18 March, UB-6s crew scuttle

Scuttling

Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...

d her. The crew of UB-6 was interned for the duration of the war. After the end of the war, UB-6s wreck was surrendered to France, taken to Brest

Brest, France

, and broken up

Ship breaking

in July 1921.

Ships sunk or damaged

Ships sunk or damaged by SM UB-6
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
Recruit	335	British
Saidieh	3,303	British
Emerald*	60	British
Merlin	47	British
Purple Heather	42	British
Speedwell	38	British
Woodbine	29	British
Firth	406	British
Leander	57	British
Crystal	57	British
Ask*	1,041	Swedish
Hollandia	1,115	Swedish
Lindborg	400	Norwegian
Germaine	106	Belgian
Lichtevreden II	69	Belgian
Maria Da Jonge	98	Belgian
Rosalie	129	Belgian
Batavier**	1,328	Dutch
Sunk: Damaged: Total:	7,559 1,101 8,660

* damaged but not sunk
** captured as a prize

Prize (law)

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