SM UC-13 was a German 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...

 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...

 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 U-boat was ordered on 23 November 1914, laid down on 28 January 1915, and was launched on 11 May 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 15 May 1915 as SM UC-13."SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine. Mines laid by UC-13 in her 3 patrols were credited with sinking 3 ships.

Fate

UC-13 departed Constantinople on 12 November 1915 to operate in the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

. On 29 November, while navigating using dead reckoning

Dead reckoning

In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course...

 due to the adverse weather, she ran aground 55 mi (88.5 km) east of the Bosphorous, near to the Melen River. The crew subsequently scuttled UC-13 using demolition charges before being picked up by Turkish vessels.