SM UC-2 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 had been ordered by November 1914 and was launched on 12 May 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 17 May 1915 as SM UC-2."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-2 in her 2 patrols were not credited with sinking any ships.

Fate

UC-2 sailed from Zeebrugge on 29 June 1915 to lay mines 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...

. On 2 July she was accidentally run down by the coaster Cottingham off that same port; the impact tore a 3 foot (0.9144 m) opening in the forward part of the pressure hull, and the submarine sank. The Cottinghams master reported the incident and the area was subsequently dragged by Royal Navy vessels, whose lines fouled an underwater obstruction and caused a substantial submerged explosion. On 3 July a diver discovered UC-2 in 8 fathom (14.6 m); as well as the damage which had resulted from the impact with the Cottingham, he reported that one of the submarine's mines had been detonated by the drag lines.