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Unterseeboot 156 (1917)
Encyclopedia
SM U-156 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 U 151
German Type U 151 submarine
Type U 151 U-boats were a class of large, long-range submarines constructed during World War I by the Kaiserliche Marine.-Background:In addition to the cargo-carrying submarine Deutschland, six further large cargo submarines were ordered, originally designed to ship material to and from locations...
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...
commissioned in 1917 for 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...
. From 1917 until her disappearance in September 1918 she was part of the U-Kreuzer Flotilla, and was responsible for sinking 44 ships and damaging 3 others, including a warship. She took part in the Bombardment of Orleans.
Background
The U-156, built by the Atlas WerkeAtlas Werke
Atlas Werke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Bremen. It was founded in 1911.During World War I Atlas Werke built one single U 151 U-boat for the Kaiserliche Marine, the U-156....
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...
, was originally one of seven Deutschland
German submarine Deutschland
Deutschland was a blockade-breaking German merchant submarine used during World War I. It was developed with private funds and operated by the North German Lloyd Line...
class U-boats designed to carry cargo between the United States and Germany in 1916. Five of the submarine freighters were converted into long-range cruiser U-boats (U-kreuzers) equipped with two 105mm deck guns, including the U-156. They were the largest U-boats of World War I.
Service history
U-156 was launched on 17 April 1917 and commissioned on 22 August 1917 under Konrad Gansser, who commanded her until 31 December 1917, following which Richard Feldt took command of her on 1 January 1918.On 15 June 1918 the U-156 sailed with 77 crew. She passed through 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...
, negotiated the Northern Passage around the northern end of the British Isles, and out into the Atlantic Ocean where she sailed for Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. She then proceeded to New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
, where she had been ordered to lay mines. Records show that she was to lay a field of mines in the shipping lane along the south shore of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, just east of the Fire Island
Fire Island, New York
Fire Island is one of the outer barrier islands adjacent to the south shore of Long Island, New York. It is approximately long and varies between broad. Fire Island is part of Suffolk County. It comprises a number of hamlets, census-designated places , and villages, all of which lie within the...
lightship
Lightship
Lightship may refer to:* Lightvessel, a permanently moored ship that has light beacons mounted as navigational aids* Light displacement, a displacement figure that measures a ship complete in all respects, but without consumables, stores, cargo, crew, and effects*Lightship, a type of blimp operated...
.
A mine laid by the U-156 is often credited with the loss of the cruiser USS San Diego
USS California (ACR-6)
The second USS California , also referred to as "Armored Cruiser 6", and later renamed San Diego, was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser....
on 19 July 1918, ten miles southeast of Fire Island.
The U-156 had meanwhile headed north to attack the US fishing fleet. She sank 21 fishing boats in the Gulf of Maine
Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America.It is delineated by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and Cape Sable at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. It includes the entire coastlines of the U.S...
area, from Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
to the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
, ranging from the 72 ton schooner Nelson A. (4 August) to the 766 ton Dornfontein (2 August).
On 20 August the U-156 captured the Canadian trawler Triumph south by west of Canso, Nova Scotia
Canso, Nova Scotia
For the headland, see Cape Canso.Canso is a small Canadian town in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, next to Chedabucto Bay. The area was established in 1604, along with Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The British construction of a fort in the village , was instrumental...
. They manned and armed the vessel and used it in conjunction with the submarine to capture and sink 7 other fishing boats in the Grand Banks
Grand Banks
The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from in depth. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream here.The mixing of these waters...
area before eventually scuttling the Triumph.
Fate
On 25 September 1918 the U-156 failed to report that she had cleared the Northern Passage around the United Kingdom on her return voyage to Germany and was presumed to have struck a mine of the Northern Barrage minefield.Rene Bastin, a prisoner on the U-140
SM U-140
SM U-140 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-140 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.-References:...
, claimed to have witnessed the fate of the U-156. He said that he was on the bridge of the U-140 while she was running the Northern Barrage in company with U-100
SM U-100
SM U-100 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-100 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.-References:...
, the U-102, the U-117
SM U-117
SM U-117 was a Type UE II long-range minelayer submarine of the Imperial German Navy. It was laid down in 1917 at Hamburg, Germany, by Aktiengesellschaft Vulcan and launched on 10 December 1917. It was commissioned in the Imperial German Navy on 28 March 1918 with Kapitänleutnant Otto Dröscher in...
and U-156 when he suddenly saw the U-156 blown up. He claimed that she was "blown 500 feet in the air". However, Bastin gave the date of this event as 22 October 1918, which was almost a month after the return to Germany of the U-140, the submarine aboard which he was held captive. Additionally, the U-140 never met up with the U-156 and crossed the Northern Barrage with only the U-117 for company on 17 September.
External links
See also: List of U-boats