SM U-14 (Germany)

SM U-14[Note 1] was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.

U-14
History
Germany
Name:	U-14
Ordered:	23 February 1909
Builder:	Kaiserliche Werft Danzig
Cost:	2,101,000 Goldmark
Yard number:	10
Launched:	11 July 1911
Commissioned:	24 April 1912
Fate:	5 June 1915 - Disabled by gunfire from armed trawler Oceanic II and sunk off Peterhead at position 57°16′N 1°16′E. 1 dead and 27 survivors.
General characteristics
Class and type:	German Type U 13 submarine
Displacement:	516 t (508 long tons) surfaced 644 t (634 long tons) submerged
Length:	57.88 m (189 ft 11 in)
Beam:	6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Draught:	3.44 m (11 ft 3 in)
Propulsion:	2 shafts 2 × Körting 6-cylinder and 2 × Körting 8-cylinder two stroke paraffin motors with 900 PS (660 kW; 890 shp) 2 × SSW electric motors with 1,040 PS (760 kW; 1,030 shp) 550 rpm surfaced 600 rpm submerged
Speed:	14.8 knots (27.4 km/h; 17.0 mph) surfaced 10.7 knots (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph) submerged
Test depth:	50 m (160 ft)
Boats & landing craft carried:	1 dinghy
Complement:	4 officers, 25 men
Armament:	4 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 each bow and stern) 6 torpedoes 1 × 5 cm (2.0 in) SK L/40 gun
Service record
Part of:	I Flotilla 1 August 1914 – 5 June 1915
Commanders:	Kptlt. Walther Schwieger[1] 1 August – 15 December 1914 Kptlt. Otto Dröscher[2] 17 December 1914 – 15 April 1915 Oblt.z.S. Max Hammerle[3] 16 April – 5 June 1915
Operations:	1 patrol
Victories:	2 merchant ships sunk (3,907 GRT)

Service history

U-14 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic. U-14 was damaged by an air raid on the German-occupied port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, on the night of 12 February 1915.[4]

Fate

On 5 June 1915, U-14 approached the trawler Oceanic II off Peterhead, firing a couple of warning shots, but Oceanic II was armed and was acting as a decoy and returned fire, being joined by the armed trawler Hawk. U-14 was hit several times, and, unable to escape by submerging, sank, with six officers and 21 ratings being rescued, and one man, her commanding officer, being killed.[5][6]

Summary of raiding history

Date	Ship Name	Nationality	Tonnage[Note 2]	Fate[7]
2 June 1915	Cyrus	Denmark	1,669	Sunk
3 June 1915	Lappland	Sweden	2,238	Sunk

References

Notes

1. "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
2. Tonnages are in gross register tons

Citations

1. Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Walther Schwieger (Pour le Mérite)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
2. Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Otto Dröscher (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
3. Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Max Hammerle". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
4. Karau 2014, p. 27.
5. Grant 1964, pp. 24–25.
6. Corbett 1923, pp. 45–46.
7. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U 14". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 19 February 2014.

Bibliography

• Corbett, Julian S. (1923). History of the Great War: Naval Operations: Volume III. London: Longmans Green and Co.
• Grant, Robert M. (1964). U-Boats Destroyed: The Effect of Anti-Submarine Warfare 1914–1918. London: Putnam.
• Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.

• Karau, Mark D. (2014). The Naval Flank of the Western Front: The German MarineKorps Flandern 1914–1918. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-231-8.