SM UB-29


SM UB-29 was a German Type UB II submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 30 April 1915 and launched on 31 December 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 18 January 1916 as SM UB-29.
The submarine sank 36 ships in 17 patrols for a total of. UB-29 was supposedly sunk by two depth charges from south of Goodwin Sands at on 13 December 1916, although the location of its wreck discovered in Belgian waters, approximately 15 nm NW of Ostend, contradicts this claim. The Landrail might have mistaken UB-29 for another boat, possibly the UC-19.
The UB-29s wreckage – exceptionally well preserved and with the hull still intact – was found by Belgian divers in the summer of 2017, and formally identified in November 2017. Its exact location was not published, in order to enable further research and protection of the site.

Design

A Type UB II submarine, UB-29 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of, a beam of, and a draught of. The submarine was powered by two Benz six-cylinder diesel engines producing a total, two Siemens-Schuckert electric motors producing, and one propeller shaft. She was capable of operating at depths of up to.
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of. When submerged, she could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at. UB-29 was fitted with two torpedo tubes, four torpedoes, and one SK L/40 deck gun. She had a complement of twenty-one crew members and two officers and a thirty-second dive time.

Wreckage

The well preserved wreckage of the submarine was discovered in 2017 off the coast of Ostend. Hence, the assumption that it was sunk south of Goodwin Sands after a collision with HMS Landrail cannot be maintained. One possible explanation is that UB-29 escaped after the collision, and ran into a mine in Belgian waters. Another explanation is that HMS Landrail sank another U-boat, possibly the UC-19. The German government decided to leave the 22 crew members in the wreckage. Only some minor artefacts lying outside the submarine will be salvaged for an exposition in Belgium and will later be handed to the Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg.