SM UC-41


SM UC-41 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 13 September 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 11 October 1916 as SM UC-41.
In a nine-month career that encompassed seven patrols UC-41 was credited with sinking 18 ships totaling 19,587 tons, either by torpedo or by mines laid. The writer David Masters attributed the sinking of the two tiny naval fishing smacks Nelson and Ethel & Millie to UC-41 during an engagement on 15 August 1917. However this was actually UC-63, the logs of which record the event.
UC-41 was lost on 21 August 1917 after suffering an unexplained internal explosion of one of her mines which forced her to suddenly rise to the surface in the Tay estuary, where she was spotted by British naval trawlers and depth charged, killing all 27 German sailors and possibly seven British prisoners of war as well. Her wreck was rediscovered in 2003.

Design

A German Type UC II submarine, UC-41 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a length overall of, a beam of, and a draught of. The submarine was powered by two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines each producing , two electric motors producing, and two propeller shafts. She had a dive time of 48 seconds and was capable of operating at a depth of.
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of. When submerged, she could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at. UC-41 was fitted with six mine tubes, eighteen UC 200 mines, three torpedo tubes, seven torpedoes, and one Uk L/30 deck gun. Her complement was twenty-six crew members.

Summary of raiding history

Citations