SM ''U-139'' was the lead ship of her class, one of the

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s serving in the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. She was commissioned on 18 May 1918 under the command of

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière ''Vizeadmiral'' Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière (; March 18, 1886 – February 24, 1941), born in Posen, Prussia, and of French-German descent, was a German U-boat commander during World War I. With 194 ships and sunk, he is the most successfu ...

, who named the submarine ''Kapitänleutnant Schwieger'', after

Walther Schwieger Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger (Wilhem Otto Walther Schwieger) (7 April 1885 – 5 September 1917) was a U-boat commander in the Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') during First World War. In 1915, he sank the passenger liner wi ...

, who had sunk the in 1915. She only sailed on one war patrol, during which she sunk four ships. ''U-139'' surrendered to France on 24 November 1918 and shortly afterwards became French submarine ''Halbronn'' (until 24 July 1935 when she was broken up).

Action of 14 October 1918

On the 14 October 1918, ''U-139'' attacked the Portuguese civilian steamer SS ''São Miguel'', which was being escorted by the

Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy ( pt, Marinha Portuguesa, also known as ''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'' or as ''Armada Portuguesa'') is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Port ...

small

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to ...

NRP ''Augusto de Castilho'' in the Atlantic Ocean. ''Augusto Castilho'' covered the escape of ''São Miguel'' by engaging ''U-139'' for several hours, until being destroyed.James H. Guill, "''the only battle of note that occurred near the Azores during this period took place 14 October 1918 between the German ''U-139'' and Portugal's ships ''São Miguel'' and ''Augusto Castilho''.''", page 507.

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:U0139 1917 ships World War I submarines of Germany German Type U 139 submarines U-boats commissioned in 1918 Ships built in Kiel