SM ''UB-29'' was a German Type UB II

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 ...

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

in the

German Imperial 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. Kaiser ...

(german: Kaiserliche Marine) during

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 ...

. 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''."SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" ( en, His Majesty's) and combined with the ''U'' for ''Unterseeboot'' would be translated as ''His Majesty's Submarine''. The submarine sank 36 ships in 17 patrols for a total of . ''UB-29'' was supposedly sunk by two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s from south of

Goodwin Sands Goodwin Sands is a sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geologi ...

at on 13 December 1916 , although the location of its wreck discovered in

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

waters, approximately 15nm Nw of

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

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

German Type UB II submarine The UB II type submarine was a class of U-boat built during World War I by the German Imperial Navy. They were enlarged from the preceding type UB I and were more effective vessels. The boats were a single hull design with a 50-metre maximum div ...

, ''UB-29'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Benz six-cylinder diesel engines producing a total , two

Siemens-Schuckert Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966. Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & Ha ...

electric motors producing , and one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

. 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 tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s, four torpedoes, and one SK L/40

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose ...

. She had a

complement A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...

of twenty-one crew members and two officers and a thirty-second dive time.

Summary of raiding history

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 Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

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 The Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg (abbr. IMMH, ''International Maritime Museum'') is a private museum in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany. The museum houses Peter Tamm's collection of model ships, construction plans, uniforms ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ub029 1915 ships Ships built in Bremen (state) World War I submarines of Germany German Type UB II submarines U-boats commissioned in 1916 Maritime incidents in 1916 U-boats sunk in 1916 U-boats sunk by depth charges U-boats sunk by British warships World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea Ships lost with all hands