The UB II type submarine was a class of
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 ro ...
built 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 ...
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 diving depth and a 30-45 second diving time. In 1915 and 1916, 30 were built at two different shipyards.
The design of type UB II addressed many of the problems apparent in the preceding type UB I class. The UB II boats featured a two-shaft drive with a much larger battery capacity and larger engines. Storage batteries were placed forward of the central diving tanks to compensate for the much heavier engine installation.
The armament of the type UB II consisted of 50 cm G
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
es launched from two bow tubes. The
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 were installed one above the other to allow for a bow design that would create optimal surface efficiency. A 5 cm gun was provided on the deck for surface use.
The weight of the boat was increased to 270 tons of surface displacement to accommodate these improvements. Saddle tanks were fitted to the sides of the pressure hull to allow greater fuel storage area.
List of Type UB II submarines
There were 30 Type UB II submarines commissioned into the German Imperial Navy.
* - Mined December 1917
* - Sunk by
Q-ship ''Penshurst'' November 1916
* - Sunk by aircraft July 1917
* - Foundered on way to breakers 1920
* - Mined January 1918
* - Broken up 1921
* - Broken up 1921
* - Broken up 1922
* - Sunk and raised by French Navy repaired as ''Roland Morillot'' BU 1931
* - Sunk by July 1917
* - Broken up 1919
* - Previously thought being sunk by , but possibly mined December 1916 (wreck discovered in 2017, which contradicts the credit to HMS Landrail.
* - Sunk by HM trawler ''John Gillman'' August 1918
* - Sunk by ASW drifter May 1918
* - Sunk by aircraft September 1917
* - Mined April 1918
* - Broken up 1922
* - Sunk by January 1918
* - Rammed and sunk by SS ''Molière'' May 1917
* - Sunk by
Q-ship ''Penshurst'' January 1917
* - Mined February 1918
* - Mined May 1917
* - Scuttled October 1918
* - Broken up 1920
* - Broken up 1919
* - Broken up 1919
* - Sunk by British surface ships August 1916
* - Mined 1916
* - Mined 1916. Wreck raised in 1993 and put on display in
Çanakkale Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
* - Broken up 1919
Notes
References
Bibliography
* ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Type Ub Ii
Submarine classes
World War I submarines of Germany