SM ''U-40'') and combined with the ''U'' for ''Unterseeboot'' would be translated as ''His Majesty's Submarine''., group=Note was a German Type U 31

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 ...

of 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. Wilhel ...

(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 ...

. Her construction was ordered on 12 June 1912 and her keel was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 3 April 1913 by Germaniawerft of

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

. She was launched on 22 October 1914 and commissioned on 14 February 1915 under the command of Gerhardt Fürbringer. Second officer was lieutenant Rudolf Jauch (of the ''

Jauch family The Jauch family of Germany is a Hanseatic family which can be traced back till the Late Middle Ages. At the end of the 17th century the family showed up in the Free Imperial and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The members of the family acted as long ...

''). ''U-40'' conducted one patrol, without sinking a ship.

Design

German Type U 31 submarine Type U 31 was a class of U-boats built during World War I by the Kaiserliche Marine. Between 1912 and 1915 eleven were built on Germaniawerft in Kiel, amongst these top-three-scoring with the famous Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière as comm ...

s were double-hulled ocean-going submarines similar to Type 23 and Type 27 subs in dimensions and differed only slightly in propulsion and speed. They were considered very good high sea boats with average manoeuvrability and good surface steering. ''U-40'' had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , her

pressure hull A submarine hull has two major components, the ''light hull'' and the ''pressure hull''. The light hull (''casing'' in British usage) of a submarine is the outer non-watertight hull which provides a hydrodynamically efficient shape. The pressure ...

was long. The boat's

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 ...

was (o/a), while the pressure hull measured . Type 31s had a draught of with a total height of . The boats displaced a total of ; when surfaced and when submerged. ''U-40'' was fitted with two Germania 6-cylinder two-stroke

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s with a total of for use on the surface and 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 & H ...

double-acting

electric motors An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate forc ...

with a total of for underwater use. These engines powered two shafts each with a propeller, which gave the boat a top surface speed of , and when submerged. Cruising range was at on the surface, and at under water. Diving depth was . The U-boat was armed with four

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, two fitted in the bow and two in the stern, and carried 6

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. Additionally ''U-40'' was equipped in 1915 with one Uk L/30

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 ...

. The boat's

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-clas ...

was 4 officers and 31 enlisted.

Fate

On the morning of 23 June 1915 ''U-40'' stopped the trawler ''Taranaki'' in the North Sea. ''Taranaki'' was in fact a decoy vessel, or "

Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open f ...

", and was connected to the submerged submarine by a combined tow line and telephone cable. When ''U-40'' stopped the trawler, ''Taranaki'' telephoned the situation to ''C24''. When ''C24'' tried to slip the tow line, however, the release mechanism failed, and ''C24'' had to manoeuvre into an attacking position with a hundred fathoms of chain hanging from her bow. Her commander, Lieutenant Frederick Henry Taylor, was able to adjust her trim and avoid fouling the chain in the propellers and fired a single torpedo that struck ''U-40'' amidships. The U-boat sank instantly, only three men in the conning tower surviving to be picked up by ''Taranaki''.

Wreck discovery

The reported location of the sinking varied. According to some sources it was " southeast of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

". Others suggested it was "east of the Firth of Forth". However, in March 2009 the Scottish company Marine Quest announced that divers from their company had discovered the wreck of ''U-40'' approximately off

Eyemouth Eyemouth ( sco, Heymooth) is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is east of the main north–south A1 road and north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The town's name comes from its location at the ...

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of t ...

, Scotland, "miles from where it was recorded as going down".

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* ** * * * * *

External links

SM U 40 First success of a Royal Navy 'Q' Ship

Distinguished Service Cross of Lt. F.H. Taylor
awarded for the sinking SM U 40 in the collection of the National Maritime Museum * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0040 German Type U 31 submarines U-boats commissioned in 1914 Maritime incidents in 1915 U-boats sunk in 1915 U-boats sunk by British submarines World War I submarines of Germany World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea 1914 ships Ships built in Kiel