The ''U-101'' class was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of nine

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 or U-boats planned for the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

(german: Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or ) during World War I. The class was based on the Type 1916 S 1 design from Ungarische Unterseebotsbau AG. The first three boats were laid down in late 1917 and early 1918 by Austriawerft in Trieste, but none were launched or completed before the end of the war. None of the other six submarines was ever laid down.

Design

Austria-Hungary's U-boat fleet was largely obsolete at the outbreak of World War I, and over the first two years of the war the

focused its efforts on building a U-boat fleet for local defense within the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

. Beginning in 1916, the Navy began building larger, ocean-going vessels for operation in the wider Mediterranean, outside the Adriatic.Gardiner, p. 341. With six of the larger submarines under construction, the Navy considered either building German Type UB III submarines under license or implementing the Type 1916 S 1 design submitted by Ungarische Unterseebotsbau AG (UBAG) of

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

. The ''U-101'' class was based on the UBAG design, which called for a boat that displaced surfaced and submerged. The boats were to be long with 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 draft of . For propulsion, the design featured two shafts, with twin diesel engines of (total) for surface running at up to , and twin electric motors of (total) for submerged travel at up to . The ''U-101'' class boats were designed for a crew of 26 men. The ''U-101'' design called for five torpedo tubes—four bow tubes and one stern tube—and a complement of nine torpedoes. The original design specified a single 10 cm/35 (3.9 in) deck gun supplemented with an machine gun.

Construction

The Austro-Hungarian Navy authorized a total of nine ''U-101''-class submarines, six numbered sequentially from ''U-101'' to ''U-106'', and another three, ''U-118'' to ''U-120''. Upon completion of the first six ''U-101'' boats, the Navy intended to scrap its oldest six boats, ''U-1'' to ''U-6'', and drop the first two digits from the new boats so that, for example, ''U-101'' would become the new ''U-1''. In late 1917 and early 1918 the first three boats, ''U-101'' to ''U-103'', were laid down by Austriawerft at Trieste. Austriawerft was the new, more-"patriotic" wartime name for

Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) ("Technical Establishment of Trieste") was a private shipbuilding company based in Trieste from the mid-19th to early 20th century, and the most important naval shipbuilding firm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ...

. See: Baumgartner and Sieche, as excerpte
here
(reprinted and translated into English by Sieche). Retrieved 2 December 2008. The boats were begun late in the war when shortages of skilled shipyard workers and materials were slowing construction of other boats under construction.Baumgartner and Sieche, as excerpte

(reprinted and translated into English by Sieche). Retrieved 2 December 2008. As a result, none of the first three boats was ever launched, much less completed, and the rest were cancelled before any were laid down. ''U-101'' was 47% complete at war's end, while ''U-102'' and ''U-103'' were only 30% and 10% complete, respectively. Although there is no specific mention of the fates of the three incomplete boats of the ''U-101'' class, incomplete boats from other late-war classes were scrapped in 1919 and 1920.Gardiner, p. 344.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0101 class submarine Submarine classes Submarines of the Austro-Hungarian Navy