SM U-17 (Germany)

For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-17.

SM U-17^{[Note 1]} was a German submarine during World War I. U-17 sank the first British merchant vessel in the First World War, and also sank another ten ships, damaged one ship and captured two ships, surviving the war without casualty.

U-17 (second row, second from the right), Kiel Harbour, February 1914
History
Germany
Name	U-17
Ordered	10 May 1910
Builder	Kaiserliche Werft Danzig
Cost	2,333,000 Goldmark
Yard number	11
Laid down	1 October 1910
Launched	16 April 1912
Commissioned	3 November 1912
Stricken	27 January 1919
Fate	Struck 27 January 1919, scrapped at Imperial Dockyard, Kiel. Pressure hull sold to Stinnes, Hamburg on 3 February 1920.
General characteristics
Class and type	German Type U 17 submarine
Displacement	564 t (555 long tons) surfaced 691 t (680 long tons) submerged
Length	62.35 m (204 ft 7 in)
Beam	6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Height	7.30 m (23 ft 11 in)
Draught	3.40 m (11 ft 2 in)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × 2 Körting 8-cylinder two stroke paraffin motors with 1,400 PS (1,000 kW; 1,400 shp) 2 × AEG electric motors with 1,120 PS (820 kW; 1,100 shp) 550 rpm surfaced 425 rpm submerged
Speed	14.9 knots (27.6 km/h; 17.1 mph) surfaced 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) submerged
Range	6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km; 7,700 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced 75 nautical miles (139 km; 86 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth	50 m (164 ft 1 in)
Boats & landing craft carried	1 dinghy
Complement	4 officers, 25 men
Armament	4 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 each bow and stern) 6 torpedoes 1 × 5 cm (2.0 in) SK L/40 gun 1 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss gun
Service record
Part of:	II Flotilla 1 August 1914 – unknown end Baltic Flotilla unknown start – 10 January 1916 Training Flotilla 10 January 1916 – 11 November 1918
Commanders:	Oblt.z.S. Johannes Feldkirchener[1] 1 August 1914 – 7 March 1915 Kptlt. Hans Walther[2] 2 March 1915 – 9 January 1916
Operations:	4 patrols
Victories:	11 merchant ships sunk (15,122 GRT) 1 merchant ship damaged (4,590 GRT) 2 merchant ships taken as prize (4,956 GRT)

War service

Oberleutnant z.S. Feldkirchener

On 1 August 1914, Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Feldkirchener was given command of U-17.^[3] On 20 October, U-17 stopped the 866 ton SS Glitra off the Norwegian coast, and having searched her cargo, ordered the crew to the lifeboats before scuttling the vessel. On 26 October, U-17 torpedoed the French ferry SS Amiral Ganteaume† in the Strait of Dover. The vessel made port before sinking, with the loss of 40 lives out of over 2,500 on board.^[4]
† - www.uboat.net credits the damage to the French steamer Amiral Ganteaume to U-24.

On 2 March 1915 the command of U-17 passed to Kapitänleutnant Hans Walther. On 12 June 1915, U-17 chased and torpedoed the SS Desabla off the coast of Scotland. The crew escaped on lifeboats while the vessel was scuttled and sunk. Walther's command ended on 9 January 1916 and the next day U-17 joined the Training Flotilla.^[3]

Post war

U-17 was decommissioned on 27 January 1919 and sold for scrapping.

Summary of raiding history

Date	Ship Name	Nationality	Tonnage[Note 2]	Fate[5]
20 October 1914	Glitra	United Kingdom	866	Sunk
26 October 1914	Amiral Ganteaume	France	4,590	Damaged
12 June 1915	Cocos	Denmark	85	Sunk
12 June 1915	Desabla	United Kingdom	6,047	Sunk
18 June 1915	Ailsa	United Kingdom	876	Sunk
8 August 1915	Glenravel	United Kingdom	1,092	Sunk
8 August 1915	Malmland	Sweden	3,676	Sunk
10 August 1915	Utopia	United Kingdom	155	Sunk
14 August 1915	Gloria	United Kingdom	130	Sunk
15 August 1915	Götaland	Sweden	3,538	Captured as prize
15 August 1915	Marie	Denmark	158	Sunk
16 August 1915	Romulus	Norway	819	Sunk
16 August 1915	Tello	Norway	1,218	Sunk
24 October 1915	Rumina	Sweden	1,418	Captured as prize

References

Notes

1. "SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
2. Tonnages are in gross register tons

Citations

1. Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Johannes Feldkirchener". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
2. Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Hans Walther (Pour le Mérite)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
3. Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 17". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
4. "U-Boat warfare at the Atlantic in WW1". German Notes. Archived from the original on 2008-03-10. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
5. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U 17". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 21 February 2014.

Bibliography

• Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). German Warships 1815–1945, U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
• Spindler, Arno (1966) [1932]. Der Handelskrieg mit U-Booten. 5 Vols. Berlin: Mittler & Sohn. Vols. 4+5, dealing with 1917+18, are very hard to find: Guildhall Library, London, has them all, also Vol. 1-3 in an English translation: The submarine war against commerce.
• Beesly, Patrick (1982). Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914-1918. London: H Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-10864-2.
• Halpern, Paul G. (1917). A Naval History of World War I. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-85728-498-0.
• Roessler, Eberhard (1997). Die Unterseeboote der Kaiserlichen Marine. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-5963-7.
• Schroeder, Joachim (2002). Die U-Boote des Kaisers. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-6235-4.
• Koerver, Hans Joachim (2008). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914-1918. Vol I., The Fleet in Action. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN 978-3-902433-76-3.
• Koerver, Hans Joachim (2009). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914-1918. Vol II., The Fleet in Being. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN 978-3-902433-77-0.

External links

• Photo Archived 2005-02-27 at the Wayback Machine of U-17.
• Photos of cruises of German submarine U-54 in 1916-1918. Great photo quality, comments in German.
• A 44 min. film from 1917 about a cruise of the German submarine U-35. A German propaganda film without dead or wounded; many details about submarine warfare in World War I.
• Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 17". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.
• Room 40: Archived 2018-10-15 at the Wayback Machine original documents, photos and maps about World War I German submarine warfare and British Room 40 Intelligence from The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, UK.
• A song about the U-17, sung by Billy Murray