SM U-15 in the Great War - The Wartime Memories Project -

SM U-15

1st Aug 1914   SM U-15 was a Type U 13 uboat, built at the Shipyard Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig (Werk 10). She had been ordered 23 Feb 1909 and was launched 18 Sep 1911, commissioned 7 Jul 1912. On the 1 Aug 1914 she was commanded by Richard Pohle.

9th August 1914 First U-Boat sunk
The first lost. SM U 15 (Kptlt. Pohle) was rammed and sunk by British light cruiser HMS Birmingham.
SM U-15 of II Flotilla was rammed by HMS Birmingham off Fair Isle on the 9th of August 1914. All 25 crew were lost. The engines had apparently failed as she was lying stopped on the surface in heavy fog when HMS Birmingham spotted her and could clearly hear hammering from inside the boat (presumably from attempted repairs). The cruiser fired on her but missed and, as the boat began to dive, she rammed her cutting her in two. This was the first U-boat loss to an enemy warship.

28th December 1915 Battle of Durazzo 1915  The First Battle of Durazzo was a naval battle of World War I. It was fought off Durazzo, Albania at the end of December 1915 and involved the navies of Austria, the United Kingdom, Italy, and France.
Battle
In December 1915, the Austro-Hungarian Navy sent another cruiser Squadron into the Adriatic, this time to interfere with the Serbian Campaign. The new light cruiser SMS Helgoland, accompanied by five Tatra-class destroyers left Cattaro and headed for Durazzo late on 28 December 1915, with the submarine U-15 and two destroyers already off Durazzo on patrol. While on passage, the Austro-Hungarians sighted the French submarine Monge on patrol to the south of Cattaro. The destroyer SMS Balaton opened fire before ramming and sinking Monge. Early the next day, the Austrian squadron arrived off Durazzo and opened fire on the town, with Helgoland sinking a Greek steamer and two schooners. The destroyer Lika ran into a minefield and was sunk. Triglav was badly damaged by another mine. SMS Csepel attempted to take Triglav in tow, but fouled a propeller and the job was taken over by Tatra. The crippled Austrian force now returned slowly north. Allied forces in Brindisi were alerted to the Austrian force and the British sent out the Town-class light cruiser HMS Dartmouth. These were quickly followed by the Italian light cruisers Quatro and Nino Bixio, British destroyer HMS Weymouth and five French destroyers. The Austrians also responded and despatched from Cattaro, the armoured cruiser Kaiser Karl VI, and the light cruiser Novara, to support the returning survivors of the raid, but they did not see action. Early in the afternoon of 29 December the forward Allied ships came into action with the Austrian squadron which was still only halfway home. The French destroyers headed for the Austrian destroyer Triglav, still under tow, which was abandoned and scuttled off Cape Rondini, after being fired upon by the French destroyer Casque. Meanwhile, the Allied cruisers attempted to cut off and deal with Helgoland and the three remaining destroyers. In a long-range gunnery duel fought throughout the afternoon, Helgoland skillfully avoided the Allied cruisers and reached Cattaro safely but with the loss of the valuable Lika and Triglav. Tatra suffered a damaged engine from several shell hits

21st July 1917   SM U-151
Type U 151 Shipyard Reiherstiegw., Hamburg Ordered 29 Nov 1916 Launched 4 Apr 1917 Commissioned 21 Jul 1917
Commanders.
,br> 21 Jul 1917 - 26 Dec 1917 Waldemar Kophamel. 27 Dec 1917 - 11 Nov 1918 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff
Career 4 patrols.
21 Jul 1917 - 11 Nov 1918 U-Kreuzer Flotilla
Successes 34 ships sunk with a total of 88,395 tons.
6 ships damaged with a total of 13,267 tons.
1 ship damaged with a total of 1,025 tons.

19 Sep 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Blanche 3,104 fr
1 Oct 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Etna 5,604 it
2 Oct 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Viajante 377 pt
4 Oct 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Bygdønes 2,849 nw
12 Oct 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Parthian (hms) (damaged) 1,025 br
13 Oct 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Caprera 5,040 it
19 Oct 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Harpon (damaged) 1,484 fr
20 Oct 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Moyori Maru 3,746 jp
21 Oct 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Gryfevale 4,437 br
2 Nov 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Acary 4,275 bz
2 Nov 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Guahyba 1,891 bz
16 Nov 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Margaret L. Roberts 535 am
21 Nov 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Sobral 1,075 nw
22 Nov 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Tijuca 2,543 fr
23 Nov 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Trombetas 235 pt
26 Nov 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Johan Mjelde 2,049 nw
4 Dec 1917 U 151 Waldemar Kophamel Claudio (damaged) 2,588 sp
24 May 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Edna (damaged) 325 am
25 May 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Hattie Dunn 435 am
25 May 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Hauppauge (damaged) 1,446 am
2 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Carolina 5,093 am
2 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Edward H. Cole 1,791 am
2 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Edward R. Baird Jr (damaged) 279 am
2 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Isabel B. Wiley 776 am
2 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Jacob M. Haskell 1,778 am
2 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Texel 3,210 am
2 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Winneconne 1,869 am
3 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Samuel C. Mengel 915 am
3 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Herbert L. Pratt (damaged) 7,145 am
4 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Eidsvold 1,570 nw
5 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Harpathian 4,588 br
5 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Vinland 1,143 nw
8 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Pinar Del Rio 2,504 am
10 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Henrik Lund 4,226 nw
10 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Vindeggen 3,179 nw
14 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Kringsjaa 1,750 nw
14 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Samoa 1,138 nw
18 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Dwinsk 8,173 br
22 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Chilier 2,966 be
23 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Augvald 3,406 nw
28 Jun 1918 U 151 Heinrich von Nostitz und Jänckendorff Dictator 125 br

Fate - Surrendered to France at Cherburg. Sunk as target ship at Cherburg on 7 June, 1921.
There was another U 151 in World War Two.
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 14 Dec 1940 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 15 Jan 1941.

18th Jun 1918 SS Dwinsk lost
SS Dwinsk
SS Dwinsk, 8137grt, was a British-flagged ocean liner sunk by U-151 in World War I. The ship was previously the third Rotterdam for the Holland America Line, C.F. Tietgen for the Scandinavian America Line, and, as Dwinsk, for the Russian American Line. The ship was put under Cunard Line management in 1917, and sailed under the British flag until sunk on 18 June 1918. SS Rotterdam was launched 18 February 1897 by Harland & Wolff in Belfast for the Holland America Line, the third ship by that name for the line. She sailed from Rotterdam, her namesake city, to Boulogne and New York on her maiden voyage 18 August 1897. The ship began its final voyage on this route on 17 February 1906.
Purchased by the Scandinavian America Line on 5 April 1906, the ship was renamed C.F. Tietgen after Carl Frederik Tietgen, a Danish merchant. The ship operated primarily on a Copenhagen-Kristiania-Kristiansand-New York route through 1913. On 28 June 1906 the Tietgen collided with and sank the schooner E. G. Hay without loss of life. In July 1913 the ship was chartered to Nordisk Film A/S for the filming of Atlantis.
Later in 1913, the ship was sold to the Russian American Line and renamed Dwinsk, and operating between Libau and New York from 10 February 1914. On 20 September 1914, Dwinsk began sailing on an Archangel-Hammerfest-New York route.
In 1917, control of the ship passed to Cunard Line who reflagged her under the British flag, and retaining her existing name.

18th June 1918 Naval Action - 18th June 1918  The Action of 18 June 1918 was an attack on two allied ships near Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean by an Imperial German Navy u-boat during World War I. Sinking an allied merchant vessel, the U-boat failed to destroy an American warship which came to the merchantman's aid.
Action
The SS Dwinsk was a British flagged merchant ship known for her involvement in the War at Sea. On 18 June 1918, while steaming in the Atlantic from France to Newport News, Virginia, Dwinsk encountered the German submarine U-151 around 400 miles from Bermuda. The submarine surfaced and fired a torpedo into the helpless British steamer which caused severe damage. No distress call is known to have been sent by Dwinsk. The deaths of 22 or more British sailors have been confirmed, others were reported to have minor injuries. The dead either went down with Dwinsk when she sank or were in a lifeboat that went missing after their vessel went down. U-151's action was not over though, instead of fleeing after sinking the Dwinsk, she waited in the vicinity for any allied vessels coming to aid the British lifeboats. The lifeboats did not attempt to abandon the wreckage of their transport. The German U-boat remained for a few hours, using the stranded Britons as bait. USS Von Steuben, which just happened to be returning to America from Brest, France—sighted the wreckage of Dwinsk from over five miles away. What the Americans saw were seven lifeboats that appeared to be empty. The boats appeared to be empty due to the actions of the captain of Dwinsk. He had ordered the crew to lie down to prevent allied vessels from approaching and being attacked by the Germans. Von Steuben made her approach anyway and began zig-zagging as a measure against torpedo attack. Sure enough, as Von Steuben closed with the British lifeboats, the wake of one or two torpedoes were spotted coming towards the ship off her bow from abaft the port beam. Quickly the American commander was informed of the situation and ordered his crew to battle stations. Von Steuben fired her first shells in anger at the incoming torpedo, while another turret fired on U-151's periscope which was seen at the other end of the torpedo's trail. The shots fired at the torpedo apparently missed their target but Von Steuben was able to maneuver fast enough to keep out of the torpedo's path which missed by just a few yards. Once over the U-boat's last known position, the Americans dropped over 12 depth charges which shook the submarine severely, according to German accounts, and forced her to flee.
Aftermath
Von Steuben's crew did not rescue any of the Britons that night. It was not until later that the Americans learned that the survivors were lying down in their boats. The American commander did not want to risk his ship by slowing down to investigate the lifeboats. If Von Steuben had stopped to check the lifeboats, she would have been exposed to a torpedo attack. Six of the seven lifeboats were rescued by other allied ships. The seventh boat with about 20 men aboard was never heard from again. USS Siboney rescued two boats on 21 June and USS Rondo picked up the final boat on 28 June. This engagement was Von Steuben's only combat action during World War I.

If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.

Want to know more about SM U-15?

There are:5 items tagged SM U-15 available in our Library

These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

The Wartime Memories Project
- SM U-15 during the Great War -

SM U-15

Want to know more about SM U-15?

Those known to have served on
SM U-15
during the Great War 1914-1918.

The Wartime Memories Project - SM U-15 during the Great War -

SM U-15

Want to know more about SM U-15?

Those known to have served on SM U-15during the Great War 1914-1918.

The Wartime Memories Project
- SM U-15 during the Great War -

Those known to have served on
SM U-15
during the Great War 1914-1918.