The submarines of the Imperial German Navy: the U-9

(To Francesco Sisto)
03/04/23

At the beginning of the First World War, the Imperial German Navy had only 35 submarines at its disposal (of which only 28 were in effective service at the outbreak of hostilities). Even when it began unrestricted submarine warfare (in the winter of 1917) it did not have many - about a hundred - and the highest number of submarines, which it arrived in in the autumn of 1917 was about 140, distributed in the different operating theatres. However, they were boats of excellent workmanship and above all well used.

THEU-9 (Submarine type U 9) was laid down in 1908 in the Imperial Arsenal in Danzig, launched on 22 February 1910 and delivered to the German Navy on 18 April 1910.

At the beginning of the conflict, the submarine U-9 it was commanded by Lieutenant Otto Weddigen.

On 20 September 1914 the boat left Heligoland (Germany) and headed towards Flemish waters with the aim of countering the British landings on the Belgian coast. Very demanding was the navigation of theU-9 to the South due to weather conditions; in the end, bad weather forced Captain Weddigen to remain submerged at a depth of about 18 m for the whole night.

On the morning of 22 September, the German submarine was about 25 miles southwest of Scheveningen (Netherlands) when, around 6 am, she noticed masts of battleships on the horizon. Lieutenant Weddigen ordered a periscope dive and began heading towards the enemy ships; in appearance they looked like three light cruisers of the class Town...

The boat advanced towards the Royal Navy ships, which were proceeding at a speed of only ten knots without zigzagging and without a destroyer escort; at that moment Commander Weddigen decided to attack. Around 6,20 theU-9, from a distance of about 600 meters, fired a torpedo at the median cruiser. The torpedo hit the target. The ship listed and capsized, sinking before long.

The British thought they had stumbled upon a minefield, and the other two ships approached to assist the survivors. The Germans seized the opportunity: at 6,55 the boat launched two torpedoes from about 300 meters. The shots were successful and the second target also sank. About half an hour later she was hit by the third ship, hit by two torpedoes.

In the end, it wasn't light cruisers but armored cruisers Aboukir, HogueCressy.

This is how Lieutenant Weddigen recalls the sinking of the Cressy"his men remained at their own placed looking for the invisible enemy; they were brave and kept up the traditions of the sea of their country. Then there was a boiler explosion and the hull capsized completely, showing the keel; the ship remained afloat until the air inside was expelled from the water, then she sank with a plaintive sound, like a sea creature in pain".1

The submarine's second in command – Second Lieutenant Johann Spiess – cursed the British for “...showing us the horrific sight of men drowning or scrambling for life amidst the floating wreckage and overturned lifeboats…” 2

For the British, the losses were considerable; in fact, between officers and sailors about 1460 men died.

It should be noted that for the Royal Navy it was a great shame, despite the fact that the three destroyed ships were poorly efficient and their annihilation did not represent a very serious loss from a tactical point of view. Furthermore, the sinking of the three British cruisers by theU-9 showed the world the power of the submarine as a weapon of war.

It should be remembered that on 15 October 1914 theU-9 sank the British cruiser Hawke off the coast of Scotland. 527 men perished (including the commander).

THEU-9, from the spring of 1916, was used as a school boat. The submarine was delivered to the United Kingdom after the capitulation of the German Empire, and was scrapped in 1919. She was the only naval vessel (together with the light cruiser Emden) to be awarded the iron Cross by Kaiser Wilhelm II!

THEU-9 she had a displacement of 493 tons surfaced and 611 tons submerged. The dimensions of her were 57,38 x 6,0 x 3,13 meters. The motor apparatus consisted of 4 engines Discount oil, for a total of 1000 horsepower, for navigation on the surface; 2 electric motors, for a total of 1160 horsepower, for underwater navigation. Two three-prong propellers of 1,45 m diameter. The boat had a top speed of 14,2 knots (8,1 knots submerged).

The armament consisted of 4 x 450 mm torpedo tubes, with a total of six weapons, a cannon revolver and a 50/40 cannon with 72 shells.

The submarine could count on a crew of 28 men (including officers).

1 JP Delgado, History of submarines. Underwater warfare from its origins to the present day. LEG, Gorizia, 2014, p.161

2 Ibidem