List of Austro-Hungarian U-boats
Encyclopedia
The Austro-Hungarian U-boat
fleet during the First World War mainly consisted of German manufactured units transported by rail from Germany's northern shipyards to the Austrian ports on the Adriatic Sea
. They served throughout the war against Italian, French and British shipping in the Mediterranean Sea
with some success, losing eight of the twenty eight boats in service in return. Following the end of the war in 1918, all Austrian submarines were surrendered to the Entente
powers, who disposed of them individually. As both Austria
and Hungary
became landlocked
in the aftermath of the war, no Austrian or Hungarian submarines (or any other naval vessels) have been commissioned since.
In some sources Austro-Hungarian U-boats are referenced with Roman numerals
as a way to distinguish them from German U-boats with similar numbers, but the Austro-Hungarian Navy
itself used Arabic numerals
. There are gaps in the numbering for several reasons. One series of Austro-Hungarian U-boats under construction in Germany was sold and commissioned into the Imperial German Navy. In other cases, U-boats commissioned into the Imperial German Navy were temporarily assigned Austro-Hungarian numbers when they operated in the Mediterranean. One final reason, in the case of the unassigned U-13, was superstition.
are included in this table.
by declaring war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915, Germany felt treaty-bound to support the Austrians in attacks against Italian ships, even though Germany and Italy were not officially at war. As a result, German U-boats operating in Mediterranean were assigned Austro-Hungarian numbers and flags. In some cases the same Austro-Hungarian numbers were assigned to different German U-boats. After 28 August 1916, when Germany and Italy were officially at war, the practice continued, primarily to avoid charges of flag misuse. The practice was largely ended by 1 October 1916 except for a few large U-boats that continued using Austro-Hungarian numbers.
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
fleet during the First World War mainly consisted of German manufactured units transported by rail from Germany's northern shipyards to the Austrian ports on the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
. They served throughout the war against Italian, French and British shipping in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
with some success, losing eight of the twenty eight boats in service in return. Following the end of the war in 1918, all Austrian submarines were surrendered to the Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
powers, who disposed of them individually. As both Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
became landlocked
Landlocked
A landlocked country is a country entirely enclosed by land, or whose only coastlines lie on closed seas. There are 48 landlocked countries in the world, including partially recognized states...
in the aftermath of the war, no Austrian or Hungarian submarines (or any other naval vessels) have been commissioned since.
In some sources Austro-Hungarian U-boats are referenced with Roman numerals
Roman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...
as a way to distinguish them from German U-boats with similar numbers, but the Austro-Hungarian Navy
Austro-Hungarian Navy
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....
itself used Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals or Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals or Indo-Arabic numerals are the ten digits . They are descended from the Hindu-Arabic numeral system developed by Indian mathematicians, in which a sequence of digits such as "975" is read as a numeral...
. There are gaps in the numbering for several reasons. One series of Austro-Hungarian U-boats under construction in Germany was sold and commissioned into the Imperial German Navy. In other cases, U-boats commissioned into the Imperial German Navy were temporarily assigned Austro-Hungarian numbers when they operated in the Mediterranean. One final reason, in the case of the unassigned U-13, was superstition.
Commissioned
| U-boat | Class | Launched | Commissioned | Fate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SM U-1 SM U-1 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-1 or U-I was the lead boat of her class of submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy . U-1 was designed by American Simon Lake's Lake Torpedo Boat Company and built at the navy yard in Pola... |
U-1 class U-1 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-1 class was a class of two submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy . The U-1-class boats were built to an American design at the navy yard in Pola... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-2 SM U-2 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-2 or U-II was a U-1-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy . U-2 was designed by American Simon Lake's Lake Torpedo Boat Company and built at the navy yard in Pola... |
U-1 class U-1 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-1 class was a class of two submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy . The U-1-class boats were built to an American design at the navy yard in Pola... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-3 SM U-3 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-3 or U-III was the lead boat of the U-3 class of submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during the First World War... |
U-3 class U-3 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-3 class was a class of two submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy . The U-3-class boats were designed and built by Germaniawerft of Kiel, Germany... |
Sunk 13 August 1915 | |||
| SM U-4 SM U-4 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-4 or U-IV was a U-3-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during the First World War... |
U-3 class U-3 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-3 class was a class of two submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy . The U-3-class boats were designed and built by Germaniawerft of Kiel, Germany... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-5 SM U-5 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-5 or U-V was the lead boat of the U-5 class of submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during the First World War. The submarine was built as part of a plan to evaluate foreign submarine designs, and was the first of three boats of the class built... |
U-5 class U-5 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-5 class was a class of three submarines or U-boats that were operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during World War I. The class was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's efforts to competitively evaluate three foreign submarine designs.... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-6 SM U-6 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-6 or U-VI was a U-5-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during the First World War. The submarine was built as part of a plan to evaluate foreign submarine designs, and was the second of three boats of the class built by Whitehead & Co... |
U-5 class U-5 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-5 class was a class of three submarines or U-boats that were operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during World War I. The class was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's efforts to competitively evaluate three foreign submarine designs.... |
Scuttled 13 May 1916 | |||
| SM U-10 SM U-10 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-10 or U-X was the lead boat of the U-10 class of submarines for the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. She was originally a German Type UB I submarine commissioned into the German Imperial Navy as SM UB-1.... |
U-10 class U-10 class submarine The U-10 class was a class of five submarines or U-boats of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was similar to the German Type UB I submarine of the German Imperial Navy ; the first two boats delivered to Austria-Hungary had previously been commissioned in Kaiserliche... |
Mined 9 July 1918; scrapped 1918 | The former German SM UB-1 | ||
| SM U-11 SM U-11 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-11 or U-XI was a in the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. She was originally a German Type UB I submarine commissioned into the German Imperial Navy as SM UB-15.... |
U-10 class U-10 class submarine The U-10 class was a class of five submarines or U-boats of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was similar to the German Type UB I submarine of the German Imperial Navy ; the first two boats delivered to Austria-Hungary had previously been commissioned in Kaiserliche... |
Scrapped 1920 | The former German SM UB-15 | ||
| SM U-12 SM U-12 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-12 or U-XII was a U-5-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during the First World War.- Introduction :Built on speculation by Whitehead & Co... |
U-5 class U-5 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-5 class was a class of three submarines or U-boats that were operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during World War I. The class was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's efforts to competitively evaluate three foreign submarine designs.... |
Sunk 12 August 1916 | Raised and scrapped end of 1916 | ||
| SM U-14 | U-14 class | Returned to France, 1919; scrapped 1929 | Captured French submarine | ||
| SM U-15 SM U-15 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-15 or U-XV was a or U-boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. U-15 was constructed in Germany and shipped by rail to Pola where she was assembled and launched in April 1915. She was commissioned in October 1915. U-15 was the most successful boat of the U-10 class, sinking six... |
U-10 class U-10 class submarine The U-10 class was a class of five submarines or U-boats of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was similar to the German Type UB I submarine of the German Imperial Navy ; the first two boats delivered to Austria-Hungary had previously been commissioned in Kaiserliche... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-16 SM U-16 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-16 or U-XVI was a or U-boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. U-16 was constructed in Germany and shipped by rail to Pula where she was assembled and completed in September 1915. She was commissioned in October 1915.... |
U-10 class U-10 class submarine The U-10 class was a class of five submarines or U-boats of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was similar to the German Type UB I submarine of the German Imperial Navy ; the first two boats delivered to Austria-Hungary had previously been commissioned in Kaiserliche... |
Sunk | |||
| SM U-17 SM U-17 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-17 or U-XVII was a or U-boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. U-17 was laid down in Germany in April 1915 and shipped in sections by rail to Pola in August, where she was assembled... |
U-10 class U-10 class submarine The U-10 class was a class of five submarines or U-boats of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was similar to the German Type UB I submarine of the German Imperial Navy ; the first two boats delivered to Austria-Hungary had previously been commissioned in Kaiserliche... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-20 SM U-20 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-20 or U-XX was the lead boat of the of submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War... |
U-20 class U-20 class submarine The U-20 class was a class of four submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class is sometimes referred to as the Havmanden class because it was based upon the design of the Royal Danish Navy's 1911 Havmanden class submarines, three of which... |
Sunk | Wreck raised in 1962; conning tower Conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility.... on display in Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... |
||
| SM U-21 SM U-21 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-21 or U-XXI was a or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War. The design for U-21 was based on submarines of the Royal Danish Navy's Havmanden class , and was largely obsolete by the beginning of the war.U-21 was just over long and was armed... |
U-20 class U-20 class submarine The U-20 class was a class of four submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class is sometimes referred to as the Havmanden class because it was based upon the design of the Royal Danish Navy's 1911 Havmanden class submarines, three of which... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-22 SM U-22 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-22 or U-XXII was a or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War. The design for U-22 was based on submarines of the Royal Danish Navy's Havmanden class , and was largely obsolete by the beginning of the war.U-22 was just over long and was armed... |
U-20 class U-20 class submarine The U-20 class was a class of four submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class is sometimes referred to as the Havmanden class because it was based upon the design of the Royal Danish Navy's 1911 Havmanden class submarines, three of which... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-23 SM U-23 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-23 or U-XXIII was a or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War. The design for U-23 was based on submarines of the Royal Danish Navy's Havmanden class , and was largely obsolete by the beginning of the war.U-23 was just over long and was armed... |
U-20 class U-20 class submarine The U-20 class was a class of four submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class is sometimes referred to as the Havmanden class because it was based upon the design of the Royal Danish Navy's 1911 Havmanden class submarines, three of which... |
Sunk 21 February 1918 | |||
| SM U-27 SM U-27 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-27 or U-XXVII was the lead boat of the U-27 class of U-boats or submarines for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-27 was built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino at the Pola Navy Yard and launched on 19 October 1916. She was commissioned on 24 February 1917.She had a single hull and... |
U-27 class U-27 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.After the Austro-Hungarian Navy... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-28 SM U-28 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-28 or U-XXVIII was a U-27 class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-28, built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino at the Pola Navy Yard, was launched in January 1917 and commissioned in June.... |
U-27 class U-27 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.After the Austro-Hungarian Navy... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-29 SM U-29 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-29 or U-XXIX was a U-27 class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-29, built by the Hungarian firm of Ganz Danubius at Fiume, was launched in October 1916 and commissioned in January 1917.... |
U-27 class U-27 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.After the Austro-Hungarian Navy... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-30 SM U-30 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-30 or U-XXX was a U-27 class U-boat or submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-30, built by the Hungarian firm of Ganz Danubius at Fiume, was launched in December 1916 and commissioned in February 1917.... |
U-27 class U-27 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.After the Austro-Hungarian Navy... |
Went missing after 31 March 1917 | |||
| SM U-31 SM U-31 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-31 or U-XXXI was a U-27 class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-31, built by the Hungarian firm of Ganz Danubius at Fiume, was launched in March 1917 and commissioned in April.... |
U-27 class U-27 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.After the Austro-Hungarian Navy... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-32 SM U-32 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-32 or U-XXXII was a U-27 class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-32, built by the Hungarian firm of Ganz Danubius at Fiume, was launched in May 1917 and commissioned in June.... |
U-27 class U-27 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.After the Austro-Hungarian Navy... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-40 SM U-40 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-40 or U-XL was a U-27 class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-40, built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino at the Pola Navy Yard, was launched in April 1917 and commissioned in August.... |
U-27 class U-27 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.After the Austro-Hungarian Navy... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-41 SM U-41 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-41 or U-XLI was a U-27 class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-41, built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino at the Pola Navy Yard, was launched in November 1917. When she was commissioned in February 1918, she became the last boat of her class to enter service... |
U-27 class U-27 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.After the Austro-Hungarian Navy... |
Scrapped 1920 | |||
| SM U-43 | U-43 class U-43 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-43 class was a class of two coastal submarines or U-boats operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The two boats that comprised the class were Type UB II submarines of the Imperial German Navy, making the two classes identical... |
Scrapped 1920 | The former German SM UB-43 SM UB-43 SM UB-43 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-43 was sold to the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the war... |
||
| SM U-47 | U-43 class U-43 class submarine (Austria-Hungary) The U-43 class was a class of two coastal submarines or U-boats operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The two boats that comprised the class were Type UB II submarines of the Imperial German Navy, making the two classes identical... |
Scrapped 1920 | The former German SM UB-47 SM UB-47 SM UB-47 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-47 was sold to the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the war... |
Other
Submarines on which construction was begun but which were not completed or commissioned during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
are included in this table.
German U-boats operating under the Austro-Hungarian flag
After Italy had entered World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
by declaring war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915, Germany felt treaty-bound to support the Austrians in attacks against Italian ships, even though Germany and Italy were not officially at war. As a result, German U-boats operating in Mediterranean were assigned Austro-Hungarian numbers and flags. In some cases the same Austro-Hungarian numbers were assigned to different German U-boats. After 28 August 1916, when Germany and Italy were officially at war, the practice continued, primarily to avoid charges of flag misuse. The practice was largely ended by 1 October 1916 except for a few large U-boats that continued using Austro-Hungarian numbers.
| Austro-Hungarian name |
German U-boat name(s) |
|---|---|
| SM U-7 | |
| SM U-8 | |
| SM U-9 | Conway's (p. 341) lists as the Austro-Hungarian U-9, but that boat was a training boat at Kiel Kiel Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the... and not a part of the German Pola Flotilla Pola Flotilla The Pola flotilla was an Imperial German Navy formation set up to prosecute the U-boat campaign against Allied shipping in the Mediterranean during the First World War in support of Germany’s ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire... . |
| SM U-18 | |
| SM U-19 | |
| SM U-24 | |
| SM U-25 | |
| SM U-26 | |
| SM U-33 | |
| SM U-34 | |
| SM U-35 | |
| SM U-36 | SM U-21 SM U-21 (Germany) SM U-21 was one of the most famous U-boats to serve in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was the first submarine to sink a ship with a self-propelled torpedo. She also sank the British battleships HMS Triumph and HMS Majestic... |
| SM U-37 | SM U-32 |
| SM U-38 | |
| SM U-39 | |
| SM U-42 | |
| SM U-44 | |
| SM U-45 | |
| SM U-46 | |
| SM U-54 | |
| SM U-55 | |
| SM U-56 | |
| SM U-57 | |
| SM U-58 | |
| SM U-60 | |
| SM U-62 | |
| SM U-63 | |
| SM U-64 | |
| SM U-65 | |
| SM U-66 | |
| SM U-67 | |
| SM U-68 | |
| SM U-69 | |
| SM U-70 | |
| SM U-71 | |
| SM U-72 | |
| SM U-73 | |
| SM U-74 | |
| SM U-75 | |
| SM U-77 | |
| SM U-78 | |
| SM U-79 | |
| SM U-80 | |
| SM U-81 | |
| SM U-82 | |
| SM U-83 | |
| SM U-88 | |
| SM U-89 | |
| SM U-92 | |
| SM U-93 | |
| SM U-94 | |
| SM U-95 | |
| SM U-96 | |
| SM U-97 | |
| SM U-99 | |
| SM U-110 | |
| SM U-133 | |
| SM U-134 | |
| SM U-135 | |
| SM U-146 | |
| SM U-147 |