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SM U-28 (Austria-Hungary)
Encyclopedia
SM U-28 or U-XXVIII was a 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...
U-boat
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...
or submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
for 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....
. U-28, built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino
Cantiere Navale Triestino
CANT was an Italian aviation company which originally specialised in building naval aircraft, formed in 1923 as part of the CNT...
(CNT) at the Pola Navy Yard, was launched in January 1917 and commissioned in June.
She had a single hull
Submarine hull
The term light hull is used to describe the outer hull of a submarine, which houses the pressure hull, providing hydrodynamically efficient shape, but not holding pressure difference...
and was just over 121 feet (36.9 m) in length. She displaced
Displacement (ship)
A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...
nearly 265 metric tons (261 LT) when surfaced and over 300 metric tons (295 LT) when submerged. Her two diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s moved her at up to 9 knots on the surface, while her twin electric motor
Electric motor
An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...
s propelled her at up to 7.5 knots while underwater. She was armed with two bow torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s and could carry a load of up to four torpedoes. She was also equipped with a 75 mm (3 in) deck gun
Deck gun
A deck gun is a type of artillery cannon mounted on the deck of a ship or submarine.The deck gun was used as a defensive weapon against smaller boats or ships and in certain cases where torpedo use was limited. Typically a crew of three; gunner, loader, and layer, operated the gun, while others...
and a machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
.
During her service career, U-28 sank the British Q ship and nine other ships, sending a combined tonnage of to the bottom. U-28 was surrendered at Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
in 1919, granted to Italy as a war reparation and broken up the following year.
Design and construction
Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
's U-boat fleet was largely obsolete at the outbreak of World War I
World 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...
. 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....
satisfied its most urgent needs by purchasing five Type UB I
German type UB I submarine
The Type UB I was a class of small coastal submarines built in Germany at the beginning of the First World War. Twenty boats were constructed, most of which went into service with the German Imperial Navy. Boats of this design were also operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy and the Bulgarian...
submarines that comprised the from Germany, by raising and recommissioning the sunken French submarine Curie
French submarine Curie (Q 87)
SM U-14 or U-XIV was a U-boat or submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War. She was launched in 1912 as the French Curie , but captured and rebuilt for service in the Austro-Hungarian Navy...
as ,Curie
French submarine Curie (Q 87)
SM U-14 or U-XIV was a U-boat or submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War. She was launched in 1912 as the French Curie , but captured and rebuilt for service in the Austro-Hungarian Navy...
had been caught in an anti-submarine net
Anti-submarine net
An anti-submarine net is a device placed across the mouth of a harbour or a strait for protection against submarines.-Examples of anti-submarine nets:*Lake Macquarie anti-submarine boom*Indicator net*Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign...
while trying to enter the harbor at Pola
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
on 20 December 1914. See: Gardiner, p. 343. and by building four submarines of the that were based on the 1911 Danish Havmanden class
Havmanden class submarine (1911)
The Havmanden class was a class of six submarines built for the Royal Danish Navy from 1911 to 1914. Also later known as the A class, the boats were designed by the Austro-Hungarian firm Whitehead & Co. of Fiume...
.The plans for the Danish Havmanden class submarines
Havmanden class submarine (1911)
The Havmanden class was a class of six submarines built for the Royal Danish Navy from 1911 to 1914. Also later known as the A class, the boats were designed by the Austro-Hungarian firm Whitehead & Co. of Fiume...
, three of which were built in Austria-Hungary, were seized from Whitehead & Co. in Fiume. See: Gardiner, pp. 344, 354.
After these steps alleviated their most urgent needs, the Austro-Hungarian Navy selected the German Type UB II
German type UB II submarine
The UB II type submarine was a class of U-boat built during World War I by the Kaiserliche Marine. They were enlarged from the preceding type UB I and were more effective vessels. The boats were a single hull design with a 50 metre maximum diving depth and a 30-45 second diving time...
design for its newest submarines in mid 1915. The Germans were reluctant to allocate any of their wartime resources to Austro-Hungarian construction, but were willing to sell plans for up to six of the UB II boats to be constructed under license in Austria-Hungary. The Navy agreed to the proposal and purchased the plans from AG Weser
AG Weser
Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser was one of the great German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1873 it was finally closed in 1983. Altogether, AG Weser built about 1400 ships of different types, including many war ships...
of Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
.
U-28 displaced 264 metric tons (259.8 LT) surfaced and 301 metric tons (296.2 LT) submerged. She had a single hull
Submarine hull
The term light hull is used to describe the outer hull of a submarine, which houses the pressure hull, providing hydrodynamically efficient shape, but not holding pressure difference...
with saddle tank
Saddle tank (submarine)
Saddle tanks are a type of ballast tank configuration fitted to mid-era submarines, those of World War II.Saddle tanks are fitted in pairs external to the pressure hull, one on each side, in a similar manner to that of a horse's saddle-bags, the positioning of which they resemble in appearance.-...
s, and was 121 in 1 in (36.91 m) long with a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 14 in 4 in (4.37 m) and a draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 12 in 2 in (3.71 m). For propulsion, she had two shafts, twin diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s of 270 bhp for surface running, and twin electric motor
Electric motor
An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...
s of 280 shp for submerged travel. She was capable of 9 knots while surfaced and 7.5 knots while submerged. Although there is no specific notation of a range for U-28 in Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921, the German UB II boats, upon which the U-27 class was based, had a range of over 6000 nautical miles (11,112 km) at 5 knots surfaced, and 45 nautical miles (83.3 km) at 4 knots submerged. U-27-class boats were designed for a crew of 23–24.
U-28 was armed with two 45 cm (17.7 in) bow torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s and could carry a complement of four torpedoes. She was also equipped with a 75 mm/26 (3.0 in) deck gun
Deck gun
A deck gun is a type of artillery cannon mounted on the deck of a ship or submarine.The deck gun was used as a defensive weapon against smaller boats or ships and in certain cases where torpedo use was limited. Typically a crew of three; gunner, loader, and layer, operated the gun, while others...
and an 8 mm (0.31496062992126 in) machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
.
After intricate political negotiations to allocate production of the class between Austrian and Hungarian firms, U-28 was ordered from Cantiere Navale Triestino
Cantiere Navale Triestino
CANT was an Italian aviation company which originally specialised in building naval aircraft, formed in 1923 as part of the CNT...
(CNT) on 12 October 1915. She was laid down by early 1916 at the Pola Navy Yard,By this time, the CNT
Cantiere Navale Triestino
CANT was an Italian aviation company which originally specialised in building naval aircraft, formed in 1923 as part of the CNT...
shipyards at Monfalcone
Monfalcone
Monfalcone is a town and comune of the province of Gorizia , located on the coast of the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means "Mount of Falcon" in Italian....
had been overrun by the Italian Army
Italian Army
The Italian Army is the ground defence force of the Italian Armed Forces. It is all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel, numbering 108,355 in 2010. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft...
. See: Baumgartner and Sieche, as excerpted here (reprinted and translated into English by Sieche). Retrieved 17 January 2008. and launched on 8 January 1917.
Service career
After her completion, U-28 was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 26 June 1917 under the command of Linienschiffsleutnant Zdenko Hudeček. Previously in command of , Hudeček was a 30-year-old native of Theresienstadt (present-day Terezín in the Czech RepublicCzech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
).
Four days after the U-boat's commissioning, Hudeček achieved his first kill at the helm of U-28. On 30 June, while on patrol about 40 nautical miles (74.1 km) east of Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, U-28 came upon the 4,809-ton British steamer Haigh Hall. The turret hull
Turret Deck Ship
A turret deck ship is a type of merchant ship with an unusual hull, designed and built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.The hulls of turret deck vessels were rounded and stepped inward above their waterlines. This gave some advantages in strength and allowed them to pay lower canal tolls...
ship was carrying wheat from Bombay to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
when torpedoed and sunk by Hudeček. Three days later, the British India passenger ship met the same fate. Even though escorted by an Italian destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
and a trawler
Naval trawler
A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...
, Mongara was torpedoed and sunk by U-28 just 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) from the breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
at Messina. The 8,205-ton liner—the largest ship sunk by U-28—was en route from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
when she went down, but was spared any loss of life in the attack. In eight days in commission, U-28s tally was over 13,000 tons, already exceeding the totals of all four U-boats of the .
The following month, U-28 sank the 3,881-ton collier Maston 35 nautical miles (64.8 km) from Cape Spartivento, Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, on 13 August, killing two men of the British ship's crew. Three days after Maston went down, U-28 sank , a 3,683-ton British Q ship in the Straits of Messina, with no loss of life. Bradford City, operating under the pseudonym Saros, had been particularly detached to the Straits to hunt U-28 and had ignored orders to proceed to port from officers unaware of her naval status. After the torpedo struck, the ship's "panic party" had taken to the boats in the hope of luring her attacker to the surface, but the arrival of the French naval trawler Hiver drove U-28 away before the gun crews aboard Bradford City could engage the submarine. Bradford City sank within 30 minutes off San Remo. In October, U-28 closed out her 1917 list of victims with Bontnewydd, a British steamer sunk 60 nautical miles (111.1 km) north-northeast of Susa
Susa, Libya
Susa or Soussa is a town and seaside resort in the District of Jabal al Akhdar in north-eastern Libya. Susa stands by the ruins of Apollonia, Cyrenaica.The town contains the Apollonia Museum. It is located about 30 km northeast of Bayda....
. The 3,296-ton steamer was sailing in ballast
Ballast tank
A ballast tank is a compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water.-History:The basic concept behind the ballast tank can be seen in many forms of aquatic life, such as the blowfish or argonaut octopus, and the concept has been invented and reinvented many times by...
from Marseilles for Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
.
In January 1918, U-28 sank an additional three ships. Bosforo, an Italian steamer of 2,723 tons headed for Salonika, was sent to the bottom near Cape Spartivento on 12 January. The following day, U-28 dispatched the British steamer Rapallo 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) south of Cape Peloro. One sailor aboard the one-year-old ship died in the attack, which occurred while the ship was headed to Messina in ballast. On 21 January, West Wales, a collier headed from Barry to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, was sunk 140 nautical miles (259.3 km) from Malta, taking her load of coal and two of her crew to the bottom.
On 8 March, U-28 attacked two ships, sinking one of them. The first ship, Mitra, a 5,592-ton tanker
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
was hit by U-28 but was able to make port in Malta with her cargo of oil.Mitra lived somewhat of a charmed life. The 1912 ship had survived the explosion of a mine laid by German U-boat in June 1917, in addition to weathering the attack from U-28. The ship, renamed Liberatador in 1935, remained in service until 1950, when she was scrapped at Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. See: Later in the month, U-28 sank Uganda 32 nautical miles (59.3 km) from Linosa
Linosa
Linosa is one of the Pelagie Islands in the Sicily Channel of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a frazione of the comune of Lampedusa e Linosa, part of the province of Agrigento, Sicily, Italy. It has a population of 450 inhabitants.-Geography:...
, killing one sailor in the attack. The 1905 British ship was carrying cotton and cottonseed from Alexandria for London when the attack occurred. Three days later, Stolt Nielsen, a 5,684-ton steamship, was sent to the bottom 38 nautical miles (70.4 km) from Malta. Carrying a general cargo for the Admiralty when she went down, the British ship turned out to be the final ship to be sunk by U-28.
At the war's end, U-28 was surrendered to Italy at Venice in 1919. Later awarded to Italy as a war reparation, she was scrapped at Venice in 1920. In her 18-month career, U-28 sank ten ships with a combined tonnage of 44,743, and damaged an eleventh.
Ships sunk or damaged
| Date | Name | Tonnage | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haigh Hall | 4,809 | British | |
| 8,205 | British | ||
| Maston | 3,881 | British | |
| 3,683 | British | ||
| Bontnewydd | 3,296 | British | |
| Bosforo | 2,723 | Italian | |
| Rapallo | 3,811 | British | |
| West Wales | 4,336 | British | |
| Mitra* | 5,592 | British | |
| Uganda | 4,315 | British | |
| Stolt Nielsen | 5,684 | British | |
| Sunk: Damaged: Total: |
44,743 5,592 50,335 |