Unterseeboot 86 (1916)
Encyclopedia
SM U-86 was a Type Mittel U
style submarine
manufactured in the Germaniawerft, Kiel
shipyard for the German Empire
during World War I
.
On 27 June 1918, under the command of Lieutenant Helmut Patzig, U-86 sank the Canadian hospital ship
HMHS Llandovery Castle
off the coast of Ireland
in violation of international law. When the crew took to the lifeboats, U-86 surfaced, ran down all the lifeboats except one, and shot at the people in the water. Only the 24 people in the remaining lifeboat survived. They were rescued shortly afterwards and testified as to what had happened. The 234 others on board the Llandovery Castle were lost, including fourteen nursing sisters.
http://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/1476.html, the former Hamburg America
ocean liner
SS Cincinnati, was torpedoed by U-86 on 1 July 1918 and sank the next day. Covington was the 17th largest ship sunk or damaged by Uboats during the war.
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After the war the captain of U-86 Helmut Patzig, and two of his lieutenants were arraigned for trial on war crime
s, but Patzig fled to the Free City of Danzig, and his trial was stopped on 20 March 1931 by virtue of the Laws of Amnesty. Lieutenants Ludwig Dithmar and Johan Boldt were convicted and sentenced to four years in prison, but were released after only 4 months.
U-86 was surrendered after the war and sank in the English Channel
on the way to be broken up in 1921.
German Type Mittel U submarine
Mittel U was a class of U-boats built during World War I by the Kaiserliche Marine.Mittel U U-boats carried 16 torpedoes and had various arrangements of deck guns. Some had only one 88mm gun while others had a single 105mm gun - but most had both originally...
style 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...
manufactured in the Germaniawerft, 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...
shipyard for the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
during 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...
.
On 27 June 1918, under the command of Lieutenant Helmut Patzig, U-86 sank the Canadian hospital ship
Hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....
HMHS Llandovery Castle
HMHS Llandovery Castle
The Llandovery Castle, built in 1914 in Glasgow as RMS Llandovery Castle for Union Castle Line, was a Canadian hospital ship torpedoed off southern Ireland on 27 June 1918 with the loss of 234 lives....
off the coast of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in violation of international law. When the crew took to the lifeboats, U-86 surfaced, ran down all the lifeboats except one, and shot at the people in the water. Only the 24 people in the remaining lifeboat survived. They were rescued shortly afterwards and testified as to what had happened. The 234 others on board the Llandovery Castle were lost, including fourteen nursing sisters.
http://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/1476.html, the former Hamburg America
Hamburg America Line
The Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, Germany during...
ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
SS Cincinnati, was torpedoed by U-86 on 1 July 1918 and sank the next day. Covington was the 17th largest ship sunk or damaged by Uboats during the war.
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s, but Patzig fled to the Free City of Danzig, and his trial was stopped on 20 March 1931 by virtue of the Laws of Amnesty. Lieutenants Ludwig Dithmar and Johan Boldt were convicted and sentenced to four years in prison, but were released after only 4 months.
U-86 was surrendered after the war and sank in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
on the way to be broken up in 1921.
External links
- Canadian report on loss of Llandovery Castle http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/writing/llandoveryCastle.asp#ns