German Type U 17 submarine

U-17 (second row, second from the right), Kiel Harbour, February 1914
History
Germany
Name:	U-17
Ordered:	000000001910-05-10-000010 May 1910
Builder:	Kaiserliche Werft Danzig
Cost:	2,333,000 Goldmark
Yard number:	11
Laid down:	000000001910-10-01-00001 October 1910
Launched:	000000001912-04-16-000016 April 1912
Commissioned:	000000001912-11-03-00003 November 1912
Struck:	000000001919-01-27-000027 January 1919
Fate:	Struck 000000001919-01-27-000027 January 1919, scrapped at Imperial Dockyard, Kiel. Pressure hull sold to Stinnes, Hamburg on 3 February 1920.
General characteristics
Class and type:	German Type U 17 submarine
Displacement:	564 t (555 long tons) surfaced 691 t (680 long tons) submerged
Length:	62.35 m (204 ft 7 in)
Beam:	6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Height:	7.30 m (23 ft 11 in)
Draught:	3.40 m (11 ft 2 in)
Propulsion:	2 shafts 2 × 2 Körting 8-cylinder two stroke paraffin motors with 1,400 PS (1,000 kW; 1,400 shp) 2 × AEG electric motors with 1,120 PS (820 kW; 1,100 shp) 550 rpm surfaced 425 rpm submerged
Speed:	14.9 knots (27.6 km/h; 17.1 mph) surfaced 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) submerged
Range:	6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km; 7,700 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced 75 nautical miles (139 km; 86 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth:	50 m (164 ft 1 in)
Boats & landing craft carried:	1 dingi
Complement:	4 officers, 25 men
Armament:	4 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 each bow and stern) 6 torpedoes 1 × 5 cm (2.0 in) SK L/40 gun 1 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss gun
Service record
Part of:	Imperial German Navy II Flotilla 1 August 1914 – unknown end Baltic Flotilla unknown start – 10 January 1916 Training Flotilla 10 January 1916 – 11 November 1918
Commanders:	Oblt.z.S. Johannes Feldkirchener 1 August 1914 – 7 March 1915 Kptlt. Hans Walther 2 March 1915 – 9 January 1916
Operations:	4 patrols
Victories:	12 merchant ships sunk (16,550 GRT) 1 merchant ship captured (3,538 GRT)

SM U-17 was a German submarine during World War I. U-17 sank the first British merchant vessel in the First World War, and also sank another nine ships and captured one ship, surviving the war without casualty.

On 000000001914-08-01-00001 August 1914, Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Feldkirchener was given command of U-17. On 20 October, U-17 stopped the 866 ton SS Glitra off the Norwegian coast, and having searched her cargo, ordered the crew to the lifeboats before scuttling the vessel. On 26 October, U-17 torpedoed the French ferry SS Amiral Ganteaume† in the Strait of Dover. The vessel made port before sinking, with the loss of 40 lives out of over 2,500 on board.
† - www.uboat.net credits the damage to the French steamer Amiral Ganteaume to U-24.

On 2 March 1915 the command of U-17 passed to Kapitänleutnant Hans Walther. On 12 June 1915, U-17 chased and torpedoed the SS Desabla off the coast of Scotland. The crew escaped on lifeboats while the vessel was scuttled and sunk. Walther's command ended on 9 January 1916 and the next day U-17 joined the Training Flotilla.

U-17 was decommissioned on 27 January 1919 and sold for scrapping.