SM U-38

SM U-38 with crew
History
German Empire
Ordered:	12 June 1912
Builder:	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number:	198
Laid down:	25 February 1913
Launched:	9 September 1914
Commissioned:	15 December 1914
Fate:	Surrendered 23 February 1919. Broken up at Brest 1921
General characteristics
Class and type:	German Type U 31 submarine
Displacement:	685 t (674 long tons) (surfaced) 878 t (864 long tons) (submerged)
Length:	64.70 m (212 ft 3 in) (o/a) 52.36 m (171 ft 9 in) (pressure hull)
Beam:	6.32 m (20 ft 9 in) (o/a) 4.05 m (13 ft 3 in) (pressure hull)
Draught:	3.56 m (11 ft 8 in)
Installed power:	2 × 1,850 PS (1,361 kW; 1,825 shp) diesel engines 2 × 1,200 PS (883 kW; 1,184 shp) Doppelmodyn
Propulsion:	2 × shafts 2 × 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) propellers
Speed:	16.4 knots (30.4 km/h; 18.9 mph) (surfaced) 9.7 knots (18.0 km/h; 11.2 mph) (submerged)
Range:	8,790 nmi (16,280 km; 10,120 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) (surfaced) 80 nmi (150 km; 92 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 dinghy
Complement:	4 officers, 31 enlisted
Armament:	four 50 cm (20 in) torpedo tubes (2 each bow and stern) 6 torpedoes one 8.8 cm (3.5 in) deck gun (10.5 cm (4.1 in) from 1916/17)
Service record
Part of:	Imperial German Navy II Flottille unknown start – 11 November 1915 Pola Flotilla 11 November 1915 – 22 May 1916 Constantinople Flotilla 22 May 1916 – 7 September 1918 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 7 September – 11 November 1918
Commanders:	Kptlt. Max Valentiner 5 December 1914 – 15 September 1917 Kptlt. Wilhelm Canaris 16 September – 15 November 1917 Oblt.z.S. Hans Heinrich Wurmbach 16 November 1917 – 18 January 1918 Kptlt. Clemens Wickel 19 January – 11 November 1918
Operations:	17 patrols
Victories:	138 merchant ships sunk (292,848 GRT) 6 merchant ships damaged (26,139 GRT) 3 merchant ships taken as prizes (3,550 GRT) 1 warship sunk (680 tons) 1 warship damaged (10,850 tons)

SM U-38 was a German Type U 31 U-boat which operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War I. It ended up being the third most successful u-boat participating in the war sinking 138 ships sunk for a total of 299.985 tons.

Its longest serving captain was Kptlt. Max Valentiner, who was awarded the Pour le Mérite while in command of U-38. Valentiner was in command of U-38 in November and December 1915 when she sank the passenger liners Ancona and Persia; both were controversial since the ships were sunk by torpedoes without warning, in defiance of the then-current Prize rules, which stated that merchant vessels carrying passengers be given an opportunity to evacuate their passengers before being sunk.

In 1917 Valentiner was succeeded as commander of U-38 by Kptlt. Wilhelm Canaris, who decades later became an Admiral and head of the Abwehr (German Military Intelligence), in 1935-44.

German Type U 31 submarines were double-hulled ocean-going submarines similar to Type 23 and Type 27 subs in dimensions and differed only slightly in propulsion and speed. They were considered very good high sea boats with average manoeuvrability and good surface steering.

U-38 had an overall length of 64.70 m (212 ft 3 in), her pressure hull was 52.36 m (171 ft 9 in) long. The boat's beam was 6.32 m (20 ft 9 in) (o/a), while the pressure hull measured 4.05 m (13 ft 3 in). Type 31s had a draught of 3.56 m (11 ft 8 in) with a total height of 7.68–8.04 m (25 ft 2 in–26 ft 5 in). The boats displaced a total of 971 tonnes (956 long tons); 685 t (674 long tons) when surfaced and 878 t (864 long tons) when submerged.

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Wikipedia