History | |
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German Empire | |
Class and type: | German Type UC II submarine |
Name: | UC-41 |
Ordered: | 20 November 1915 |
Builder: | AG Vulcan, Hamburg |
Yard number: | 74 |
Launched: | 13 September 1916 |
Commissioned: | 11 October 1916 |
Fate: | sunk by own mine, 21 August 1917 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Type UC II submarine |
Displacement: |
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Length: |
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Beam: |
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Draught: | 3.68 m (12 ft 1 in) |
Propulsion: |
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Speed: |
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Range: |
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Test depth: | 50 m (160 ft) |
Complement: | 26 |
Armament: |
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Notes: | 48-second diving time |
Service record | |
Part of: |
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Commanders: |
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Operations: | 7 patrols |
Victories: |
SM UC-41 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 13 September 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 11 October 1916 as SM UC-41.
In a nine-month career that encompassed seven patrols UC-41 was credited with sinking 18 ships totaling 19,587 tons, either by torpedo or by mines laid. The writer David Masters attributed the sinking of the two tiny naval fishing smacks Nelson and Ethel & Millie to UC-41 during an engagement on 15 August 1917. However this was actually UC-63, the logs of which record the event.
UC-41 was lost on 21 August 1917 after suffering an unexplained internal explosion of one of her mines which forced her to suddenly rise to the surface in the Tay estuary, where she was spotted by British naval trawlers and depth charged, killing all 27 German sailors and possibly seven British prisoners of war as well. Her wreck was rediscovered in 2003.
A German Type UC II submarine, UC-41 had a displacement of 400 tonnes (390 long tons) when at the surface and 480 tonnes (470 long tons) while submerged. She had a length overall of 49.45 m (162 ft 3 in), a beam of 5.22 m (17 ft 2 in), and a draught of 3.68 m (12 ft 1 in). The submarine was powered by two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines each producing 260 metric horsepower (190 kW; 260 shp) (a total of 520 metric horsepower (380 kW; 510 shp)), two electric motors producing 460 metric horsepower (340 kW; 450 shp), and two propeller shafts. She had a dive time of 48 seconds and was capable of operating at a depth of 50 metres (160 ft).