Name UB-27 Yard number 241 Launched 20 December 1915 Builder AG Weser | Ordered 30 April 1915 Commissioned 23 February 1916 Draft 3.66 m | |
Cost 1,291,000 German Papiermark Fate sunk by British warship on 29 July 1917 | ||
SM UB-27 was a German Type UB II submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 30 April 1915 and launched on 10 February 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 23 February 1916 as SM UB-27. UB-27 sank 11 ships in 17 patrols for a total of 18,091 gross register tons (GRT).
Contents
Design
A German Type UB II submarine, UB-27 had a displacement of 265 tonnes (261 long tons) when at the surface and 291 tonnes (286 long tons) while submerged. She had a total length of 36.13 m (118 ft 6 in), a beam of 4.36 m (14 ft 4 in), and a draught of 3.66 m (12 ft 0 in). The submarine was powered by two Benz six-cylinder diesel engines producing a total 270 metric horsepower (270 shp; 200 kW), two Siemens-Schuckert electric motors producing 280 metric horsepower (210 kW; 280 shp), and one propeller shaft. She was capable of operating at depths of up to 50 metres (160 ft).
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 8.90 knots (16.48 km/h; 10.24 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 5.72 knots (10.59 km/h; 6.58 mph). When submerged, she could operate for 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 7,200 nautical miles (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph). UB-26 was fitted with two 50 centimetres (20 in) torpedo tubes, four torpedoes, and one 5 centimetres (2.0 in) SK L/40 deck gun. She had a complement of twenty-one crew members and two officers and a thirty-second dive time.
Service history
On 29 April 1916 in the North Sea about 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) south-east of Souter Point near Whitburn, County Durham, UB-27 opened with her deck gun fire at SS Wandle, an 889 GRT "flat-iron" collier of the Wandsworth, Wimbledon and Epsom District Gas Company. The collier engaged the submarine and survived. Afterwards in Britain it was believed Wandle had sunk UB-27 and the master, G.E.A. Mastin, and his crew were celebrated.
UB-27 disappeared after 22 July 1917. HMS Halcyon reported ramming and depth charging a U-boat on 29 July 1917. A postwar German study concluded that it was possible that Halcyon sank UB-27 at 52°47′N 2°24′E.