SM U-9

<th colspan="2" >Service record

U-9 ready for patrol.
Part of:
Commanders:
Operations:
Victories:
Awards:

SM U-9 was a German Type U 9 U-boat. She was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy, and engaged in commerce raiding (Handelskrieg) during World War I.

Construction

Her construction was ordered on 15 July 1908 and her keel was laid down by Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig. She was launched on 22 February 1910 and commissioned on 18 April 1910.

Design

U-9 had an overall length of , her pressure hull was long. The boat's beam was (o/a), while the pressure hull measured . She had a draught of with a total height of . The boat displaced when surfaced and when submerged.Template:Sfn

U-9 was fitted with two Körting 8-cylinder plus two Körting 6-cylinder two-stroke petrol engines with a total of for use on the surface and two Siemens-Schuckert double-acting electric motors plus two electric motors with a total of for underwater use. These engines powered two shafts, each with a propeller, which gave the boat a top surface speed of , and when submerged. Cruising range was at on the surface, and at under water. Diving depth was .Template:Sfn

The U-boat was armed with four torpedo tubes, two fitted in the bow and two in the stern, and carried 6 torpedoes. Originally, the boat was equipped with a machine gun, which was augmented with a Hotchkiss gun when war broke out in 1914. In 1915, an additional gun was fitted. When U-9 underwent a major refit in 1916, two mine-laying rails were added, which were later removed again. The boat's complement was 4 officers and 31 enlisted.Template:Sfn

Service history

On 16 July 1914, the crew of U-9 reloaded the torpedo tubes while submerged, the first time a submarine had done so. On 1 August 1914, Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen took command. On 22 September, while patrolling the Broad Fourteens, a region of the southern North Sea, U-9 found a squadron of the British armoured cruisers , , and , that had been assigned to prevent German surface vessels from entering the eastern end of the English Channel. She fired four of her torpedoes, reloading while submerged and sank all three in less than an hour leading to the deaths of 1,459 British sailors.

It was one of the most notable submarine actions of all time. Members of the Admiralty who had considered submarines mere toys, no longer expressed that opinion after this event.Template:Sfn On 15 October, U-9 sank an cruiser. On 12 January 1915, Johannes Spieß relieved Weddigen, and commanded U-9 until 19 April 1916. During this period, she sank 13 ships totalling Template:GRT, consisting of ten small fishing vessels and the British steamers Don, Queen Wilhelmina and Serbino. After April 1916, she was withdrawn from front-line duties to be used for training. U-9 and the raider Template:SMS were the only ships which Kaiser Wilhelm II awarded the Iron Cross

Raiding history

Ships sunk by U-9

Date	Name	Flag	GRT/ DispTemplate:Efn	Notes
22 September 1914		United Kingdom	12,000	Sunk
22 September 1914		Template:Flagu	12,000	Sunk
22 September 1914		Template:Flagu	12,000	Sunk
15 October 1914		Template:Flagu	7,350	Sunk
3 May 1915	Bob White	Template:Flagu	191	Sunk
3 May 1915	Coquet	Template:Flagu	176	Sunk
3 May 1915	Hector	Template:Flagu	179	Sunk
3 May 1915	Hero	Template:Flagu	173	Sunk
3 May 1915	Iolanthe	Template:Flagu	179	Sunk
3 May 1915	Northward Ho	Template:Flagu	180	Sunk
3 May 1915	Progress	Template:Flagu	273	Sunk
4 May 1915	Rugby	Template:Flagu	205	Sunk
5 May 1915	Straton	Template:Flagu	198	Sunk
6 May 1915	Merrie Islington	Template:Flagu	147	Sunk
8 May 1915	Don	Template:Flagu	939	Sunk
8 May 1915	Queen Wilhelmina	Template:Flagu	3,590	Sunk
16 August 1915	Serbino	Template:Flagu	2,205	Sunk
5 November 1915	Dagö (n.4)	Template:Navy/core	1,080	Sunk

• U-9 docked in Sassnitz Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  U-9 docked in Sassnitz
• Illustration by Hans Bohrdt depicting the sinking of Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"., Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". and Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". by U-9 on 22 September 1914 off the Dutch coast. Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  Illustration by Hans Bohrdt depicting the sinking of , and by U-9 on 22 September 1914 off the Dutch coast.
• The men of U-9. Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  The men of U-9.
• Propaganda postcard depicting victories of U-9 Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  Propaganda postcard depicting victories of U-9
• The return of U-9 to Wilhelmshaven, Germany illustration by Willy Stöwer Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  The return of U-9 to Wilhelmshaven, Germany illustration by Willy Stöwer

Further reading

• Volumes 4 and 5, dealing with 1917 and 1918, are very hard to find: Guildhall Library, London, has them all, also Volume 1–3 in an English translation: The Submarine war Against Commerce Template:Catalog lookup link

External links

• Photos of cruises of German submarine U-54 in 1916–1918.
• A 44 min. German film from 1917 about a cruise of the German submarine U-35.
• Room 40: Template:Webarchive original documents, photos and maps about World War I German submarine warfare and British Room 40 Intelligence from The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, UK.
• Template:Cite Uboat.net