SM U-15

SM "U-15" was one of the three Type U 13 gasoline-powered U-boats produced by the German Empire for the Kaiserliche Marine. On August 9, 1914, "U-15" became the first U-boat loss to an enemy warship after it was rammed by British light cruiser HMS "Birmingham".

Constructed by Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig, "U-15" was ordered on February 23, 1909 and was commissioned three years later on July 7, 1912. The boat left port for its first patrol on August 1, 1914, but on August 9, "U-15" was forced to lay stopped on the surface off the coast of Fair Isle, after its engines had failed.

While stranded on the surface, the British warship HMS "Birmingham" spotted the boat through a thick fog and could hear hammering from inside the boat as the crew tried to repair the damaged engines. The "Birmingham"'s Captain Arthur Duff ordered his crew to fire on the U-boat, but missed. As "U-15" attempted to dive to avoid the attack, Duff ordered for his ship to ram the submarine at full speed, cutting it in half and killing all 23 members of its crew.

References

*cite web | title= U-boat.net| work= WWI U-boats: U-15| url=http://www.uboat.net/wwi/boats/index.html?boat=15| accessdate=August 25| accessyear=2006
*cite web | title= First World War.com| work= HMS Birmingham & U-15| url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/hmsbirmingham.htm| accessdate=August 25| accessyear=2006
*Eberhard Möller and Werner Brack, "The Encyclopedia of U-Boats From 1904 to the Present", Greenhill Books, London, 2004. ISBN 1-85367-623-3.