German Type UC I submarine

The Type UC I submarines were a class of small coastal minelaying U-boats built in Germany during the early part of World War I. They were the first operational minelaying submarines in the world (although the Russian submarine Krab was laid down earlier). A total of fifteen boats were built. The class is sometimes also referred to as the UC-1 class after SMU UC-1, the class leader.

Design
These submarines were designed by Dr. Werner of the Torpedo Inspectorate, and based on the Type UB I small coastal submarines, with a revised bow section housing inclined minelaying tubes and uprated engines to compensate for the increased displacement and less streamlined form. The boats' sole armament was six internal mine tubes with 12 mines, although UC-11 was fitted with a single external torpedo tube in 1916. They were constructed very quickly, and suffered from problems with their minelaying system, which in some cases caused the mines to become armed before exiting their tubes and explode prematurely.

List of Type UC I submarines
A total of 15 Type UC I submarines were built.


 * SMU UC-1, struck mine off Nieuport, 19 July 1917
 * SMU UC-2, rammed and sunk by coaster Cottingham off Great Yarmouth, 2 July 1915
 * SMU UC-3, struck mine off Zeebrugge, 27 May 1916
 * SMU UC-4, destroyed at Zeebrugge, 5 October 1918
 * SMU UC-5, wrecked in Thames Estuary 27 April 1916
 * SMU UC-6, sunk by British seaplanes, Thames Estuary, 27 September 1917
 * SMU UC-7, departed Zeebrugge, 3 March 1916, and did not return. Believed to have struck a mine
 * SMU UC-8, grounded on Dutch coast, 14 November 1915. Interned by Netherlands and served in Dutch Navy as the M-1 until broken up in 1932
 * SMU UC-9, sunk by detonation of its own mines, North Sea, 21 October 1915
 * SMU UC-10, sunk by British submarine E54 21 August 1916, off Dutch coast
 * SMU UC-11, struck mine in English Channel, 16 June 1918
 * SMU UC-12, sunk by detonation of its own mines, 16 March 1916 near Taranto; salvaged and repaired by Italy as X1 (scrapped 1919)
 * SMU UC-13, ran aground and scuttled, Turkish coast, 29 November 1915
 * SMU UC-14, struck mine off Zeebrugge, 3 October 1917
 * SMU UC-15, failed to return from Black Sea patrol, November 1916