SM ''U-38'' was a German Type U 31

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

which operated in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It ended up being the third most successful U-boat participating in the war, sinking 134 merchant ships sunk for a total of 287,811 GRT. Its longest serving captain was ''Kptlt.''

Max Valentiner Captain Christian August Max Ahlmann Valentiner (15 December 1883 – 19 July 1949) was a German U-boat commander during World War I. He was the third highest-scoring U-boat commander of the war, and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his achievem ...

, who was awarded the

Pour le Mérite The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

while in command of ''U-38''. Valentiner was in command of ''U-38'' in November and December 1915 when she sank the passenger liners and ; both were controversial since the ships were sunk by torpedoes without warning, in defiance of the then-current

Prize rules In admiralty law prizes (from the Old French ''prise'', "taken, seized") are Military equipment">equipment, vehicles, Marine vessel, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of ''prize'' in this sense is the capture ...

, which stated that merchant vessels carrying passengers be given an opportunity to evacuate their passengers before being sunk. In 1917 Valentiner was succeeded as commander of ''U-38'' by ''Kptlt.''

Wilhelm Canaris Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a admiral (Germany), German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military intelligence, military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Initially a supporter of Ad ...

, who decades later became an

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

and head of the

Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...

(German Military Intelligence), in 1935–1944.

Design

Type U 31 submarines were double-hulled ocean-going submarines similar to Type 23 and Type 27 subs in dimensions and differed only slightly in propulsion and speed. They were considered very good high sea boats with average manoeuvrability and good surface steering. ''U-38'' had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , her

pressure hull A submarine hull has two major components, the ''superstructure'' and the ''pressure hull''. The external portion of a submarine’s hull—that part that does not resist sea pressure and is free-flooding—is known as the “superstructure” i ...

was long. The boat's

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

was (o/a), while the pressure hull measured . Type 31s had a draught of with a total height of . The boats displaced a total of ; when surfaced and when submerged. ''U-38'' was fitted with two

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

6-cylinder two-stroke

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s with a total of for use on the surface and two

Siemens-Schuckert Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966. Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & H ...

double-acting

electric motors An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate Laplace force i ...

with a total of for underwater use. These engines powered two shafts each with a

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

, 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 . The U-boat was armed with four

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s, two fitted in the bow and two in the

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

, and carried 6

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es. Additionally ''U-38'' was equipped in 1915 with one Uk L/30

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose w ...

, which was replaced with a gun in 1916/17. The boat's

complement Complement may refer to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class collections into complementary sets * Complementary color, in the visu ...

was 4 officers and 31 enlisted.

Fate

After World War I ended, ''U-38'' was surrendered to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and docked in Brest in 1919, and then broken up.

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* *Eberhard Rössler: ''Geschichte des deutschen U-Bootbaus – Band 1''. Bernard & Graefe Verlag 1996, *Bodo Herzog: ''Deutsche U-Boote 1906-1966''. Manfred Pawlak Verlags GmbH, Herrschingen 1990, * * * * * * *

External links

Homepage for ''Christian August Max Ahlmann Valentiner:''

Great photo quality, comments in German.
A 44 min. film from 1917 about a cruise of the German submarine U-35.
A German propaganda film without dead or wounded; many details about submarine warfare in World War I. *

original documents, photos and maps about World War I German submarine warfare and British

Intelligence from

The National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

, Kew, Richmond, UK. {{DEFAULTSORT:U0038 German Type U 31 submarines U-boats commissioned in 1914 World War I submarines of Germany 1914 ships Ships built in Kiel