SM ''U-51'' was a Type U 51

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

, one of 329 submarines in the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

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 ...

. She engaged in commerce warfare during the

First Battle of the Atlantic The Atlantic U-boat campaign of World War I (sometimes called the "First Battle of the Atlantic", in reference to the World War II campaign of that name) was the prolonged naval conflict between German submarines and the Allied navies in Atla ...

. She was ordered from

Germaniawerft Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft (often just called Germaniawerft, "Germania (personification), Germania shipyard") was a German shipbuilding company, located in the harbour at Kiel, and one of the largest and most important builders of U-boats for ...

, at

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, on 23 August 1914 and

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

there on 19 December. She was launched on 25 November 1915 and commissioned on 24 February 1916. ''Kapitänleutnant'' Walter Rumpel was her captain for her entire career.

Operations

Completed at Kiel about March 1916, she carried out trials at Kiel School until the end of April when she proceeded to

Heligoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...

British Naval Intelligence The Naval Intelligence Division (NID) was created as a component part of the Admiralty War Staff in 1912. It was the intelligence arm of the United Kingdom, British British Admiralty, Admiralty before the establishment of a unified Defence Inte ...

(better known as Room 40): monitored and recorded her activities. She was attached to the 2nd Half Flotilla and carried out a patrol in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

between 2 May and 6 May 1916, traveling to

Hanstholm Hanstholm is a small town and a former island, now elevated area in Thisted municipality of Region Nordjylland, located in northern Denmark. The population of the town is 2,085 (1 January 2024).

in company with , escorted by two

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

s. She was again in the North Sea between 16 May and 3 June 1916, during the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...

. She fired two torpedoes at the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

, but missed her. On 14 July the British submarine spotted ''U-51'' leaving the

Ems Ems or EMS may refer to: Places and rivers * Domat/Ems, a Swiss municipality in the canton of Grisons * Ems (river) (Eems), a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands that discharges in the Dollart Bay * Ems (Eder), a river o ...

and torpedoed her. ''U-51'' sank with the loss of 34 of her crew; four survivors were rescued. The wreck of ''U-51'' was raised and broken up in 1968.

References

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Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:U0051 Type U 51 submarines U-boats commissioned in 1916 World War I submarines of Germany 1915 ships Maritime incidents in 1916 U-boats sunk in 1916 World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea U-boats sunk by British submarines Ships built in Kiel