SM ''UB-116'' was a German

Type UB III submarine The Type UB III submarine was a class of U-boat built during World War I by the German Imperial Navy. Design UB III boats carried 10 torpedoes and were usually armed with either an or a deck gun. They carried a crew of 34 and had a cruising ...

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 ...

in the

German Imperial 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 f ...

() 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 ...

. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 24 May 1918 as SM ''UB-116''. ''UB-116'' was sunk by a remote-controlled mine at off

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

while making an attempt to enter

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...

in order to attack units of the British

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from th ...

as part of the final German Naval offensive of the war. According to Uboat.net, ''UB-116'' hit a mine and was next finished off by depth charges while trying to reach the empty Scapa anchorage. All hands were lost (36 sailors).

Construction

She was built by

Blohm & Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 4 November 1917. ''UB-116'' was commissioned in the spring the next year under the command of ''Oblt.z.S.'' Erich Stephan. Like all Type UB III submarines, ''UB-116'' carried 10

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 and was armed with a deck gun. ''UB-116'' would carry a crew of up to 3 officer and 31 men and had a cruising range of . ''UB-116'' had a displacement of while surfaced and when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at when surfaced and when submerged.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:UB116 German Type UB III submarines World War I submarines of Germany U-boats commissioned in 1918 1917 ships Ships built in Hamburg U-boats sunk in 1918 U-boats sunk by mines Maritime incidents in 1918 World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea Submarines lost with all hands