SM ''UC-99'' was a German Type UC III

minelaying A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

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 ...

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 ...

Design

A Type UC III submarine, ''UC-99'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a

length overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also ...

of , a beam of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines each producing (a total of ), two electric motors producing , and two

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...

s. She had a dive time of 15 seconds and was capable of operating at a depth of . The submarine was designed for a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . When submerged, she could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . ''UC-99'' was fitted with six mine tubes, fourteen UC 200 mines, three

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 (one on the stern and two on the bow), seven

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 one SK L/45 or 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 ...

. Her

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 twenty-six crew members.

Construction and career

The U-boat was ordered on 12 January 1916 and was launched on 17 March 1918. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 20 September 1918 as SM ''UC-99''."SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" () and combined with the ''U'' for ''Unterseeboot'' would be translated as ''His Majesty's Submarine''. As with the rest of the completed UC III boats, ''UC-99'' conducted no war patrols and sank no ships. She was surrendered to Japan on 22 November 1918. The U-boat was renamed ''O-5'' for Japanese service from 1920 to 1921. ''O-5'' was dismantled at the Yokosuka Navy Yard between March and June 1921. The hulk of ''O-5'' was disposed of as a gunnery and torpedo target in October that same year.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Uc099 German Type UC III submarines Ships built in Hamburg 1918 ships U-boats commissioned in 1918 World War I submarines of Germany German Type UC III submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy World War I minelayers of Germany