List of Austro-Hungarian U-boats

The Austro-Hungarian U-boat fleet during the First World War mainly consisted of German manufactured units transported by rail from Germany's northern shipyards to the Austrian ports on the Adriatic Sea. They served throughout the war against Italian, French and British shipping in the Mediterranean Sea with some success, losing eight of the twenty eight boats in service in return. Following the end of the war in 1918, all Austrian submarines were surrendered to the Entente powers, who disposed of them individually. As both Austria and Hungary became landlocked in the aftermath of the war, no Austrian or Hungarian submarines (or any other naval vessels) have been commissioned since.

In some sources Austro-Hungarian U-boats are referenced with Roman numerals as a way to distinguish them from German U-boats with similar numbers, but the Austro-Hungarian Navy itself used Arabic numerals. There are gaps in the numbering for several reasons. One series of Austro-Hungarian U-boats under construction in Germany was sold and commissioned into the Imperial German Navy. In other cases, U-boats commissioned into the Imperial German Navy were temporarily assigned Austro-Hungarian numbers when they operated in the Mediterranean. One final reason, in the case of the unassigned U-13, was superstition.

Austrian Red Cross WWI Medal 1915, picturing U 5 and U 12

Austro-Hungarian U-boats

Commissioned

U-boat	Class	Launched	Commissioned	Fate	Notes
01SM U-1	01U-1 class	000000001909-10-02-00002 October 1909	000000001911-04-15-000015 April 1911	Scrapped 1920
02SM U-2	01U-1 class	000000001909-04-03-00003 April 1909	000000001911-05-22-000022 May 1911	Scrapped 1920
03SM U-3	03U-3 class	000000001908-08-08-00008 August 1908	000000001909-09-12-000012 September 1909	Sunk 13 August 1915
04SM U-4	03U-3 class	000000001908-11-20-000020 November 1908	000000001909-08-29-000029 August 1909	Scrapped 1920
05SM U-5	05U-5 class	000000001909-02-10-000010 February 1909	000000001910-04-01-00001 April 1910	Scrapped 1920
06SM U-6	05U-5 class	000000001909-06-12-000012 June 1909	000000001910-07-01-00001 July 1910	Scuttled 13 May 1916
10SM U-10	10U-10 class	000000001915-01-29-000029 January 1915	000000001915-07-12-000012 July 1915	Mined 9 July 1918; scrapped 1918	The former German SM UB-1
11SM U-11	10U-10 class	000000001915-04-04-00004 April 1915	000000001915-06-20-000020 June 1915	Scrapped 1920	The former German SM UB-15
12SM U-12	05U-5 class	000000001911-03-14-000014 March 1911	000000001914-08-21-000021 August 1914	Sunk 12 August 1916	Raised and scrapped end of 1916
14SM U-14	14U-14 class	000000001912-07-18-000018 July 1912	000000001915-06-01-00001 June 1915	Returned to France, 1919; scrapped 1929	Captured French submarine Curie (Q 87)
15SM U-15	10U-10 class	000000001915-04-01-0000April 1915	000000001915-10-06-00006 October 1915	Scrapped 1920
16SM U-16	10U-10 class	000000001915-04-26-000026 April 1915	000000001915-10-06-00006 October 1915	Sunk
17SM U-17	10U-10 class	000000001915-04-21-000021 April 1915	000000001915-10-06-00006 October 1915	Scrapped 1920
20SM U-20	20U-20 class	000000001916-09-18-000018 September 1916	000000001917-10-20-000020 October 1917	Sunk	Wreck raised in 1962; conning tower on display in Vienna
21SM U-21	20U-20 class	000000001916-08-15-000015 August 1916	000000001917-08-15-000015 August 1917	Scrapped 1920
22SM U-22	20U-20 class	000000001917-01-27-000027 January 1917	000000001917-11-23-000023 November 1917	Scrapped 1920
23SM U-23	20U-20 class	000000001917-01-05-00005 January 1917	000000001917-09-01-00001 September 1917	Sunk 21 February 1918
27SM U-27	27U-27 class	000000001916-10-19-000019 October 1916	000000001917-02-24-000024 February 1917	Scrapped 1920
28SM U-28	27U-27 class	000000001917-01-08-00008 January 1917	000000001917-05-26-000026 May 1917	Scrapped 1920
29SM U-29	27U-27 class	000000001916-10-21-000021 October 1916	000000001917-01-21-000021 January 1917	Scrapped 1920
30SM U-30	27U-27 class	000000001916-12-27-000027 December 1916	000000001917-02-17-000017 February 1917	Went missing after 31 March 1917
31SM U-31	27U-27 class	000000001917-03-28-000028 March 1917	000000001917-04-24-000024 April 1917	Scrapped 1920
32SM U-32	27U-27 class	000000001917-05-11-000011 May 1917	000000001917-06-29-000029 June 1917	Scrapped 1920
40SM U-40	27U-27 class	000000001917-04-21-000021 April 1917	000000001917-08-04-00004 August 1917	Scrapped 1920
41SM U-41	27U-27 class	000000001917-11-11-000011 November 1917	000000001918-02-19-000019 February 1918	Scrapped 1920
43SM U-43	43U-43 class	000000001916-04-08-00008 April 1916	000000001917-07-30-000030 July 1917	Scrapped 1920	The former German SM UB-43
47SM U-47	43U-43 class	000000001916-06-17-000017 June 1916	000000001917-07-30-000030 July 1917	Scrapped 1920	The former German SM UB-47

Other

Submarines on which construction was begun but which were not completed or commissioned during World War I are included in this table.

German U-boats operating under the Austro-Hungarian flag

After Italy had entered World War I by declaring war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915, Germany felt treaty-bound to support the Austrians in attacks against Italian ships, even though Germany and Italy were not officially at war. As a result, German U-boats operating in Mediterranean were assigned Austro-Hungarian numbers and flags. In some cases the same Austro-Hungarian numbers were assigned to different German U-boats. After 28 August 1916, when Germany and Italy were officially at war, the practice continued, primarily to avoid charges of flag misuse. The practice was largely ended by 1 October 1916 except for a few large U-boats that continued using Austro-Hungarian numbers.^[1]

German U-boats under the Austro-Hungarian flag^[1]
Austro-Hungarian name	German U-boat name(s)
SM U-7	SM UB-7
SM U-8	SM UB-8
SM U-9	SM UB-3^[2]^{[Note 1]}
SM U-18	SM UC-14
SM U-19	SM UC-15
SM U-24	SM UC-12
SM U-25	SM UC-13
SM U-26	SM UB-14
SM U-33	SM U-33
SM U-34	SM U-34
SM U-35	SM U-35
SM U-36	SM U-21 SM U-47
SM U-37	SM U-32
SM U-38	SM U-38
SM U-39	SM U-39
SM U-42	SM UB-42
SM U-44	SM UB-44
SM U-45	SM UB-45
SM U-46	SM UB-46
SM U-54	SM UB-128
SM U-55	SM UB-129
SM U-56	SM UB-130
SM U-57	SM UB-131
SM U-58	SM UB-132
SM U-60	SM UC-20
SM U-62	SM UC-22
SM U-63	SM UC-23 SM UC-63
SM U-64	SM U-64
SM U-65	SM U-65
SM U-66	SM UB-66 SM UC-66
SM U-67	SM UB-67
SM U-68	SM UB-68
SM U-69	SM UB-69 SM UC-69
SM U-70	SM UB-70
SM U-71	SM UB-71
SM U-72	SM U-72
SM U-73	SM U-73
SM U-74	SM UC-34
SM U-75	SM UC-35
SM U-77	SM UC-37
SM U-78	SM UC-16 SM UC-38
SM U-79	SM UB-48
SM U-80	SM UB-49
SM U-81	SM UB-50
SM U-82	SM UB-51
SM U-83	SM U-63 SM UB-52 SM UC-20 SM UC-23
SM U-88	SM UC-24
SM U-89	SM UC-25
SM U-92	SM UC-73
SM U-93	SM UC-74
SM U-94	SM UC-52
SM U-95	SM UC-53
SM U-96	SM UC-54
SM U-97	SM UB-105
SM U-99	SM UC-103
SM U-110	SM UC-108
SM U-133	SM UB-133
SM U-134	SM UB-134
SM U-135	SM UB-135
SM U-146	SM UB-146
SM U-147	SM UB-147

Notes

↑ Conway's (p. 341) lists UB-9 as the Austro-Hungarian U-9, but that boat was a training boat at Kiel and not a part of the German Pola Flotilla.

References

1 2 Gardiner, p. 341.
↑ Myszor, Oskar. "Austria-Hungary: Submarines". Historical Handbook of World Navies. Retrieved 25 February 2009.

Bibliography

Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One, Originally published 1919, Republished by Random House Ltd, Great Britain: 1990. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8. OCLC 12119866.
naval-history.net information page on Austrian submarines

Austro-Hungarian Navy ship classes of World War I

Dreadnought battleships	Tegetthoff Ersatz Monarch^X

Pre-dreadnought battleships	Habsburg Erzherzog Karl Radetzky

Coastal defense ships	Kronprinz Erzherzog Rudolf^S Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie^S Monarch

Armored cruisers	Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia^S Kaiser Karl VI^S Sankt Georg^S

Protected cruisers	Kaiser Franz Joseph I

Scout cruisers	Admiral Spaun^S Novara

Light cruisers	Panther Tiger^S Zenta Ersatz Zenta^X

Destroyers	Meteor^S Blitz Planet^S Trabant^S Satellit^S Magnet^S Huszár Warasdiner^S Tátra Ersatz Tátra^X

U-boats	U-1 U-3 U-5 U-7 U-10 U-14^C U-20 U-27 U-43 U-48 U-50 U-52 U-101 U-107

Auxiliaries	Pola

S Single ship of class X Cancelled C Captured

List of Austro-Hungarian U-boats (classes)

U-1 class	U-1 U-2

U-3 class	U-3 U-4

U-5 class	U-5 U-6 U-12

U-10 class	U-10 U-11 U-15 U-16 U-17

U-20 class	U-20 U-21 U-22 U-23

U-27 class	U-27 U-28 U-29 U-30 U-31 U-32 U-40 U-41

U-43 class	U-43 U-47

Other	U-7 class U-14 class U-48 class U-50 class U-52 class U-101 class U-107 class

Major engagements

World War I	I II III IV Flanders Kurland Pola Constantinople

World War II	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.

Capital ships sunk

World War I	HMS Britannia HMS Cornwallis French battleship Danton HMS Formidable Gaulois Russian battleship Peresvet HMS Majestic Italian battleship Regina Margherita HMS Russell French battleship Suffren HMS Triumph

World War II	HMS Ark Royal HMS Barham HMS Courageous HMS Eagle HMS Royal Oak

Technology

Concepts

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