SM U-43 (Germany)

	SM U-43 cruising the North Sea, October 1916 (Illustrirte Zeitung)
History
German Empire
Name	U-43
Ordered	10 July 1913
Builder	Kaiserliche Werft Danzig
Yard number	21
Launched	26 September 1914
Commissioned	30 April 1915
Fate	Surrendered 20 November 1918; scrapped 1919.
General characteristics
Class and type	Type U-43 submarine
Displacement	725 t (714 long tons) surfaced; 940 t (930 long tons) submerged;
Length	65 m (213 ft 3 in) (o/a)
Beam	6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) (oa); 4.18 m (13 ft 9 in) (pressure hull);
Height	8.70 m (28 ft 7 in)
Draught	3.74 m (12 ft 3 in)
Installed power	2 × 2,000 PS (1,471 kW; 1,973 shp) surfaced; 2 × 1,200 PS (883 kW; 1,184 shp) submerged;
Propulsion	2 shafts
Speed	15.2 knots (28.2 km/h; 17.5 mph) surfaced; 9.7 knots (18.0 km/h; 11.2 mph) submerged;
Range	11,400 nmi (21,100 km; 13,100 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced; 51 nmi (94 km; 59 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged;
Test depth	50 m (164 ft 1 in)
Complement	36
Armament	4 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (two bow, two stern); 6 torpedoes; 1 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 deck gun with 276 rounds;
Service record
Part of:	III Flotilla; Unknown – 11 November 1918;
Commanders:	K.Kapt. Hellmuth Jürst; 30 April 1915 – 16 May 1917; Kptlt. Waldemar Bender; 17 May 1917 – 17 April 1918; Kptlt. Johannes Kirchner; 18 April – 11 November 1918;
Operations:	11 patrols
Victories:	44 merchant ships sunk ; (112,643 GRT); 1 auxiliary warship sunk ; (1,680 GRT); 2 merchant ships taken as prize ; (356 GRT);

SM U-43^{[Note 1]} was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She engaged in commerce warfare in the First Battle of the Atlantic, performing 11 patrols from 1915–1918.

U-43 was surrendered to the Allies at Harwich on 20 November 1918 in accordance with the requirements of the Armistice with Germany. She was sold (without engines, removed at Chatham) by the British Admiralty to George Cohen on 3 March 1919 for £2,400, and was broken up at Swansea from May 1919 and 1922.^[4]

^ Gröner 1991, pp. 8–10.
^ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. "U-Boats (1905-18)", in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare, "(Phoebus Publishing, 1978), Volume 23, p.2534.
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 43". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
^ Dodson, Aidan; Cant, Serena (2020). Spoils of War: the fate of enemy fleets after the two World Wars. Barnsley: Seaforth. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-5267-4198-1.

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[FOOTNOTEGröner19918–10-1] Gröner 1991, pp. 8–10.

[2] Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. "U-Boats (1905-18)", in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare, "(Phoebus Publishing, 1978), Volume 23, p.2534.

[uboatnet-3] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 43". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[5] Dodson, Aidan; Cant, Serena (2020). Spoils of War: the fate of enemy fleets after the two World Wars. Barnsley: Seaforth. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-5267-4198-1.

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