SM U-105

For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-105.
U-105 in Cherbourg around 1920
History
German Empire
NameU-105
Ordered5 May 1916
BuilderGermaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number274
Launched16 May 1917
Commissioned4 July 1917
FateSurrendered to France 20 November 1918
France
NameJean Autric
NamesakeJean Autric
Acquired1918
Stricken27 January 1937
FateSold for scrap, 1938
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeType U 93 submarine
Displacement
  • 798 t (785 long tons) surfaced
  • 1,000 t (980 long tons) submerged
Length
Beam
  • 6.30 m (20 ft 8 in) (o/a)
  • 4.15 m (13 ft 7 in) (pressure hull)
Height8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)
Draught3.90 m (12 ft 10 in)
Installed power
  • 2 × 2,400 PS (1,765 kW; 2,367 shp) surfaced
  • 2 × 1,200 PS (883 kW; 1,184 shp) submerged
Propulsion2 shafts, 2 × 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) propellers
Speed
  • 16.4 knots (30.4 km/h; 18.9 mph) surfaced
  • 8.4 knots (15.6 km/h; 9.7 mph) submerged
Range
  • 9,280 nmi (17,190 km; 10,680 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced
  • 50 nmi (93 km; 58 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth50 m (164 ft 1 in)
Complement4 officers, 32 enlisted
Armament
Service record
Part of:
Commanders:
  • Kptlt. Friedrich Strackerjan[2]
  • 4 July 1917 – 11 November 1918
Operations: 6 patrols
Victories:
  • 18 merchant ships sunk
    (48,956 GRT)
  • 1 auxiliary warship sunk
    (6,878 GRT)
  • 2 merchant ships damaged
    (Unknown GRT)[3]

SM U-105[Note 1] was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-105 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic. After the war she was ceded to France, where the unit served as Jean Autric until being scrapped in 1938.[3]

On 17 October 1917, SM U-105 met Antilles, an American troop transport, during the return leg of a voyage to Europe.[4] Antilles was torpedoed by the submerged U-boat and went down just five minutes after being hit.[5] A total of 67 persons were killed in the sinking,[4] making the destruction of Antilles the event costing the single greatest number of American lives in the war to that date.[5]

  1. ^ Gröner 1991, pp. 12–14.
  2. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Friedrich Strackerjan (Military Merit Cross (Mecklenburg-Schwerin))". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 105". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.
  4. ^ a b "Online Library of Selected Images: S.S. Antilles (American Passenger-Cargo Ship, 1907)," Department of the Navy, Navy Historical Center, www.history.navy.mil/
  5. ^ a b "The Tribune Graphic," in the New York Tribune, vol. 77, whole no. 25,914 (Oct. 28, 1917), pg. 1.


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