&sq=&lang=&file=File:SM_U-1_(Austria-Hungary).jpg) U-1 departs the harbor at Pola in 1914
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Austria-Hungary | |
| Name | SM U-1 |
| Ordered | 24 November 1906 |
| Builder | Pola Navy Yard, Pola |
| Laid down | 2 July 1907 |
| Launched | 10 February 1909 |
| Commissioned | 15 April 1911 |
| Refit | late 1914–early 1915 |
| Fate | Transferred to State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on 31 October 1918 |
 State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs | |
| Name | U-1 |
| Acquired | 31 October 1918 |
| Fate | Handed over to the Allied powers on 10 November 1918 |
 Italy | |
| Name | U-1 |
| Acquired | 9 November 1918 |
| Fate | Ceded to Italy under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1920 and broken up at Pola |
| Service record | |
| Commanders: |
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| Victories: | None |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | U-1-class submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 30.48 m (100 ft 0 in) |
| Beam | 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in) |
| Draft | 3.85 m (12 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | |
| Range | |
| Test depth | 40 meters (131 ft 3 in) |
| Complement | 17 |
| Armament | 3 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (two front, one rear); 5 torpedoes |
| General characteristics (after modernization) | |
| Displacement |
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| Length | 30.76 m (100 ft 11 in) |
| Propulsion |
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| Armament |
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SM U-1 or U-I was the lead boat of the U-1-class of submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine or k.u.k. Kriegsmarine). U-1 was designed by American naval architect Simon Lake of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, and constructed at the Navy Yard in Pola. She was one of two Lake-designed submarines purchased as part of a competitive evaluation of foreign submarine designs after domestic proposals were rejected by the Navy.
Ordered on 24 November 1906, U-1 was laid down in July 1907 before being launched in February 1909. She was 30.48 meters (100 ft 0 in) long and displaced 229.7 metric tons (226 long tons; 253 short tons) while surfaced and 248.9 metric tons (245 long tons; 274 short tons) while submerged. An experimental design, U-1 included unique features such as a diving chamber and wheels for traveling along the seabed. Originally powered by gasoline engines for surface running, sea trials throughout 1909 and 1910 showed these engines to be incapable of reaching the submarine's contracted speed and to pose a risk of poisoning the crew. U-1 was commissioned in April 1911 and served as a training boat through 1914, though she was mobilized briefly during the Balkan Wars. U-1's design has been described by naval historians as a failure that was rendered obsolete by the time she was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Despite these criticisms, tests of her design provided information which the Navy used to construct subsequent submarines.
At the beginning of World War I, U-1 was in drydock awaiting new batteries and replacement diesel engines. U-1 returned to service as a training boat until October 1915. From November she conducted reconnaissance cruises out of Trieste and Pola until being declared obsolete in early 1918. She continued to serve in a training role at the submarine base on Brioni, but was at Pola at the end of the war. Facing defeat in October 1918, the Austro-Hungarian government transferred its navy to the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs to avoid having to hand its ships over to the Allied Powers. Following the Armistice of Villa Giusti in November 1918, U-1 was seized by Italian forces and subsequently granted to the Kingdom of Italy under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1920. Italy chose to scrap the submarine, and she was broken up at Pola later that same year without ever having sunk or damaged any vessels during her career.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: KUK U1". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 5 August 2018.