SM U-20 (Austria-Hungary)

The design for U-20 was based on that of the Havmanden class built for the Royal Danish Navy (Havmanden pictured)
History
Austria-Hungary
NameSM U-20
Ordered27 March 1915[1]
BuilderPola Navy Yard, Pola[2]
Laid down29 September 1915[3]
Launched18 September 1916[2]
Commissioned20 October 1917[3]
FateSunk by Italian submarine F-12, 4 July 1918, raised and partially scrapped in 1962, remaining parts donated to museum[4]
Service record
Commanders:
  • Klemens Ritter von Bezard
  • 28 May 1916 – 14 April 1917[5]
  • Franz Rzemenowsky von Trautenegg
  • 28 July – 29 November 1917
  • Hermann Rigele
  • 29 November 1917 – 11 March 1918
  • Ludwig Müller
  • 11 March – 4 July 1918
Victories: None[5]
General characteristics
Class and typeU-20-class submarine
Displacement
  • 173 t, surfaced
  • 210 t, submerged[2]
Length127 ft 2 in (38.76 m)[2]
Beam13 ft (4.0 m)[2]
Draft9 ft (2.7 m)[2]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 12 knots (22 km/h) surfaced
  • 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged[2]
Range
  • 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced[6]
  • 23 nautical miles (43 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged
Complement18[2]
Armament

SM U-20 or U-XX was the lead boat of the U-20 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) during the First World War. The design for U-20 was based on that of the submarines of the Royal Danish Navy's Havmanden class (which had been designed by Whitehead & Co. in Fiume), and was largely obsolete by the beginning of the war.

U-20 was just over 127 feet (39 m) long and was armed with two bow torpedo tubes, a deck gun, and a machine gun. U-20 had no wartime successes and was sunk in early July 1918 by the Italian submarine F-12. The wreck of U-20 was located in 1962 and salvaged. A portion of her conning tower is on display in a military museum in Vienna.

  1. ^ Halpern, p. 382.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gardiner, p. 343.
  3. ^ a b "Tengeralattjárók" (PDF) (in Hungarian). Imperial and Royal Navy Association. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  4. ^ Grant, p. 163.
  5. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: KUK U20". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  6. ^ Gardiner, p. 354.