SM UB-53

For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-53.
UB-148 at sea, a U-boat similar to UB-53.
History
German Empire
NameUB-53
Ordered20 May 1916[2]
BuilderBlohm & Voss, Hamburg
Cost3,276,000 German Papiermark
Yard number298
Launched9 March 1917[1]
Commissioned21 August 1917[1]
FateSunk 3 August 1918 at 39°40′N 18°40′E / 39.667°N 18.667°E / 39.667; 18.667 by mines, 10 dead[1]
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeType UB III submarine
Displacement
  • 516 t (508 long tons) surfaced
  • 651 t (641 long tons) submerged
Length55.30 m (181 ft 5 in) (o/a)
Beam5.80 m (19 ft)
Draught3.68 m (12 ft 1 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 13.6 knots (25.2 km/h; 15.7 mph) surfaced
  • 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged
Range
  • 9,040 nmi (16,740 km; 10,400 mi) at 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) surfaced
  • 55 nmi (102 km; 63 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth50 m (160 ft)
Complement3 officers, 31 men[1]
Armament
Service record
Part of:
  • Mittelmeer / Mittelmeer I Flotilla
  • 1 November 1917 – 3 August 1918
Commanders:
  • Oblt.z.S. / Kptlt. Robert Sprenger
  • 21 August 1917 – 3 August 1918
Operations: 5 patrols
Victories: 14 merchant ships sunk
(16,549 GRT)

SM UB-53 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the Imperial German Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. She was commissioned into the Pola Flotilla of the German Imperial Navy on 21 August 1917 as SM UB-53.[Note 1]

She operated as part of the Pola Flotilla based in Cattaro. UB-53 was sunk by mines of the Otranto Barrage on 3 August 1918 at 39°40′N 18°40′E / 39.667°N 18.667°E / 39.667; 18.667 in the Otranto Strait, 10 crew members died.[1]SS Athenia (1914). On 7 April 1918 the submarine saw an airship catch fire accidentally and crash into the sea near the Strait of Otranto with the loss of all hands. It apparently was the German Navy Zeppelin L 59, modified for long-range flights, on the outbound leg of a flight from Yambol, Bulgaria, in an attempt to bomb the Royal Navy base at Malta.[3]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Gröner 1991, pp. 25–30.
  2. ^ Rössler, p.65
  3. ^ Whitehouse, Arch, The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, p. 236.


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