U-27-class submarine (Austria-Hungary)

The lead boat of the U-27 class of submarines, SM U-27, is seen here at her launch on 19 October 1916.
The lead boat of the U-27 class of submarines, SM U-27, is seen here at her launch on 19 October 1916.
Class overview
Builders
Operators Austro-Hungarian Navy
Preceded byU-20 class
Succeeded byU-43 class
Built1916–1917
In commission1917–1918
Completed8
Lost2
Preserved0
General characteristics
Typesubmarine
Displacement
  • 264 t (291 short tons) surfaced
  • 301 t (332 short tons) submerged[1]
Length121 ft 1 in (36.91 m)[1]
Beam14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)[1]
Draft12 ft 2 in (3.71 m)[1]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 9 knots (17 km/h) surfaced
  • 7.5 knots (14 km/h) submerged[1]
Complement23–24[1]
Armament
  • 2 × 45 cm (17.7 in) bow torpedo tubes; 4 torpedoes
  • 1 × 75 mm/26 (3.0 in) deck gun
  • 1 × 8 mm (.323 cal) machine gun[1]

The U-27 class was a class of eight submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or K.u.K. Kriegsmarine) during World War I. The class was based upon the German Type UB II design of the German Imperial Navy and was constructed under license in Austria-Hungary.

After the Austro-Hungarian Navy had filled its most urgent needs for submarines after the outbreak of World War I, they selected the German Type UB II design for its next group of submarines in mid 1915. Orders for the first six boats were placed in October 1915 with the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino and the Hungarian firm of Ganz Danubius. Two more boats were ordered in 1916, bringing the class total to eight.

The boats were just over 121 feet (37 m) long and were armed with two bow torpedo tubes, a deck gun, and a machine gun. For propulsion they were equipped with twin diesel engines for surface running and twin electric motors for subsurface movement. Although the class was based on the German design, the Austro-Hungarian U-boats were heavier and slightly faster underwater, but less heavily armed than their German counterparts

All eight boats were commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy between 1917 and 1918 and saw active service during the war. SM U-27 and SM U-28 were the most successful in terms of ships sunk and gross register tonnage sunk, respectively. Two boats sank only one ship each, and a third, SM U-30, sank no ships. U-30 was also the only boat of the class to be lost during the war. The remaining seven were ceded to France and Italy as war reparations and six were scrapped by 1920; the seventh sank while being towed to Bizerta for scrapping.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gardiner, p. 344.