Class overview | |
---|---|
Builders | Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel[1] |
Operators | Austro-Hungarian Navy |
Preceded by | U-1 class |
Succeeded by | U-5 class |
Built | 1907–09 |
In commission | 1909–1918 |
Completed | 2 |
Lost | 1 |
Preserved | 0 |
General characteristics | |
Type | submarine |
Displacement |
|
Length | 138 ft 9 in (42.29 m)[1] |
Beam | 14 ft (4.3 m)[1] |
Draft | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)[1] |
Propulsion |
|
Speed |
|
Range |
|
Complement | 21[1] |
Armament | 2 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (both front); 3 torpedoes |
The U-3 class was a class of two submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or K.u.K. Kriegsmarine). The U-3-class boats were designed and built by Germaniawerft of Kiel, Germany. The class was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's efforts to competitively evaluate three foreign submarine designs.
The two U-3-class boats, both launched in 1908, were just under 140 feet (43 m) long and were each powered by two kerosene two-stroke engines while surfaced, and two electric motors when submerged. The U-3 class initially had diving problems that were alleviated after several modifications to fins and diving planes. Both boats of the class served in combat during World War I. U-3, the lead boat of the class, was sunk by gunfire in August 1915. U-4 was the longest-serving Austro-Hungarian submarine and sank 14,928 gross register tons (GRT) and 7,345 tons of ships, including the Italian armored cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi in July 1915. U-4 was handed over to France as a war reparation in 1920 and scrapped.