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Remembered Today:

U-boats in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1915-1918


Ian Burns

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I am trying to get an idea of how frequently German, and I believe at least one Austrian, U-boats operated off Alexandria and Port Said and along the Palestine/Syrian coast during WW1.

From various published and online sources I have compiled a list, and there are not many confirmed patrols. As the following summary shows:

From https://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/

Note: All are ocean going U-boats, the UB and UC classes did not operate in E Med. U72 and U73 were minelayers. U-boats identified through Index in book Mediterranean Submarines, Wilson & Kemp.

From below, known patrols were :

U21 - Feb and Dec 1916.

U33 – March 1918.

U38 – Late Dec 1915 and May 1918.

U39 – Early Dec 1915 and January 1917.

U63 – March/April 1917.

U65 – Sept 1918.

U73 – Dec 1916 and Sept 1917.

There are large gaps - notably most of 1916 - where none were present. Although there were constant submarine scares throughout the E Med.

I also have one diary entry for March 5 1916 written in Port Said: Submarines are about and sank a ship outside yesterday.  But no further details.

 

Can anyone add to this list?

 

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Hi,

I can add a photo of some of those who were inside of the submarines.

Note the Turkish stars on some of the uniforms.

GreyC

xxUbootflotille_Mittelmeer_Grey.jpg.4ecf1001981d5d4b8d07c06a4003afb6.jpg

Edited by GreyC
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14 hours ago, Ian Burns said:

diary entry for March 5 1916 written in Port Said: Submarines are about and sank a ship outside yesterday.  But no further details.

Checking against British Merchant Ship losses https://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishShips-Locations10AttackedMNDate1916.htm does not produce any answers to this one

... ... ... ... 

Beirut was used by U-Boats for refuelling and taking on provisions etc

see this old thread https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/158172-u-boat-in-beirut-harbour/?tab=comments#comment-1528500

 

[The link to the Bavarian State Archives has been broken for some time

If anyone knows where to find their excellent on-line photographic collection today, then please let me know]

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GreyC - Thanks for the link. I had previously noticed the "28 September – 9 October 1915. Sank 10 S.S" cruise in the E Med. However, all the sinkings on this patrol were well west of my arbitrary cut off at Alexandria.

 

michaeldr - That is an interesting link. I just wish I could get the photo to open. However, the references to the UBIII boats will be followed up. I had discounted them as short ranged "Coastal" boats. If they were actually reprovisioning and refueling in Beirut that changes things, but raises a couple of questions.

1) There was an old Turkish gunboat - Avnillah , sunk during the Turkish Italian wars and not raised until the 1920's - lying partially submerged in the middle of the harbor, which had been reported as a u-boat by passing French warships.

2) Given the existing supply difficulties, especially fuel, for the Ottoman/German forces in Palestine refueling U-boats seems a bit of a stretch.

 

However, two more research tasks ... UBIII u-boats and Bavarian State Archives ...

 

Thank you.

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17 hours ago, Ian Burns said:

German, and I believe at least one Austrian, U-boats operated off Alexandria and Port Said and along the Palestine/Syrian coast during WW1.

Scratching around the web and using wiki :o 

I see that for part of 1916 U-21 was operating as the Austro-Hungarian U-36

during which time (8 Feb 1916) she sank the French armoured cruiser Amiral Charner off the Syrian coast  - details https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_U-21_(Germany)

 

Edited by michaeldr
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Early days, but the only link to the Bavarian State Archive photographic collection I have found is https://bildarchiv.bsb-muenchen.de/metaopac/start.do?View=bildarchiv

 

It appears only to open the door very slightly!

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Ian,

 

Eli Liran, of the Haifa Historical Society, studied this topic (U-boats in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1915-1918)  for many years,

and has a vast amount of info (documentation, maps, photos etc). A few years ago he gave a lecture on submarine activity in

this part of the world to members of The Society for the Heritage of WWI in Israel - it was definitely an eye-opener. 

 

I suggest you contact him

 

Eran

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Thanks for the lead Eran.

After Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur I will try to find a contact address for Eli.

I have a couple of Jewish friends who prefer not to be contacted during this period.

 

Ian

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Mate,

 

These are the known U Boat commanders and their boats I have in that area and from Pola and Constantinople, but as you state some of these boats were in the Black Sea.

 

Albrecht Kurt     Capt Naval    UB 24 1915 to UB 36 Baltic Flotilla 1916 to UC 53 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917-18 to U 32 Pola Flotilla 1918 U Boat
Arnauld de la Periere Lothar Von    Capt Naval    U 35 Pola Flotilla 1915-18 to U 139 U-Kreuzer Flotilla 1918 U boat 
Bauer Cäsar     Capt Naval    UC 12 Pola Flotilla 1915 to UC 14 Pola Flotilla 1915-16 to UB 46 Constantinople Flotilla 1916 U boat
Becker Franz    Capt Naval    UC 14 Pola Flotilla 1916 to UC 20 Pola Flotilla 1916-17 to UB 50 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917-18 U boat
Bohm Hermann    Lt Naval    U 72 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U boat
Bothmer Freiherr Volkhard von     Capt Naval    U 54 II Flotilla 1916-17 to UC 23 Constantinople Flotilla 1917 U boat
Bünte Carl    Capt Naval    UC 22 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 to U 73 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 to U 47 Pola Flotilla 1918 U Boat 
Canaris Wilhelm    Capt Naval    U 38 (U 31) Constantinople Flotilla 1917 to UC 27 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917-18 to U 47 Pola Flotilla 1918 to U 34 Pola Flotilla 1918 to UB 128 Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1918 U boat
Dewitz Albrecht von     Lt & Capt Naval    UB 14 Constantinople Flotilla 1915-16 & UC 15 Constantinople Flotilla 1915-16 & UC 38 Constantinople Flotilla 1916 to Pola Flotilla 1916 to UB 67 V Flotilla 1917 U boat
Doemming Hellmuth von    Lt Naval    UC 52 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917-18 to UB 67 I Flotilla 1918 U Boat 
Dönitz Karl    1/Lt Naval    UC 25 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 to UB 68 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1918 U boat
Ehrensberger Adolf    Lt Naval    UC 53 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 to UB 49 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U Boat 
Eiffe Peter Ernst     Capt Naval    UB 59 Flandern I Flotilla 1917 to UB 60 1917 to UB 42 Constantinople Flotilla 1918 U boat
Elleke Bodo    Lt Naval    UB 14 Constantinople Flotilla 1918 U boat
Feldkirchner Johannes     Capt Naval    U 17 Baltic Flotilla 1914-15 to UC 25 Baltic Flotilla 1916-17 to U 72 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917 to U 47 Pola Flotilla 1917 U Boat
Fischel Hermann von    Capt Naval    U 65 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla U Boat
Forstmann Walter    Capt Naval    U 39 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla U Boat
Franz Adolf    Capt Naval    U 47 Pola Flotilla U Boat
Fröhner Eberhard    Lt Naval    UC 12 Pola Flotilla 1916 U Boat 
Galling August    Pte Naval     U Boats Mediterranean
Gansser (Gannser) Konrad    Capt Naval    U 8 I Flotilla 1914 to U 33 (31) Pola Flotilla to Constantinople Flotilla to Pola Flotilla 1914-17 to U 156 U-Kreuzer Flotilla 1917-18 U boat
Gerke Otto     Lt Naval    U 47 Pola Flotilla 1917-18 to UC 27 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 to UC 73 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1918 U Boat
Gerth Erich    Capt Naval    UB 76 to U 47 Pola Flotilla to UC 53 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 Scuttled 28-10-18 at Pola on the surrender of Austro-Hungary U Boat
Hagen Franz    Lt Naval    UC 73 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1918 U Boat 
Hartwig Kurt     Capt Naval    U 32 Pola Flotilla to U 63 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917-18 U Boat 
Heilige    Capt Naval    UB 7 Constantinople Flotilla U boat (not confirmed name not identified)
Heimburg Heino von     1/Lt Naval to Capt    UB 14 & UB 15 Constantinople Flotilla 1915-16 to UC 22 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1916-17 & UB 68 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917-18 & U 35 Pola Flotilla 1918  U boat
Heinke Curt    CWO to Lt Naval    UB 7 Constantinople Flotilla U boat WO telgraf uzmani Karadeniz kiyilarina deniz haberlesmesi için istasyonlar kurar (telegraph expert Black Sea coast to establishes stations for maritime communication)
Heller Bruno von     Lt Naval    UC 15 Constantinople Flotilla 1916 U boat
Hersing Otto     Capt Naval    U 21 Constantinople Flotilla 1913-18 U boat Denizaltisi Komutani (Submarine Commander)
Kirchner Johannes    Capt Naval    UC 13 Constantinople Flotilla 1915 Went aground in a storm E of the Bosphorus 29-11-15 & UC 23 Constantinople Flotilla 1916-17 to U 43 III Flotilla 1918 U boat
Klasing Johannes     Capt Naval    U 34 Pola Flotilla U Boat
Klatt Alfred    1/Lt Naval    UC 14 Pola Flotilla 1916 to UC 38 Pola Flotilla 1916-17 & UB 69 Pola Flotilla 1918 U boat
Kophamel Waldemar    Capt to Maj Naval    U 35 (U 31) II Flotilla to Pola Flotilla 1914-15 to U 151 U-Kreuzer Flotilla 1917 to U 140 U-Kreuzer Flotilla 1918 U boat
Korsch Hans Paul     Lt Naval    U 35 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917-18 U Boat
Krafft Ernst    Capt Naval    U 72 I Flotilla to Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1916-17 to UB 51 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917-18 U Boat 
Krüger Ernst     Capt Naval     Istanbul'da Denizalti Yarim Filotilla komutani (Seaside Submarine Fleet Commander in Istanbul) to UB 64 II Flotilla 1918 U boat 
Kukat Heinrich    Lt Naval    UC 20 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 to UB 50 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U Boat
Kümpel Otto    Lt Naval    UC 20 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 12-17 to 1-18 & UC 37 Constantinople Flotilla 1918 U Boat
Launburg Otto    Lt Naval    UC 37 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1916-17 to UB 52 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U Boat 
Lippold Walter    Capt Naval    UC 25 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917 U Boat
List Willy     Lt Naval    UC 37 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917-18 U Boat 
Lübbe Hans Georg     Capt Naval    UB 27 I Flotilla 1916-17 to II Flotilla 1917 to UC 23 Constantinople Flotilla 1917-18 to UB 42 Constantinople Flotilla 1918 U boat
Lühe Hans Adalbert von der    Lt Naval    UC 20 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917 to UC 74 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 to UB 143 1918 U Boat 
Lütjohann Hans    O/Lt Naval    UB 7 Constantinople Flotilla 1916 U boat
Marschall Wilhelm    Lt to Capt Naval    UC 74 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1916-17 & UB 105 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U Boat
Mellenthin Hans-Joachim von     Lt & Capt Naval    CO Turkish torpedocruiser "Berk" to UB 43 Pola Flotilla 1916 to UB 49 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917-18 to UB 120 Pola Flotilla 1918 U boat
Metzger Heinrich     Capt Naval    U 47 Pola Flotilla 1916-17 to U 63 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917 to U 39 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1918 to U 163 IV Flotilla 1918 U Boat 
Meusel Karl     Capt Naval    U 155 U-Kreuzer Flotilla 1917 to U 73 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 to UB 142 1918 U Boat 
Montigny Freiherr Cassius von     Lt Naval    UB 30 Baltic Flotilla 1916-17 to UB 10 Flandern Flotilla 1917 to UB 42 Constantinople Flotilla 1918 U boat
Moraht Robert    Capt Naval    U 64 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla U Boat 
Neumann Karl    Capt Naval     UB 13 Flandern Flotilla 1915-16 to UB 2 Baltic Flotilla 1916 to UB 6 Flandern Flotilla 1916 to UB 40 Flandern Flotilla 1916 to UC 67 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1916-18 to UB 129 Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1918 Scuttled 31-10-18 at Fiume in position 45.19N 14.26E on the surrender of Austro-Hungary U boat 
Niebuhr Dietrich    Capt Naval    UB 43 Pola Flotilla U Boat
Niemoller Martin    Lt Naval    UC 67 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U boat 
Nolde Herbert    Lt Naval    UB 42 Constantinople Flotilla 1918 U boat
Obermüller Horst    Lt Naval    UB 43 Pola Flotilla 1917 to UC 34 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917-18 to UB 132 U Boat 
Palis Karl     Capt Naval    UC 12 Pola Flotilla 1915-16 shown UB 46 to UB 45 Constantinople Flotilla 1916 U boat
Petersen Rudolf     Lt Naval    UB 105 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U Boat
Remy Johannes    Capt Naval    UB 70 lost on way to Pola U Boat 
Rohne Hermann    Lt Naval    UC 20 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1918 U Boat
Rohrscheidt Erich Freiherr (Baron) von    Capt Naval    UB 10 Flandern Flotilla 1916-17 to UB 42 Constantinople Flotilla 1918 U boat (check how he died?)
Rücker Claus     Capt Naval    U 34 Pola Flotilla U Boat
Sahl Ludwig Karl    Capt Naval    UB 32 Baltic Flotilla 1916 to UC 52 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917 U Boat
Saß Carl Heinrich    Lt Naval    UC 52 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U Boat 
Saupe Fritz    Capt Naval    U 73 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U Boat
Schapler Kurt     Capt Naval    UB 30 Baltic Flotilla 1916 to UC 73 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1916-17 to UB 71 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917-18 U Boat 
Schmidt Siegfried     Lt Naval    UB 3 Pola Flotilla 1915 U Boat 
Schrader Otto Von    Capt Naval    UC 31 I Flotilla 1916-17 UB 35 I Flotilla 1916 to UB 64 II Flotilla 1917-18 to U 53 II Flotilla 1918 U boat 
Schüler Hans    Lt Naval    UC 34 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 to UC 74 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U Boat 
Schultze Otto    Capt Naval    U 63 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1916-17 U Boat
Schulz Gerhard    Capt Naval    UC 27 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917 to UB 67  I Flotilla 1917-18 to UB 131 1918 U Boat
Schulze Erich    Lt Naval    U 72 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917 U Boat
Schwarz Kurt    1/Lt Naval to Capt    UB 14 Constantinople Flotilla 1916 & UB 42 Constantinople Flotilla 1917-18 to UC 58 I Flotilla 1918 U boat
Sieß Gustav     Capt Naval    U 73 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1915-17 to U 33 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917-18 to U 65 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1918 U Boat 
Spieß Johannes    Capt Naval    U 52 Pola Flotilla U Boat
Sprenger Robert    Capt Naval    UC 34 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1916-17 to UB 53 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917-18 Hit 2 mines in the Otranto Barrage 3-8-18 and sank at 39°40'N 18°40'E. 10 dead and 26 survivors U Boat
Steinbauer Wolfgang    Capt Naval    UB 47 Pola Flotilla 1916-17 to UB 48 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 Scuttled 28-10-18 at Pola in position 44.52N, 13.50E on the surrender of Austro-Hungary U Boat 
Ullrich Ernst    Lt Naval    UB 14 Constantinople Flotilla 1917-18 U boat
Valentiner Max    Capt Naval to Maj     U 38 Pola Flotilla to Constantinople Flotilla 1914-17 to U 157 U-Kreuzer Flotilla 1917-18 U boat
Voigt Ernst von     1/Lt to Capt Naval    UB 8 Constantinople Flotilla & UC 35 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1916-17 to U 73 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1917-18 to U 35 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U boat
Walther Hans    Capt Naval    U 52 Pola Flotilla U Boat
Wangenheim Freiherr Ernst von    Lt Naval    UC 25 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla U Boat
Wegner (Wäger) Franz     1/Lt Naval to Capt    UB 1 1915 to UC 7 Flandern Flotilla 1915 to UB 18 Flandern Flotilla 1915-16 to UB 44 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1916 U boat
Weichold Eberhard    Lt Naval    UC 22 Pola/Mittelmeer II Flotilla 1918 U boat
Wendlandt Hans Hermann     Capt Naval    UB 47 Pola Flotilla 1917 to UC 38 Pola Flotilla 1917 U boat
Werner Wilhelm    Lt to Capt Naval    UB 9 1915 to UB 7 Constantinople Flotilla 1915-16 to U 55 II Flotilla 1916-18 U boat
Wernicke Fritz    Capt Naval    UB 42 Constantinople Flotilla 1916-17 & UB 66 Constantinople Flotilla 1917-18  U boat
Wickel Clemens    Capt Naval    U 38 Constantinople Flotilla 1918 to U 65 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1918 U boat
Wiedemann Walter    Lt Naval    UC 73 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917-18 to UC 97 1918 U Boat 
Wiesenbach Erich    Lt Naval    UC 22 Pola/Mittelmeer I Flotilla 1917 U boat
Willich Kurt     Capt Naval    UC 24 Pola Flotilla 1917 U Boat
Wurmbach Hans Heinrich     Capt Naval    U 38 Constantinople Flotilla 1917-18 to UC 101 1918 U boat
 

A check on the U Boat Net should tell you where they operated in there patrols as they went all over the Med for their patrols, some of these officers sunk many ships along the Egyptian/Palestine coasts during their patrols.

 

Cheers


S.B

Edited by stevebecker
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The UB.III submarines were larger and had a significantly longer range than the earlier UB.I and UB.II types.  Those deployed to the Mediterranean made a passage from Germany to their new base at Pola, and many of the survivors made the reverse journey back to Germany (in both cases north-about around the U.K. - so they certainly had the range to operate anywhere in the Eastern Mediterranean.  The first six to be built, UB 48 - UB 53, were all deployed to Pola.  I have only spot-checked their sinkings, but UB 51 and UB 53 definitely operated at least once in the area you are interested in.

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Thank you Gentlemen.

Being retired I have the time, if not always the inclination, to complete the exercise Malcolm started, and stevebecker suggested.

So, here is a revised list of U-boats patrols that ventured east of Alexandria. The only caveat is that they were patrols where successful attacks were made, uneventful patrols are not recorded:

 

U-Boat Operations in E Med 1916-1918.

U-boats identified through Index in book Mediterranean Submarines, Wilson & Kemp.

Following details, all classes and ships sunk in E Med, from https://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/.

Any ‘non-productive’ patrols are not recorded.

Ocean going U-boats.

U21 – Feb (SS Belle of France and Amiral Charner) and December (Crete – SS Benalder damaged by torpedo but reached Alexandria) 1916.

U33 – Jan/Feb, March and Sept 1918, off Alexandria and Port Said.

U35 – Nov 1915, off Sollum, HMS Tara.

U38 – December 1915; May 1917, off Alexandria and Port Said.

U39 – Dec 1915, off Egypt and Alexandria; Nov/Dec 1916 and Jan 1917, off Egypt and Alexandria;

U63 – March/April 1917, off Alexandria.

U65 – Sept 1918, off Egypt.

U73 (Minelayer) – Dec 1916/Jan 1917, off Alexandria (+minefield); Sept/Oct 1917, between Cyprus and Palestine coast.

 

UB class U-boats.

 

UB42 – April 1917, off Alexandria and Port Said.

UB46 – Aug 1916, off Alexandria and Port Said.

UB51 – May and July 1918, off Alexandria and Port Said.

UB53 – Dec 1917, March and April 1918, off Alexandria and Port Said.

 

UC class U-boats.

 

UC34 – April, June, Sept and Nov/end Dec 1917; April, August and Oct/Nov 1918, off Alexandria and Port Said. Laid minefields.

UC38 – Nov 1917, off Palestine Coast (HMS M15 and HMS Staunch, 11 Nov 1917)

UC74 – Sept/Oct 1917 (sank trawler Charlsin – see Childers Diary), off Mersa Matruh, Alexandria and Port Said. April/May and July 1918, off Egypt.

 

I still need to collate these and compare with the possible visits to Beirut Michaeldr mentioned above. Sadly I have had no success penetrating the Bavarian State Archives to access the photo mentioned in Michael's posting. Can anyone help with that?

 

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Ian

 

I think you should also look into UB 66, which is reported to have refuelled at Beirut in January 1918 while on her way to take up a posting the Constantinople but never reached her destination.  Uboat.net suggests she might have sunk Windsor Hall north of Alexandria before going missing.

 

Malcolm

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Thanks Malcolm,

I missed that one.

Ian

 

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Ian

 

One last possible addition - a very late arrival in theatre.  UB 105 operated in the Eastern Mediterranean in June - July 1918 and sank several ships north of the Egyptian coast, although probably west of your Alexandria dividing line.

 

Malcolm

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Yeah, I caught that one but, as you say, the sinkings were too far west.

Not to say UB105 did not spend time off Alexandria - a prime spot as all ships entering or leaving the canal zone had to pass across the Nile delta.

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If you want to conduct an indepth and thorough research, why don't you go through the original reports of UBoot sinkings?

 

You have all necessary information in several hundreds reports.

I just checked UB8 with HQ in Cattaro (today Kotor). All sinkings are properly listed. but I have to warn you, these are rather 4-digit number of pages of reports with exact location, ship name, tonnage etc: !

Akte 319: 

http://tsamo.germandocsinrussia.org/de/nodes/29-akte-319-angaben-ber-durch-deutsche-kriegsschiffe-und-u-boote-versenkte-oder-besch-digte-feindliche-schiffe#page/38/mode/grid/zoom/1

 

Akte 318:

http://tsamo.germandocsinrussia.org/de/nodes/331-akte-318-abschriften-aus-den-ktbs-deutscher-u-boote-und-kriegsschiffe-f-r-den-zeitraum-mai-bis-august-1915#page/1/mode/grid/zoom/1

 

Akte 317:

http://tsamo.germandocsinrussia.org/de/nodes/330-akte-317-abschriften-aus-den-ktbs-deutscher-u-boote-und-kriegsschiffe-f-r-den-zeitraum-mai-bis-august-1915#page/1/mode/grid/zoom/1

 

Good luck, after you survived the sifted through all pages during the next couple of months, please report back on your findings......

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AH! Hoist with mine own petard!

 

'In depth and thorough research' of U-boats is not in my future.

I have already spent several years, on and off, ploughing through AIR1, AIR2, AIRetc, ADM, WO, FO and MUN files from the National Archives (plus some French reports and, in translation, German and Turkish reports), on the seaplane operations based on Port Said 1914-1919. One common Franco/British concern was submarines operating from the Nile, along the Palestine, Syrian and Turkish coasts as far west as Rhodes. The seaplane carriers had to come to a stop to launch and recover seaplanes, and they usually only had a single, elderly, French or Italian destroyer as escort.

 

The purpose of this whole U-boat exercise is merely to get a feeling of how valid were these concerns, and whether any actual sightings correspond to known U-boat patrols.

 

As I said earlier, my findings still have to be collated. But it does seem that 1917 and 1918 were busy times but 1916 less so. The earliest patrol was in December 1915.

 

However, all the known patrols were those that resulted in sinkings. So, how many others were there?

 

I presume there was a war diary for the Pola/Cattaro and Constantinople flotillas. I wonder if they survived somewhere?

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14 hours ago, Ian Burns said:

AH! Hoist with mine own petard!

 

'In depth and thorough research' of U-boats is not in my future.

 

 

So sorry for my help - just disregard my conveyed files that had given you the answer.....

 

I am out of here

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