UC42

[Guest Roy Stokes]

From a new member!

The German submarine UC 42 is recorded as being lost off Queenstown, Cork on Sept 9. 1917 and again off Queenstown on 31 Oct. The second date is the more accepted one, when HMS Sarba and Sunshine depth charged a detected sub supposedly damaged on the bottom. The damage is said to have resulted from one of her own mines.

Diving operations on the sub continued for a number of days after and evidence that it indeed was UC 42 was recovered from the wreck. It has since been reported that there was subsequent operations carried out on the wreck in 1918 by the USN and divers from HMS Vernon in 1919.

Evidence of this I cannot get. Station reports giving the position of this sub can be confusing and to my knowledge the wreck was never located again.

Can anyone throw any further lightr on this event?

[ionia]

UC-42's log was recovered and she sank on September 10th. Three of her mines had been laid but the rest were still on board. The stern of the submarine was blown off. Probable cause of the sinking was one of her own mines but possibly a mine laid by UC-33.

A large amount of oil was sighted off the Daunt Rock Light Vessel on 31st October and depth charges were dropped. On 2nd November divers went down and further diving on the 13th conclusively identified the boat. Robert M. Grant's "U-Boat Intelligence 1914-1918" does not mention any later visits to UC-42.

[Michael Lowrey]

Roy,

The best source of information is Robert Grant's 2003 book U-Boat Hunters, which details the diving done on UC 42 in 1917. He didn't find evidence that the boat was identified through papers that were recovered. Indeed, evidence seems to suggest that the diving was limited to the exterior of the wreck -- identification based upon external numbering on a plate on the conning tower and a buoy, a torpedo from the external forward torpedo tubes was recovered (possibly with a magnetic detonator). Also, the date when the Royal Navy inferred that UC 42 was lost was established in 1917 and may well have been based upon a lack of submarine activity after September 9.

In it, he also concludes that UC 42 sank on her own mine.

Best wishes,

Michael

[Borden Battery]

Hello Roy

You may also wish to visit Michael's excellent website. Borden Battery

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