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SM U-19

1913 WORLD WAR 1

SM U-19 History

The German Navy's underwater units played an important role in both world wars, but it wasn't until the first major conflict that the service gained prominence. U-boats are one of the most feared enemy forces due to their stealth operations and surprise attacks on Allied and auxiliary warships. The U-19 served during World War I (1914-1918) and managed an ocean-going career spanning the entire conflict astonishingly. She was ordered on November 25, 1910, on the eve of the World War, and built under the trademark of the Danzig Imperial Dockyard (Shipyard 13), which was laid on October 20, 1911.

She was launched on October 10, 1911, and officially commissioned in 1912 and July 6, 1913.

Her design was typical of an attack submarine of the time, with center sail, flat deck and tapered hull. She has a surface displacement of 650 tons and a submerged displacement of 837 tons. Dimensions include a length of 210.5 feet, a beam of 20 feet and a draft of 11.8 feet. Her machinery consists of 2 MAN 8-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines, each rated at 1,677 hp for surface cruising, and 2 AEG "Double Modyn" motor generators, rated at 1,184 hp for underwater cruising . Like these early submarines, the boat had to surface to charge the batteries, which meant the underwater cruising was fairly short, mostly for the attack phase. It also means that the ship is very vulnerable when it comes to the surface - barely able to maintain speed over passing ships or maneuver to avoid incoming air strikes.

The achievable speed is almost 15.5 knots when surfaced and 9.5 knots underwater. The surface range is 11,200 miles and the underwater range is 92 miles. The submarine was cleared to dive to a depth of 164 feet. She carried a crew of 35.

Weapon centered on 4 x 500 mm (19.7") torpedo tubes, two in the bow and two in the stern. Six torpedo reloads are carried. When operating on the surface, it is equipped with 1 x 88 mm SK L/30 deck gun (installed in 1916) and 105 mm SK L/45 deck gun (added in 1917).

Additional firepower comes from a 37 mm Hotchkiss gun.

U-19 began her war career on August 1, 1914. On October 24, she was crashed by the HMS Badger, forcing her off the assembly line for an overhaul. Throughout the course of the war, the U-19 participated in a total of 12 patrols and had a total of 46 ships with a combined gun and torpedo weight of 64,816 tons (how the U-boat's victories during the war were measured).

Her first target was the British Duward (1,301 tons) on 21 January 1915 and ended with the Hollandia I (733 tons) on 25 April 1918 (she took as a trophy captured, not sunk).

The U-19 managed to survive the war, which ended with an armistice in November 1918. She was placed in the British Navy that day, sailing to Bryce, where she was dismantled and eventually scrapped between 1919 and 1920.

The gun on her deck was kept in the town of Bangor Castle as a war prize in memory of Edward Bingham (HMS Nestor), commander of the area during the Battle of Jutland - the largest of its kind in World War I naval warfare.

There are four in the U-19 class, including the U-20, U-21 and U-22 submarines.