SM U-103

File:HMT Olympic.jpg during the First World War]]

In the early hours of 12 May 1918, the surfaced U-103 sighted Olympic, the older sister of {{RMS|Titanic}}, which was carrying U.S. troops to France. The crew prepared to launch torpedoes from her stern torpedo tubes but was unable to flood them in time before the submarine was spotted by Olympic, whose gunners opened fire as the transport ship turned to ram.

SM U-103 started to crash dive to {{convert|30|m|abbr=on}} in an attempt to turn to a parallel course to the liner. But there was not enough time before the port propeller of Olympic sliced through the submarine's pressure hull just aft of its conning tower. The crew of U-103 blew ballast tanks before scuttling their sinking submarine. Nine crewmen lost their lives. Olympic did not stop to pick up the survivors but continued on to Cherbourg. {{USS|Davis|DD-65|6}} later sighted a distress flare and took 35 survivors to Queenstown.{{cite book | last = McCartney | first = Innes |author2=Jak Mallmann-Showell |title=Lost Patrols: Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel | publisher = Periscope Publishing Ltd. | year = 2002 | isbn = 1-904381-04-9| page = 36}}{{cite book | last = Kemp | first = Paul| title=U-Boats Destroyed (German submarine losses in the World Wars)| publisher = Arms and Armour Press | year = 1997 | location = London | isbn = 1-85409-321-5| page = 49}}

With a normal complement of 36 men, most submarine sources say 9 died and 31 survived. [4] says 10 died, 31 survivors. The "35 survivors" is what is listed in USS Davis' history.

The remains of U-103 lie at a depth of {{convert|90|m|abbr=on}} in the English Channel about midway between England and France ({{nowrap|{{coord|49|16|N|4|51|W|scale:3000000|name=Location of the wreck of U-103|display=inline,title}}}}). Its deep location makes it largely inaccessible to divers but the wreck was surveyed and identified by a remotely operated underwater vehicle in 2012.{{cite web|url=https://forgottenwrecks.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/wrecks-and-sites/explore-the-wrecks/articles/sm-u-103|title=SM U-103|website=www.forgottenwrecks.maritimearchaeologytrust.org|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525103405/https://forgottenwrecks.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/wrecks-and-sites/explore-the-wrecks/articles/sm-u-103|archivedate=25 May 2021|access-date = 25 May 2021}}

• U-boat Campaign (World War I)

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Gröner

|first1=Erich

|last2=Jung

|first2=Dieter

|last3=Maass

|first3=Martin

|translator-last1=Thomas

|translator-first1=Keith

|translator-last2=Magowan

|translator-first2=Rachel

|year=1991

|title=U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels

|volume=2

|series=German Warships 1815–1945

|location=London

|publisher=Conway Maritime Press

|isbn=0-85177-593-4

|ref=CITEREFGröner1991

}}

{{U-57 class submarines}}

{{May 1918 shipwrecks}}

{{use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:U0103}}

Category:World War I submarines of Germany

Category:Type U 57 submarines

Category:Ships built in Bremen (state)

Category:1917 ships

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1917

Category:Maritime incidents in 1918

Category:U-boats sunk in 1918

Category:U-boats sunk by British merchant ship

Category:World War I shipwrecks in the English Channel

Category:U-boats sunk in collisions