SM UB-4

After the German Army's rapid advance along the North Sea coast in the earliest stages of World War I, the German Imperial Navy found itself without suitable submarines that could be operated in the narrow and shallow environment off Flanders.Miller, pp. 46–47.Karau, p. 48. Project 34, a design effort begun in mid-August 1914, produced the Type UB I design: a small submarine that could be shipped by rail to a port of operations and quickly assembled. Constrained by railroad size limitations, the UB I design called for a boat about {{convert|28|m|ft}} long and displacing about {{convert|125|t|LT}} with two torpedo tubes.A further refinement of the design—replacing the torpedo tubes with mine chutes but changing little else—evolved into the Type UC I coastal minelaying submarine. See: Miller, p. 458. UB-4 was part of the initial allotment of eight submarines—numbered {{SMU|UB-1||2}} to {{SMU|UB-8||2}}—ordered on 15 October from Germaniawerft of Kiel, just shy of two months after planning for the class began.Williamson, p. 12.

UB-4 was laid down by Germaniawerft in Kiel on 3 November. As built, UB-4 was {{convert|28.10|m|ftin}} long, {{convert|3.15|m|ftin}} abeam, and had a draft of {{convert|3.03|m|ft|0}}. She had a single {{convert|44|kW|bhp|order=flip|adj=on}} Daimler 4-cylinder diesel engine for surface travel, and a single {{convert|89|kW|shp|order=flip|adj=on}} Siemens-Schuckert electric motor for underwater travel, both attached to a single propeller shaft. Her top speeds were {{convert|6.47|kn}}, surfaced, and {{convert|5.51|kn}}, submerged. At more moderate speeds, she could sail up to {{convert|1,650|nmi|lk=in}} on the surface before refueling, and up to {{convert|45|nmi}} submerged before recharging her batteries. Like all boats of the class, UB-4 was rated to a diving depth of {{convert|50|m|ft}}, and could completely submerge in 33 seconds.

UB-4 was armed with two {{convert|45|cm|in|1|sp=us|adj=on}} torpedoes in two bow torpedo tubes. She was also outfitted for a single {{convert|8|mm|in|sp=us|adj=on}} machine gun on deck. UB-4{{'}}s standard complement consisted of one officer and thirteen enlisted men.Karau, p. 49.

After work on UB-4 was complete at the Germaniwerft yard, UB-4 was readied for rail shipment. The process of shipping a UB I boat involved breaking the submarine down into what was essentially a knock down kit. Each boat was broken into approximately fifteen pieces and loaded onto eight railway flatcars. In early 1915, the sections of UB-4 were shipped to Antwerp for assembly in what was typically a two- to three-week process. After UB-4 was assembled and launched sometime in March, she was loaded on a barge and taken through canals to Bruges where she underwent trials.

The submarine was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy as SM UB-4 on 23 March under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Karl Gross, a 29-year-old first-time U-boat commander.{{cite Uboat.net

|name=Karl Groß

|id=99

|type=1comm

|access-date=5 March 2009

}}Gross was in the Navy's April 1905 cadet class with 36 other future U-boat captains, including Hermann von Fischel, Carl-Siegfried Ritter von Georg, Kurt Hartwig, and Hans von Mellenthin. See: {{cite Uboat.net

|name=Crew 4/05

|id=4%2F05

|type=1crew

|access-date=5 March 2009

}} UB-4 soon joined the other UB I boats then comprising the Flanders Flotilla ({{langx|de|U-boote des Marinekorps U-Flotille Flandern}}), which had been organized on 29 March. When UB-4 joined the flotilla, Germany was in the midst of its first submarine offensive, begun in February. During this campaign, enemy vessels in the German-defined war zone ({{langx|de|Kriegsgebiet}}), which encompassed all waters around the United Kingdom (including the English Channel), were to be sunk. Vessels of neutral countries were not to be attacked unless they definitively could be identified as enemy vessels operating under a false flag.Tarrant, p. 14.

UB-4 kicked off operations for the new flotilla when she departed on her first patrol on 9 April. The following day, she sank the first ship credited to the Flanders Flotilla. The 5,940 GRT British-flagged {{SS|Harpalyce||2}}, which had been chartered by the American Commission for Relief in Belgium, was headed for Norfolk, Virginia, United States, in ballast after delivering relief supplies to Rotterdam.{{cite Uboat.net

|name=Harpalyce

|id=2725

|type=1ship

|access-date=5 March 2009

}} UB-4 came upon the steamer between Harwich and the Hook of Holland and pulled to within about {{convert|100|yards|m}}.{{cite journal | last = Perkins | first = Hugh |title=The gunner and the U-boat | journal = Sea Classics |date=September 2008 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200809/ai_n28081405?tag=content;col1 | location = Canoga Park, California | publisher = Challenge Publications | oclc = 60621086

|access-date=5 March 2009

}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{cite news |title=Relief flag flying as Harpalyce sunk |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/04/12/100148803.pdf | work = The New York Times | date = 12 April 1915

|access-date=5 March 2009 }} Despite the fact that the ship had a pass of safe-conduct from Germany, was marked with the words "Belgian Relief" on her side, and was flying a white flag with the same wording, Gross torpedoed the vessel without warning. Harpalyce sank in about five minutes, which allowed no time to launch any of the lifeboats. The Dutch steamers Elisabeth and Constance, and the American steamer Ruby picked up survivors. Herbert Hoover, head of the relief committee, reported that his organization's charter of the ship ended after delivery of the cargo in Rotterdam, but expressed disbelief that the ship could have been the victim of a torpedo attack, given the "distinct assurance" that ships engaged in the relief effort "would not be molested". Harpalyce{{'}}s master and 14 others from the 44-man crew died in the attack. Harpalyce was the largest ship sunk by UB-4 during her career.

UB-4{{'}}s followed up the sinking of Harpalyce by sinking the Greek ship Ellispontos, a steamer of {{GRT|2,989|disp=long}}. Ellispontos was en route to Montevideo from Amsterdam when sunk by Gross and UB-4 on 17 April.{{cite Uboat.net

|name=Ellispontos

|id=1907

|type=1ship

|access-date=5 March 2009

}} Although German U-boats sank over 100,000 tons of shipping in each of May and June,Tarrant, p. 18.Tarrant, p. 21. UB-4 did not contribute to those totals. She did add one ship to the 98,000-ton tally for July when she sank the Belgian ship Princesse Marie Jose and her load of coal on 29 July.{{cite Uboat.net

|name=Princesse Marie Jose

|id=427

|type=1ship

|access-date=5 March 2009

}} The 1,954 GRT steamer had sailed from Dunston and was headed to Bordeaux when sunk {{convert|1.5|nmi}} from the Shipwash Lightship off Harwich.

{{Infobox military conflict

|conflict=Action of 15 August 1915

|partof=

U-boat Campaign of World War I

|image=

|caption=

|date=August 15, 1915

|place=Off the coast of Great Yarmouth, England

|coordinates={{coord|52|42|N|2|18|E|scale:5000000}}

|result=British victory

|combatant1={{navy|German Empire}}

|combatant2={{navy|United Kingdom}}

|commander1=Karl Gross{{KIA}}

|commander2=Ernest Martin Jehan

|strength1= UB-4, 14 crewmembers

|strength2= Inverlyon, unknown number of crew

|casualties1=14 KIA, UB-4 sunk

|casualties2=none

}}

{{Campaignbox North Sea 1914-1918}}

On 14 August, the 59 GRT British fishing smack Bona Fide was stopped by a U-boat, boarded, and sunk with explosives {{convert|35|nmi}} east-northeast of Lowestoft.{{cite web

| last = | first = |title=British fishing vessels lost at sea due to enemy action: 1914, 1915, 1916 in date order |url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW1LossesBrFV1914-16.htm | work = World War 1 at Sea | publisher = Naval-History.net | date = 9 January 2009

|access-date=5 March 2009

}} The information on the website is extracted from {{cite book |title=British Vessels Lost at Sea: 1914–1918 | publisher = His Majesty's Stationery Office | year = 1919

}} According to the website Uboat.net, this attack was likely by UB-4, because she was operating in the area on her fourteenth patrol.{{cite Uboat.net

|name=Bona Fide

|id=853

|type=1ship

|access-date=5 March 2009

}} Regardless of the identity of Bona Fide{{'}}s attacker, UB-4 did approach a group of smacks in the vicinity the next day, but unbeknownst to UB-4{{'}}s commander, Gross, one of the fishing vessels was actually a British decoy ship.Perkins reports the date of the encounter as Sunday, 16 August 1915, but 16 August 1915 was actually a Monday. Messimer (p. 129), Gibson and Prendergast (pp. 50–51), and Uboat.net ({{cite Uboat.net

|name=UB 4

|id=UB+4

|type=1sub

|access-date= 19 February 2009

}}) all report the date of the encounter as 15 August 1915.

The decoy or Q-ship was His Majesty's Armed Smack {{ship|HM Armed Smack|Inverlyon||2}}, a smack that had been outfitted with a concealed 3-pounder (47 mm) gun. Around 20:20, UB-4 drew within {{convert|30|yards|m}} of Inverlyon and Gross, on the conning tower of UB-4, shouted out commands to Inverlyon{{'}}s crew in German. After waiting until the right moment, Ernest Jehan, a Royal Navy gunner in command of Inverlyon, ordered the White Ensign raised and gave the command to open fire. A burst of three rounds from the 3-pounder scored hits on the conning tower, the second destroying part of the bridge and sending Gross into the water. UB-4, with no one at the helm, drifted behind Inverlyon, and when clear, the 3-pounder fired another six shots into the hull of UB-4 at point blank range. All the while small arms fire from Inverlyon{{'}}s crew peppered the submarine. The U-boat began going down by the bow, becoming nearly vertical before disappearing below the surface. A member of Inverlyon{{'}}s crew attempted the rescue of one crewman from UB-4, but was unable to reach him before he went under, meeting the same fate as the other thirteen crewmen.

As UB-4 went down, her hulk fouled the Inverlyon{{'}}s nets—which had been deployed to keep up the appearance of a real fishing boat—essentially anchoring Inverlyon in place. The Q-ship's crew, not having a wireless set on board, sent word of the encounter with another smack, and followed up by releasing messenger pigeons the following morning, requesting instructions on what to do with UB-4. The thought of salvaging the snagged U-boat was rejected, so the nets were cut, freeing UB-4 to sink to the bottom. UB-4{{'}}s wreck lies at position {{coord|52|43|N|2|18|E|display=inline,title}}.Messimer, p. 129 Jehan was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for the sinking of UB-4, and the crewmen of Inverlyon split the submarine bounty paid by the Admiralty.There is no mention of the amount of the bounty for sinking UB-4, but the Admiralty bounties were typically £5 per crewman on the submarine, or £70 in the case of UB-4. See: Messimer, pp. 158, 170, 222, for examples of the £5 per capita bounty.

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{Cite book

|last=Bendert

|first=Harald

|title=Die UB-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine, 1914-1918. Einsätze, Erfolge, Schicksal

|location=Hamburg

|publisher=Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn GmbH

|year=2000

|isbn=3-8132-0713-7

|language=German

}}

• {{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

}}

• {{cite book | editor1-last=Gardiner | editor1-first=Robert | editor2-last=Gray | editor2-first=Randal |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 | location = Annapolis, Maryland | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year = 1985 | isbn = 978-0-87021-907-8 | oclc = 12119866 }}
• {{Gibson}}
• {{cite book | last = Karau | first = Mark D. |title=Wielding the Dagger: the MarineKorps Flandern and the German War Effort, 1914–1918 | location = Westport, Connecticut | publisher = Praeger | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-313-32475-8 | oclc = 51204317 }}
• {{cite book | last = Messimer | first = Dwight R. |title=Verschollen: World War I U-boat losses | location = Annapolis, Maryland | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-1-55750-475-3 | oclc = 231973419 }}
• {{cite book | last = Miller | first = David |title= The Illustrated Directory of Submarines of the World | location = St. Paul, Minnesota | publisher = MBI Pub. Co | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-0-7603-1345-9 | oclc = 50208951 }}
• {{cite book | last = Tarrant | first = V. E. |title=The U-Boat Offensive: 1914–1945 | location = Annapolis, Maryland | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year = 1989 | isbn = 978-0-87021-764-7 | oclc = 20338385 }}
• {{cite book | last = Williamson | first = Gordon|authorlink=Gordon Williamson (writer)|title=U-boats of the Kaiser's Navy | location = Oxford | publisher = Osprey | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-1-84176-362-0 | oclc = 48627495 }}

{{Refend}}

{{German Type UB I submarines}}

{{August 1915 shipwrecks}}

{{Good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ub004}}

Category:German Type UB I submarines

Category:Ships built in Kiel

Category:Ships built in Belgium

Category:1915 ships

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1915

Category:World War I submarines of Germany

Category:Maritime incidents in 1915

Category:U-boats sunk in 1915

Category:U-boats sunk by British warships

Category:World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea

Category:Submarines lost with all hands