SM UC-97

A Type UC III submarine, UC-97 had a displacement of {{convert|491|t|LT}} when at the surface and {{convert|571|t|LT}} while submerged. She had a length overall of {{convert|56.51|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a beam of {{convert|5.54|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and a draught of {{convert|3.77|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The submarine was powered by two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines each producing {{convert|300|PS|kW shp}} (a total of {{convert|600|PS|kW shp}}), two electric motors producing {{convert|770|PS|kW shp}}, and two propeller shafts. She had a dive time of 15 seconds and was capable of operating at a depth of {{convert|75|m}}.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=34-35}}

The submarine was designed for a maximum surface speed of {{convert|11.5|kn}} and a submerged speed of {{convert|6.6|kn}}. When submerged, she could operate for {{convert|40|nmi}} at {{convert|4.5|kn}}; when surfaced, she could travel {{convert|9850|nmi}} at {{convert|7|kn}}. UC-97 was fitted with six {{convert|100|cm}} mine tubes, fourteen UC 200 mines, three {{convert|50|cm}} torpedo tubes (one on the stern and two on the bow), seven torpedoes, and one 10.5 cm SK L/45 naval gun or 8.8 cm SK L/30 naval gun deck gun . Her complement was twenty-six crew members.{{sfn|Gröner|1991|pp=34-35}}

The U-boat was ordered on 12 January 1916 and was launched on 17 March 1918. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 3 September 1918 as SM UC-97."SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" ({{langx|en|His Majesty's}}) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine. As with the rest of the completed UC III boats, UC-97 conducted no war patrols and sank no ships.

She was surrendered on 22 November 1918 to the United States. UC-97 formed the Ex-German Submarine Expeditionary Force with {{SMU|U-111}}, {{SMU|U-117}}, {{SMU|U-140}}, {{SMU|U-164}}, and {{SMU|UB-88}}. Twelve United States Navy officers with 120 enlisted men were sent to England to sail the captured submarines of this expeditionary force across the Atlantic to be exhibited in the United States raising money for Liberty Bonds. UC-97 sailed from Harwich in April 1919 with U-111, U-164, and UB-88. The flotilla, escorted by {{USS|Bushnell|AS-2}}, stopped in the Azores and Bermuda before reaching New York City. UC-97 sailed through the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Great Lakes under the command of Charles A. Lockwood. LCDR Lockwood spent the summer of 1919 coordinating port calls with mayors of cities on lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, and Michigan. By late August, the submarine's unfamiliar German machinery was no longer responding reliably to Lockwood's crew. The commandant of the 9th Naval District assumed control of UC-97 as Lockwood with his crew left to assume command of {{USS|R-25|SS-102}} being built at Bridgeport, Connecticut. UC-97 was moored at the foot of Monroe Street and opened to tourists in Chicago's lakefront Grant Park.{{cite journal |last=Wise |first=James E. |date=Winter 1989 |title=The Sinking of the UC-97 |journal=Naval History |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=13–14 |publisher=United States Naval Institute }}

A clause of the armistice treaty required all German combat vessels held by Allied forces to be destroyed before 1 July 1921. All armament, propulsion machinery, and navigation gear were removed from UC-97 before she was towed out into Lake Michigan by {{USS|Hawk|IX-14}} for use as a target during the annual summer training of naval reservists living in the Midwestern United States. {{USS|Wilmette}} fired 18 rounds from a {{cvt|4|in|cm}} gun in 15 minutes to sink UC-97 {{convert|20|nmi|km}} off the coast of Highland Park, Illinois on 7 June 1921.{{cite web|url=http://abc7chicago.com/archive/9108423/|title=WWI submarine has underwater Lake Michigan grave}} The wreck of UC-97 has not been definitively located. It has been reported in a 2013 Toronto Star article that the U-boat was found in 1992 by the Chicago-based company A and T Recovery.However, the claim of its find has not been substantiated by any evidence to the present day.

{{cite news

| last = Ellison

| first = Mark

| title = Wharf a reminder of Toronto's transformed shoreline

| url = https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/06/26/wharf_a_reminder_of_torontos_transformed_shoreline.html

| access-date = 2013-06-26

| newspaper = Toronto Star

| date = 26 June 2013

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130626144649/http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/06/26/wharf_a_reminder_of_torontos_transformed_shoreline.html

| archive-date = 2013-06-26

| url-status = live

| location = Toronto

}}

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book

|first=Harald

|last=Bendert

|title=Die UC-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine 1914-1918. Minenkrieg mit U-Booten

|publisher=Mittler

|year=2001

|location=Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn

|isbn=3-8132-0758-7

|language=de

}}

• {{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=German Warships 1815–1945, U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels

|volume=2

|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 }}
• {{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 }}

{{Refend}}

• [http://www.atrecovery.com/Pages/GermanUBoat.htm German World War I U-boat UC-97] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730022644/http://www.atrecovery.com/Pages/GermanUBoat.htm |date=30 July 2009 }} from A&T Recovery, locators of UC-97{{'}}s wreck in Lake Michigan
• [http://abc7chicago.com/archive/9108423/ WWI German submarine has underwater Lake Michigan grave] ABC Chicago article May 19, 2013

{{German Type UC III submarines}}

{{1921 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uc097}}

Category:Ships built in Hamburg

Category:German Type UC III submarines

Category:U-boats commissioned in 1918

Category:World War I submarines of Germany

Category:World War I minelayers of Germany

Category:1918 ships

Category:Ships sunk as targets

Category:Maritime incidents in 1921

Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan