German Type U 87 submarines were preceded by the shorter Type U 81 submarines. U-92 had a displacement of 757 tonnes (745 long tons) when at the surface and 998 tonnes (982 long tons) while submerged.^[1] She had a total length of 65.80 m (215 ft 11 in), a pressure hull length of 50.07 m (164 ft 3 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.35 m (30 ft 8 in), and a draught of 3.88 m (12 ft 9 in). The submarine was powered by two 2,400 metric horsepower (1,800 kW; 2,400 shp) engines for use while surfaced, and two 1,200 metric horsepower (880 kW; 1,200 shp) engines for use while submerged. She had two propeller shafts. She was capable of operating at depths of up to 50 metres (160 ft).^[1]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 15.6 knots (28.9 km/h; 18.0 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 8.6 knots (15.9 km/h; 9.9 mph).^[1] When submerged, she could operate for 56 nautical miles (104 km; 64 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 11,380 nautical miles (21,080 km; 13,100 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). U-92 was fitted with four 50 centimetres (20 in) torpedo tubes (two at the bow and two at the stern), ten to twelve torpedoes, ND one 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/45 deck gun. She had a complement of thirty-six (thirty-two crew members and four officers).^[1]

After acceptance trials at Danzig (where she was first detected by Room 40, which followed and recorded all her subsequent movements),^[4] commanded by Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant) Bieler.^[5] She joined the Kiel School 2 November 1917,^[4] leaving for the North Sea about the end of December 1917, being attached to the 3rd Flotilla at Wilhelmshaven.^[4] All her combat operations took place in 1918.^[4]

1st Patrol edit

U-92 departed for her first war patrol 1 January, via Heligoland Bight and around Scotland into the northern Bay of Biscay,^[4] recording no sinkings,^[4] and returning to Wilhelmshaven^[6] 30 January.^[4]

2nd Patrol edit

Her second patrol began 24 February, and she was assigned to a station southwest of Ireland,^[7] transiting the Kiel Canal and the Baltic Sea, due to heavy mining in the North Sea.^[5] Again, she scored no victories, but was in the vicinity of The Skaw, at the time the commerce raider Wolf stranded a prize, Igotz Mendi, for two days.^[4] She also torpedoed the 7,034-ton steamer British Princess, killing one British seaman, and inflicting damage, none severe enough to keep her victim from reaching port. U-92 returned to Kiel on 23 March.^[4]

3rd Patrol edit

After refit, U-92 departed on her third patrol 24 April. She was again assigned to the southwest Ireland station, by way of Heligoland, the Kiel Canal, the Baltic, Denmark, Scotland, and Fair Isle. On this long patrol, from which she returned to Wilhelmshaven on about 28 May (Room 40 was uncertain of the date),^[4] she was attacked three times by enemy A/S forces (and once more by patrol seaplane), and again scored no successes.^[4] On his return, after his third consecutive dry patrol and in keeping with usual practise for unproductive skippers, Kptlt.. Bieler was relieved.^[8]

4th Patrol edit

U-92 returned to Ireland station for her fourth patrol, sortieing 29 June,^[4] now in the hands of Kptlt. Günther Ehrlich.^[9] She came under attack on only the second day of her patrol, south of Dogger Bank, by two torpedoes from submarine E42, Both missed.^[6] U-92 attacked a convoy eight days later, on 9 July.^[10] She sank two armed steamers, the 2814 ton Ben Lomond 30 nmi (56 km; 35 mi) southeast of Daunts Rock and the 3,550 ton Mars 74 nmi (137 km; 85 mi) west by north of Bishop Rock.^[11] and suffered damage in a collision.^[4] On 10 July, she fired on the 339 ton armed schooner Charles Theriault with her deck gun, inflicting damage; Theriault was towed to port.^[4] The next day she torpedoed and sank the 5,590-ton United States Navy cargo ship USS Westover at 46°36′N 12°21′W / 46.600°N 12.350°W / 46.600; -12.350 with the loss of 11 members of Westover's crew,^[12][13][14] and on 13 July, the 3058-ton Spanish steamer Ramon de Larrinaga with two torpedoes.^[4] By the end of her patrol, on 22 July, she had sunk 22,000 tons^[15] of shipping.^[4]

5th Patrol edit

For her fifth patrol, she left via Kattegat on 4 September. She was mined 9 September in Area B of the North Sea Mine Barrage, and lost with all hands;^[16] her last position was suspected to be 59°0′N 1°30′W / 59.000°N 1.500°W / 59.000; -1.500."^[4]

Wreck Site edit

At the end of 2007, her wreck was located there by the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency ship Anglian Sovereign.^[4]

Notes edit

Citations edit

• Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
• Spindler, Arno (1966) [1932]. Der Handelskrieg mit U-Booten. 5 Vols. Berlin: Mittler & Sohn. Vols. 4+5, dealing with 1917+18, are very hard to find: Guildhall Library, London, has them all, also Vol. 1-3 in an English translation: The submarine war against commerce.
• Beesly, Patrick (1982). Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914-1918. London: H Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-10864-2.
• Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-85728-498-0.
• Roessler, Eberhard (1997). Die Unterseeboote der Kaiserlichen Marine. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-5963-7.
• Schroeder, Joachim (2002). Die U-Boote des Kaisers. Bonn: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-6235-4.
• Koerver, Hans Joachim (2008). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914-1918. Vol I., The Fleet in Action. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN 978-3-902433-76-3.
• Koerver, Hans Joachim (2009). Room 40: German Naval Warfare 1914-1918. Vol II., The Fleet in Being. Steinbach: LIS Reinisch. ISBN 978-3-902433-77-0.

• A webpage for U-92 Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• U 92 and U 102 wrecks found, 2006 The Maritime and Coastguard Agency^{[permanent dead link]} World War I Submarines U 102 and U 92 found by Anglian Sovereign
• Diving the U 92, by Steven Slater (www.jeanelaine.co.uk), 15.6.2007
• Photos of cruises of German submarine U-54 in 1916-1918.
• A 44 min. German film from 1917 about a cruise of the German submarine U-35.
• Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 92". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net.
• Room 40: Archived 15 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine original documents, photos and maps about World War I German submarine warfare and British Room 40 Intelligence from The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, UK.