SM U 50

U 43

Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig

August 7, 1914

December 31, 1915

July 4, 1916

• July 4th 1916-31. August 1917 Kptlt Gerhard Berger ( fallen)

5 patrols

27 ships total tonnage 92,924 GRT

U 50 was a German U- boat U type 43, which was used in World War I by the German Imperial Navy.

History

The contract for the boat was awarded on August 7, 1914 at the Kaiserliche Werft Danzig. The launch took place on December 31, 1915, to the putting under Lieutenant Gerhard Berger finally took place on July 4, 1916.

The boat was one of 30 August 1916 to his unexplained disappearance of the III. Flotilla to.

U 50 undertook during his service five patrols, where 27 ships were sunk with a total gross registered tonnage of 92 924 GRT.

In February 1917 U 50 sunk off the Irish coast without warning the British passenger liner RMS Laconia, who came with nearly 300 passengers aboard from New York. Twelve people died in the sinking killed, including two Americans, which led to considerable political tensions between the United States and the German Reich.

Whereabouts

U 50 marched on his patrol through the run-out "yellow" in the North Sea by the defensive minefields in the German Bight. On 31 August 1917, the boat radioed a position report after it loud observer service of the German in position 55 ° 15 ' N, 4 ° 10' O55.254.1666666666667Koordinaten: 55 ° 15 '0 "N, 4 ° 10' 0 " O stand. Since then remained U 50 lost. In the British sources do not sinking the boat was mentioned. End of September, the corpse of the commander was driven to one of the North Frisian Islands. An investigation found that the corpse had been for about a month in the water. Probably ran U 50 on one of the nearly 2,000 mines which had been laid in early August at the outputs of the mine-free leak paths for German ships the British. On August 22, U 21 sighted a running British minelayer before run-out "Yellow", this incident but did not report the Navy leadership. U 50 finally had this happen sea area. The fact that the boat is running on one of these mines, is likely, but it can be lost by accident due to technical faults or human error.