SM U 74
- Erwin Weisbach
Special feature of the engine and armament
The main task of U 74 was the laying of sea mines, of which up to 38 pieces inside the boat could be transported. They were laid over two outlet pipes in the boat tail. It therefore was not a question one attack submarine and it was compared with other ocean-going submarines relatively weak motorized. The above-water velocity remained in the single digits. The torpedo armament was used only for self-defense.
Inserts
U 74 was launched on August 10, 1915 at the Imperial Shipyard in Gdansk from the stack and was put into service on 24 November 1915. The submarine was assigned in March 1916 I. U- boat Flotilla. The first and only commander of the submarine was Lieutenant Erwin Weisbach, who commanded it from its commissioning until his demise on 17 May 1916.
U 74 led during the First World War by two operations in the North Sea. Here, the British coal freighter Sabbia was sunk with 2,802 GRT. The Sabbia expired on April 20, 1916 about 7 miles southeast of the Isle of May on a mine of U 74
U 74 was in May 1916 of a second mining operation in the Firth of Forth on the east coast of Scotland. Here, a mine barrier impeding the British High Seas Fleet was to be laid before Rosyth.
Whereabouts
Initially it was assumed U 74 was sunk on 27 May 1916 near Peterhead by a British trawler group by artillery fire. A U -boat wreck off Dunbar has since been identified as U 74. The cause of the sinking of an accident during the laying of the mines is called. There were no survivors.