On August 4, 1906, the first submarine of the Imperial Navy glided into the water at the Krupp Germania shipyard in Kiel - technically a masterpiece. The engineers and workers in Kiel worked feverishly on the prototype for more than a year. Because they're late. The construction of submarines for warfare began around the world before the turn of the century. Americans and British have had submersible vessels for years. In France, the leading country in submarine construction at the time, there was real enthusiasm. And the Russians had three boats built in 1904 - in Kiel of all places.
The naval authorities don't want submarines
Why are the Germans so late? For the head of the Imperial Navy Office, Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, submarines were only "lame ducks" for a long time, a weapon for cowards who shy away from open, chivalrous combat at sea. Like Kaiser Wilhelm II, he relies on the construction of large armored ships, in order to finally stand up to the naval power of Great Britain. Tirpitz doesn't need submarines, these "blind moles", in the competition with the other colonial powers for "place in the sun".
This only changes after the Russians are satisfied with the boats in Kiel and the public calls for German submarines become louder and louder. They have been very popular with the bourgeoisie for decades, Jules Verne's Captain Nemo with his "Nautilus" is known to many. Hundreds of inventors and tinkerers have turned to the Navy Office again and again in vain with their plans for submersibles, "pastors, teachers, seminarians, pharmacists, savings bank officials", as a semi-official Navy magazine scoffs.
Kiel is experienced in submarine construction
In 1904, Tirpitz commissioned the first submarine from the Germania shipyard - reluctantly. The naval engineer Gustav Berling, who was in charge of the construction, is also "completely depressed" in view of the task, since he considers submersibles to be "great nonsense".
The Kielers have some experience in submarine construction. The very first boat constructed in Germany, the "Brandtaucher", was built on the Förde in 1850 by the Schweffel &Howaldt machine works. And in 1903 the Germania shipyard tested the submarine "Forelle" according to plans by the Spanish designer Raymondo d'Equevilley - initially on its own account, even if the industrialist Friedrich Krupp was already speculating on government contracts. Engineer Berling develops d'Equevilley's plans further. Because they are based on designs by the leading French naval engineer Maxime Laubeufs, a plagiarism dispute soon broke out that has not yet been decided.
"U 1" is a technical innovation
The large crane at the Krupp Germania shipyard in Kiel lifts the submarine, which weighs more than 150 tons, into the water on August 4, 1906.The German boat, which was built at the Germania shipyard in Kiel from 1904, is a double-hulled boat, an invention by Laubeuf that enables fast and deep voyages on the high seas:It consists of an inner pressure hull and an outer hull with diving cells, has a petroleum engine for Above water and an electric motor for diving trips. The 42 meter long and 3.75 meter wide boat has a conning tower, sight and ventilation tubes. Operated by a crew of twelve, it can dive to depths of 30 meters and stay under water for twelve hours. The top speed on water is 8.7 knots (17 km/h), underwater it even goes at 10.8 knots (20 km/h).
After the large crane of the Germania shipyard lowered the boat, which weighed more than 150 tons, on August 4, 1906, it undertook numerous test drives. The lifting ship "Oberelbe" of the North German Salvage Association assists with the dives with and without a crew. In November 1906 the submarine was given the designation "U 1". In the following month it is officially put into service with the Imperial Navy, its home port is Eckernförde.
Submarines prevail
The big hour for "U 1" came in the spring of 1907. Unnoticed, it approached the cruiser "SMS Munich" under water - equipped with three live torpedoes. This is explosive, because Kaiser Wilhelm II is on board the surprised warship. When "U 1" survives a long surface voyage around Jutland in a storm in August of that year, the military are also convinced.
The Krupp Germania shipyard in Kiel becomes one of the leading submarine factories in Europe. Here is "U 7" around 1910 at the equipment quay.Submarine construction is now a matter of secret, the next boats will be produced by the imperial shipyard in Danzig - far away from the western powers. Gradually the naval command set up a submarine flotilla. At the outbreak of World War I, she had 28 submarines at her disposal. In 1914, however, "U 1" was already technically obsolete. It now only serves as a test and training ship.
Lethal weapons:the "Knights of the Deep"
Under the pressure of war, submarines continue to develop rapidly. The naval command now orders the rapid expansion of the fleet with submarine cruisers, while the large ironclads are mostly in the harbors because they cannot cope with the superior strength of the British. A total of 320 German submarines are in action, sinking more than 6,000 civilian ships and 100 warships by the end of the war. The "blind mole" is now transformed into the "knight of the deep" in the war propaganda.
U-boat war breaks international law
The British passenger ship "Lusitania" sinks in May 1915, sunk by "U 20" with a single torpedo. Well over 1,000 people drown.However, the Imperial Navy's unrestricted submarine warfare was soon also directed against passenger and neutral merchant ships - a breach of international law. On May 7, 1915, "U 20" sank the British "Lusitania" off the south coast of Ireland, 1,198 passengers and crew drowned.
By 1918, 200 German submarines were lost and more than 5,000 marines died. However, by 1918 the Germania shipyard developed into one of the leading submarine shipyards in Europe. In 1916 the world's first merchant submarine was built here, the "Deutschland", which broke through the British naval blockade and reached the USA.
"U 1" in the museum today
"U 1" is now in the Deutsches Museum in Munich and can be visited, here is a view of the engine room.After the end of the war, "U 1" was saved from delivery to the British, dismantled into individual parts and transported to Munich by train. As early as 1917, at the height of the successful U-boat war, the Deutsches Museum had shown interest in the first submarine to be tested and used in Germany. In the early 1920s it entered the collection of the largest technical museum in Germany. It can still be seen there today.
08/03/2016 12:19 p.m
Editor's note:The first version of the article stated that U 1 sank five warships and 13 merchant ships during World War I. That is not correct. The submarine was already obsolete at the time and was only used as a test and training ship. We apologize for the error.