SM U-9

History

The First World War made the "submarine" - essentially an underwater warship - a new weapon as deadly as biplanes and machine guns. The SM U-9 is the best in its class, in service with the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) and built by the Kaiserliche Werft in the Port of Gdansk, Germany.

The U-9 was launched on February 22, 1910, and entered service on April 18 of the same year.

The U-9 and her quartet were just a few of the 329 U-boats involved in World War I. The U-9 is cylindrical in shape and has a pressurized hull that allows the boat to force itself underwater. The idea of ??submarines as viable warships also introduced all new crew and space requirements. The forward torpedo room manages a pair of torpedo tubes, which are loaded while the ship is in port, and there is only room for two torpedoes to be reloaded. There are also two torpedo tubes in the stern, which are also loaded in the port, leaving no room for spare torpedoes.

The use of front and rear torpedo tubes allows the submarine captain to attack enemy surface targets from front and rear, rather than turning his ship around to attack each time. The stern of the torpedo room is the captain's quarters, with only a small bed, a wardrobe, and a curtain that separates the room.

In contrast, the warrant officer's compartment has only two small bunks. During the operation, bunks and wardrobes in the warrant and captain's cabins had to be moved to the adjacent officer's cabin for space reasons.

The berth in the officer's cabin of the watch is installed between the bulkhead and the washing machine. The bunks are only positioned to allow the passenger to sleep on his side, and his feet would hit an electrical box. As you can imagine, sleeping was difficult. Cables run under the bunks to power the motors. The passage through the boat has inserts for small tables and folding camping chairs.

If meals are being served to officers in the passage and the crew must pass through, the table must be removed and folded. As expected, the crew also had to change these living quarters quickly, removing chairs and tables in the aisles when enemy ships were spotted to remind them that space was limited in wartime, which made crews nervous.

The cooks on board serve about 105 meals a day, and there are stoves and ovens in the crew room. The boats continue to patrol with food stockpiled in every nook and cranny of the submarine. This need to use every available space means that one of the two restrooms is filled with food. There are some small refrigerators on board, but most food is stored on board at room temperature and spoils quickly, especially in the humid environment of a submarine sub.

Fresh bread will sprout white fungus within a few days, earning it the nickname "rabbit" for its fluffy white appearance. Over time, the crew unceremoniously referred to much of the food supply as "diesel food" due to frequent exposure to the diesel fumes that are prevalent on ships.

The cookware was unreliable at best and prone to short circuits frequently, forcing cooks to prepare meals on the deck on dark nights with kerosene stoves that would work even in high winds. Just think how many CP;d meals are actually only offered on one trip.

There are 4 Korting paraffin (kerosene) engines in the nacelle, which can be connected in series, two per propeller shaft and one propeller per propeller. Air entering the engine is sucked in through the open turret hatch, and black exhaust is expelled from below through a long removable funnel that looks very much like a traditional chimney.

When the boat has to travel underwater, usually during the day, the funnel collapses and the hatches close. 2 AGE electric motors mounted behind the gas engine provide power for underwater navigation.

Batteries for underwater propulsion are located below all living quarters and require constant preventive maintenance as these systems release toxic hydrogen which is expelled from the boat through ventilation systems that run down the sides of the hull . Some boats exploded when ventilation systems failed and hydrogen filled the interior of the boats, all it took was a spark to ignite the combustible fumes. To submerge the boat, the submersible tank is located in the center of the boat along with the bilge pump. Blowers were used to empty the seawater tank to surface the boat, so filling the tank with seawater caused it to sink.

This area of ??the boat also houses a gyro compass and manual steering gear, while a nearby toilet is surrounded by a simple privacy screen.

One of the most vulnerable times of war for submariners is when they are walking on the surface with the hatches open. However, airflow to the engine requires opening this hatch. In rough seas, water entering the ship through this hatch quickly proved to be a problem, and also posed a danger to personnel in the conning tower (the conning tower was the "battle station" for the U-boats, and in SM U-9 The station is under the command of the commander and the officer on duty (or deck officer in the US Navy). The conning tower has two periscopes, a seat and a space for the helmsman at the helm.

The area also houses a diving station, which is operated by Consisting of 24 levers on the sides of the boat to deflate the air in the tank, allowing the boat to dive to the desired depth determined by the captain. Other mechanical features include electronic controls, current depth indicators, and torpedoes for bow and stern The electronic transmitter of the tube.

The speaking tube is used for communication with the conning tower, engine and torpedo room, crew room and radio room.

Above the conning tower is the "Battle Bridge", a small bridge for officers on duty and corporals on duty. To use the bridge, the hatch had to be open, as the officer on duty sat on a raised ledge around the hatch, while the corporal sat next to it with his feet dangling from the hatch area - a tight fit, to say the least.

A seaman or lookout stands on a small raised platform, and the watchman wears rain gear and leather pants, while secured with safety ropes to prevent being washed overboard in rough seas.

The rest of the crew on the U-9 consisted of seamen, two radio operators, several torpedo operators, a deck gun crew, cooks and mechanics (or crew engineers) who were responsible for maintaining the equipment on the U ship. Seafarers work three 8-hour shifts, including sleep, general duties, and one shift as assigned by the officer on duty for the day.

Trained crew members, such as radio operators, were assigned three 4-hour shifts and two 6-hour shifts during the night. They have the longest working hours of any crew except the captain.

Fresh water is for crew drinking and cooking only. To expand their operating range, many vessels fill one of their freshwater tanks with diesel fuel, further limiting freshwater supplies. Crew members carry their clothes on their backs, plus an extra pair of underwear and socks, and a small locker for personal items.

To remove salt from the body, the crew was provided with salt water soap and deodorant on deck to control body odor.

Due to limited water supply, washing, shaving, showering and laundry are not allowed. Crew space in the forward torpedo room was at a premium, and the six berths there had to be folded and removed to make room for the other two torpedoes.

Only after the first two torpedoes have been fired and the spare torpedo is loaded into the torpedo tube is there room for the spare bunk. With such limited bunks available, crews often resort to "hot bunks" - if one crew member climbs out, the next crew member climbs into an open bunk, an emergency system still in use on many modern naval vessels and vessels today .

Only one toilet will be available until the second toilet runs out of food. With 35 crew members sharing the same toilet, the waiting time must be long and nerves must be aching. The removal system consists of a manual pump process of waste that is dumped into the sea.

The use of the "head" (toilet) is prohibited during "battle station" calls so that enemy surface ships searching for submarines cannot hear metallic noises that can reveal the submarine's location and depth.

The First World War began on July 28, 1914, and the Imperial Navy was keen to send U-9s and other submarines against the British fleet. The U-9 took over its first command on 1 August 1914 as Lieutenant Otto Weddigen.

Weddigen's order was to patrol the southern North Sea through the Broad Fours, an area of ??fairly stable water at a depth of 14 fathoms (26 m). Fourteen are located on the Dutch coast and south of the "Dogger Bank". There have been many naval battles in this area of ??the North Sea.

U-9s patrolled the area from September 22, 1914.

The British Admiralty was aware of the threat of German U-boats, but was more afraid of their surface fleet and kept their oldest capital ships in areas where encounters with the German fleet were unlikely. The 7th Cruiser Squadron consisted of cruisers HMS Cressy, HMS Aboukir, HMS Bacchante, HMS Euryalus and HMS Hogue, supported by destroyers of Harwich's forces.

Their mission was to protect ships sailing between Britain and France from German ships operating in the North Sea. They were old and slow, typically only able to travel at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), and were nicknamed "Live Bait Squadrons" by British personnel due to their age and untrained crew.

During their morning patrol on September 22, 1914, the U-9 crew had a cold breakfast around 5:00 a.m. and continued on the horizon in search of their first enemy ship. At 6:00 in the morning, Wedigan spotted three British cruisers on the front at 10 knots.

The undetected U-9 dives and accelerates towards the British cruiser. Get close to HMS Aboukir, a Cressy-class armored cruiser launched in 1899, weighing 12,000 tons and measuring 472 feet long. She is armed with 2 x 9.2" main guns, 12 x 6" support guns and 13 x 12 pounders.

Her belt armor was 6 inches thick, and she was staffed by 760 officers and sailors. At 6:20 a.m., Wedigan fired a torpedo at Abu Kier, hitting her amidships. The boat began to sink and there was little time to activate the lifeboats. So she crashed with 527 crew members within 20 minutes.

Although U-9 was not found, the British believe that HMS Cressy and HMS Hogue found Aboukir struck by a mine. Order to stop the fleet and pick up any survivors in the water. Seeing that the other two cruisers, instead of turning around and fleeing, began their rescue mission, the U-9 opened fire on the closest ship, the HMS Hogue.

Wedigan ordered the forward torpedo room to be reloaded with empty tubes - the first time a torpedo had been reloaded underwater during combat operations. U-9 fired two torpedoes at Hogg, knocking her to the ground.

The captain of the lead ship of her class, HMS Cressy, now realized the attack was coming from a submarine and ordered full speed ahead. However, U-9 fired two torpedoes at an angle to HMS Cressy, which also sank her. U-9 departed when Allied destroyers arrived to provide assistance after receiving a distress code.

A total of 1,397 sailors and 62 officers were killed, 837 people were rescued from the three ships that sank.

U-9 returns to Germany for a hero's reception - the first of the war. Lieutenant Captain Otto Weddigen was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class and each of his crew members received the Iron Cross 2nd Class. Despite the age of the Cressy-class ships, the sinking of three British Navy battleships shocked the British people and navies around the world.

Despite Churchill's order not to use the old ship, the British public blamed Churchill for the disaster. In addition, the cruiser did not use the "zigzag" movement mode in waters expected to be a submarine threat, which also cost Admiral Christian his job. A new rule has become mandatory that ships on the line will never assist in sinking a ship due to a possible enemy submarine attack.

Instead, smaller vessels will be used for such rescues.