SM UC-17

History
German Empire
Name	UC-17
Ordered	29 August 1915
Builder	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Yard number	267
Launched	29 February 1916
Commissioned	21 July 1916
Fate	Surrendered, 26 November 1918; broken up, 1919–20
General characteristics
Class and type	German Type UC II submarine
Displacement	417 t (410 long tons), surfaced; 493 t (485 long tons), submerged;
Length	49.35 m (161 ft 11 in) o/a; 39.30 m (128 ft 11 in) pressure hull;
Beam	5.22 m (17 ft 2 in) o/a; 3.65 m (12 ft) pressure hull;
Draught	3.68 m (12 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	2 × propeller shafts; 2 × 6-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engines, 500 PS (370 kW; 490 bhp); 2 × electric motors, 460 PS (340 kW; 450 shp);
Speed	11.6 knots (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph), surfaced; 7.0 knots (13.0 km/h; 8.1 mph), submerged;
Range	9,430 nautical miles (17,460 km; 10,850 mi) at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph), surfaced; 55 nautical miles (102 km; 63 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph), submerged;
Test depth	50 m (160 ft)
Complement	26
Armament	6 × 100 cm (39.4 in) mine tubes; 18 × UC 200 mines; 3 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 bow/external; one stern); 7 × torpedoes; 1 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) Uk L/30 deck gun;
Notes	35-second diving time
Service record
Part of:	Flandern Flotilla; 2 October 1916 – 19 October 1918; I Flotilla; 19 October – 11 November 1918;
Commanders:	Oblt.z.S. Ralph Wenninger; 23 July 1916 – 21 May 1917; Oblt.z.S. Werner Fürbinger; 22 May – 3 August 1917; Oblt.z.S. Ulrich Pilzecker; 4 August 1917 – 15 January 1918; Oblt.z.S. Erich Stephan; 16 January – 4 May 1918; Oblt.z.S. Freiherr Nikolaus von Lyncker; 5 May – 11 November 1918;
Operations:	21 patrols
Victories:	89 merchant ships sunk ; (142,849 GRT); 7 auxiliary warships sunk ; (1,574 GRT); 8 merchant ships damaged ; (27,540 GRT); 1 auxiliary warships damaged ; (315 GRT);

SM UC-17 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was ordered on 29 August 1915 and launched on 29 February 1916. She was commissioned into the Imperial German Navy on 21 July 1916 as SM UC-17.^{[Note 1]}

In 21 patrols UC-17 was credited with sinking 96 ships by either torpedo or laying mines. They included the Royal Fleet Auxiliary munitions ship RFA Lady Cory-Wright, which she torpedoed and sank in the English Channel on 26 March 1918.

Design[edit]

Like all pre-UC-25 German Type UC II submarines, UC-17 had a displacement of 417 tonnes (410 long tons) when at the surface and 493 tonnes (485 long tons) while submerged. She had a total length of 49.35 m (161 ft 11 in) overall, a beam of 5.22 m (17 ft 2 in), and a draught of 3.65 m (12 ft 0 in). The submarine was powered by two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines each producing 250 metric horsepower (180 kW; 250 shp) (a total of 500 metric horsepower (370 kW; 490 shp)), two electric motors producing 460 metric horsepower (340 kW; 450 shp), and two propeller shafts. She had a dive time of 35 seconds and was capable of operating at a depth of 50 metres (160 ft).^[3]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 11.6 knots (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph) and a submerged speed of 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph). When submerged, she could operate for 55 nautical miles (102 km; 63 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 9,430 nautical miles (17,460 km; 10,850 mi) at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph). UC-17 was fitted with six 100 centimetres (39 in) mine tubes, eighteen UC 200 mines, three 50 centimetres (20 in) torpedo tubes (one on the stern and two on the bow), seven torpedoes, and one 8.8 cm (3.5 in) Uk L/30 deck gun. Her complement was twenty-six crew members.^[3]

Fate[edit]

UC-17 was surrendered on 26 November 1918 and broken up at Preston in 1919–20.^[1]

Summary of raiding history[edit]

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage^{[Note 2]}	Fate^[9]
6 November 1916	Fanelly	France	307	Sunk
7 November 1916	Furulund	Norway	1,817	Sunk
7 November 1916	Suffolk Coast	United Kingdom	780	Sunk
7 November 1916	Thuhaug	Norway	948	Sunk
10 November 1916	HMT Benton Castle	Royal Navy	283	Sunk
11 November 1916	Seirstad	Norway	995	Sunk
14 November 1916	Oiz Mendi	Spain	2,104	Sunk
14 November 1916	Alcyon	France	59	Sunk
15 November 1916	La Rochejacquelein	France	2,199	Sunk
15 November 1916	Torridal	Norway	688	Sunk
16 November 1916	Eugenie	France	66	Sunk
16 November 1916	Petit Jean	France	126	Sunk
21 November 1916	Faunus	Sweden	749	Sunk
15 December 1916	Constance Mary	United Kingdom	177	Sunk
17 December 1916	Alerte	France	176	Sunk
18 December 1916	La Vague	France	167	Sunk
18 December 1916	Maria Louis	France	108	Sunk
18 December 1916	Quo Vadis	France	110	Sunk
20 December 1916	Otarie Ii	France	109	Sunk
20 December 1916	Saint Antoine De Padoue	France	32	Sunk
21 December 1916	HMT St. Ives	Royal Navy	325	Sunk
24 December 1916	Bargany	United Kingdom	872	Sunk
25 December 1916	Courlis	France	181	Sunk
28 December 1916	Pitho	United Kingdom	150	Sunk
28 December 1916	Union	Norway	563	Sunk
20 January 1917	Standard	Denmark	217	Sunk
22 January 1917	Gaulois	France	76	Sunk
22 January 1917	O. A. Brodin	Sweden	1,798	Sunk
23 January 1917	Egypte	Belgium	2,416	Sunk
23 January 1917	Ophelia	France	159	Sunk
31 January 1917	Epsilon	Netherlands	3,211	Sunk
16 February 1917	Hermine	France	3,940	Sunk
18 February 1917	Thorgny	Norway	734	Sunk
19 February 1917	Centurion	United Kingdom	1,828	Sunk
19 February 1917	HMT Picton Castle	Royal Navy	245	Sunk
20 February 1917	Falls of Afton	Norway	1,965	Sunk
21 February 1917	Manningham	Sweden	1,988	Sunk
22 February 1917	Ajax	Norway	1,468	Sunk
22 February 1917	Saint Sauveur	France	158	Sunk
23 February 1917	Belgier	United Kingdom	4,588	Sunk
23 February 1917	Iser	United Kingdom	2,160	Sunk
23 February 1917	Nyland	Norway	1,824	Sunk
24 February 1917	Salamis	Greece	995	Sunk
25 February 1917	Kleber	France	95	Sunk
26 February 1917	Le Lamentin	France	716	Sunk
7 March 1917	Antonio	United Kingdom	2,652	Sunk
19 March 1917	Rhodora	France	38	Sunk
21 March 1917	Huntscape	United Kingdom	2,933	Damaged
22 March 1917	Curlew	United Kingdom	51	Sunk
22 March 1917	Rotorua	United Kingdom	11,140	Sunk
23 March 1917	Maine	United Kingdom	3,616	Sunk
23 March 1917	Mexico	United Kingdom	5,549	Damaged
24 March 1917	Alice	United Kingdom	61	Sunk
24 March 1917	Boy Walter	United Kingdom	43	Sunk
24 March 1917	Endeavour	United Kingdom	25	Sunk
24 March 1917	Enigma	United Kingdom	24	Sunk
24 March 1917	H.C.G.	United Kingdom	24	Sunk
24 March 1917	May Flower	United Kingdom	38	Sunk
24 March 1917	Qui Vive	United Kingdom	22	Sunk
24 March 1917	Reindeer	United Kingdom	28	Sunk
24 March 1917	Satanita	United Kingdom	30	Sunk
9 May 1917	Marchiena	Netherlands	170	Sunk
10 May 1917	Veni	Norway	654	Sunk
12 May 1917	G.L.C.	United Kingdom	24	Sunk
12 May 1917	Galicia	United Kingdom	5,922	Sunk
13 May 1917	Anna	Denmark	610	Sunk
13 May 1917	Hudson	Norway	817	Sunk
14 May 1917	Farley	United Kingdom	3,692	Sunk
16 May 1917	L’hermite	France	2,189	Damaged
19 May 1917	HMT Kumu	Royal Navy	315	Damaged
18 June 1917	HMT Borneo	Royal Navy	211	Sunk
19 June 1917	Kate And Annie	United Kingdom	96	Sunk
19 June 1917	Mary Ann	United Kingdom	164	Damaged
21 June 1917	Childe Harold	United States	781	Sunk
21 June 1917	Scheria	Kingdom of Italy	2,727	Sunk
24 June 1917	Clan Davidson	United Kingdom	6,486	Sunk
24 June 1917	Crown of Arragon	United Kingdom	4,550	Sunk
25 June 1917	Galena	United States	1,073	Sunk
25 June 1917	Saxon Monarch	United Kingdom	4,828	Sunk
20 July 1917	City Of Florence	United Kingdom	5,399	Sunk
21 July 1917	Augustus Welt	United States	1,221	Sunk
19 August 1917	Brema	United Kingdom	1,537	Sunk
21 August 1917	Norhilda	United Kingdom	1,175	Sunk
8 September 1917	Askelad	Norway	2,823	Sunk
9 September 1917	Tuscarora	United Kingdom	7,106	Damaged
16 September 1917	Thomas Krag	Norway	3,569	Damaged
2 November 1917	Cape Finisterre	United Kingdom	4,380	Sunk
4 November 1917	Border Knight	United Kingdom	3,724	Sunk
2 December 1917	Tasmania	Russian Empire	2,089	Sunk
4 December 1917	Forfar	United Kingdom	3,827	Sunk
6 December 1917	Asaba	United Kingdom	972	Sunk
7 February 1918	Creosol	United Kingdom	1,179	Sunk
7 February 1918	Elfi	Norway	1,120	Sunk
23 March 1918	HMD New Dawn	Royal Navy	93	Sunk
24 March 1918	War Knight	United Kingdom	7,951	Sunk
26 March 1918	RFA Lady Cory-Wright	Royal Fleet Auxiliary	2,516	Sunk
26 April 1918	Sif	Norway	3,282	Damaged
29 April 1918	Frogner	Norway	1,476	Sunk
30 April 1918	Isleworth	United Kingdom	2,871	Sunk
24 May 1918	HMT Gabir	Royal Navy	219	Sunk
24 May 1918	HMT Yucca	Royal Navy	198	Sunk
26 May 1918	Thames	United Kingdom	1,327	Sunk
30 May 1918	Dungeness	United Kingdom	2,748	Damaged
28 June 1918	Sunniva	United Kingdom	1,913	Sunk
8 October 1918	Thalia	United Kingdom	1,308	Sunk

Notes[edit]

^ "SM" stands for Seiner Majestäts (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot translates as "His Majesty's Submarine".
^ Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC 17". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
^ Tarrant, p. 173
^ ^a ^b ^c Gröner 1991, pp. 31–32.
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Ralph Wenninger (Pour le Merite)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Werner Fürbinger (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Ulrich Pilzecker". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Erich Stephan". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Freiherr Nikolaus von Lyncker". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UC 17". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

References[edit]

Bendert, Harald (2001). Die UC-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine 1914-1918. Minenkrieg mit U-Booten (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler. ISBN 3-8132-0758-7.
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.
Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8. OCLC 12119866.
Tarrant, V.E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive: 1914–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-764-7. OCLC 20338385.

[9] "SM" stands for Seiner Majestäts (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot translates as "His Majesty's Submarine".

[tonnage-10] Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.

[UC-17-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: UC 17". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

[Tarrant-173-2] Tarrant, p. 173

[FOOTNOTEGröner199131–32-3] Gröner 1991, pp. 31–32.

[4] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Ralph Wenninger (Pour le Merite)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.

[5] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Werner Fürbinger (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.

[6] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Ulrich Pilzecker". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.

[7] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Erich Stephan". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.

[8] Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Freiherr Nikolaus von Lyncker". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 9 February 2015.

[11] Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by UC 17". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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[8]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[9]

v t e German Type UC II submarines
UC-16 UC-17 UC-18 UC-19 UC-20 UC-21 UC-22 UC-23 UC-24 UC-25 UC-26 UC-27 UC-28 UC-29 UC-30 UC-31 UC-32 UC-33 UC-34 UC-35 UC-36 UC-37 UC-38 UC-39 UC-40 UC-41 UC-42 UC-43 UC-44 UC-45 UC-46 UC-47 UC-48 UC-49 UC-50 UC-51 UC-52 UC-53 UC-54 UC-55 UC-56 UC-57 UC-58 UC-59 UC-60 UC-61 UC-62 UC-63 UC-64 UC-65 UC-66 UC-67 UC-68 UC-69 UC-70 UC-71 UC-72 UC-73 UC-74 UC-75 UC-76 UC-77 UC-78 UC-79
Preceded by: Type UC I Followed by: Type UC III
List of U-boats of Germany

History

German Empire
Name	UC-17
Ordered	29 August 1915^[1]
Builder	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg^[2]
Yard number	267^[1]
Launched	29 February 1916^[1]
Commissioned	21 July 1916^[1]
Fate	Surrendered, 26 November 1918; broken up, 1919–20^[1]
General characteristics ^[3]
Class and type	German Type UC II submarine
Displacement	417 t (410 long tons), surfaced 493 t (485 long tons), submerged
Length	49.35 m (161 ft 11 in) o/a 39.30 m (128 ft 11 in) pressure hull
Beam	5.22 m (17 ft 2 in) o/a 3.65 m (12 ft) pressure hull
Draught	3.68 m (12 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	2 × propeller shafts 2 × 6-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engines, 500 PS (370 kW; 490 bhp) 2 × electric motors, 460 PS (340 kW; 450 shp)
Speed	11.6 knots (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph), surfaced 7.0 knots (13.0 km/h; 8.1 mph), submerged
Range	9,430 nautical miles (17,460 km; 10,850 mi) at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph), surfaced 55 nautical miles (102 km; 63 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph), submerged
Test depth	50 m (160 ft)
Complement	26
Armament	6 × 100 cm (39.4 in) mine tubes 18 × UC 200 mines 3 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 bow/external; one stern) 7 × torpedoes 1 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) Uk L/30 deck gun
Notes	35-second diving time
Service record^[1]
Part of:	Flandern Flotilla 2 October 1916 – 19 October 1918 I Flotilla 19 October – 11 November 1918
Commanders:	Oblt.z.S. Ralph Wenninger^[4] 23 July 1916 – 21 May 1917 Oblt.z.S. Werner Fürbinger^[5] 22 May – 3 August 1917 Oblt.z.S. Ulrich Pilzecker^[6] 4 August 1917 – 15 January 1918 Oblt.z.S. Erich Stephan^[7] 16 January – 4 May 1918 Oblt.z.S. Freiherr Nikolaus von Lyncker^[8] 5 May – 11 November 1918
Operations:	21 patrols
Victories:	89 merchant ships sunk (142,849 GRT) 7 auxiliary warships sunk (1,574 GRT) 8 merchant ships damaged (27,540 GRT) 1 auxiliary warships damaged (315 GRT)