SM UB-85
World War I U-boat in the German Imperial Navy
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SM UB-85[Note 1] was a Type UB III U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. Ordered on 23 September 1916, the U-boat was built at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen and commissioned on 24 November 1917, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Günther Krech.[2]
UB-148 at sea, a U-boat similar to UB-85. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | UB-85 |
| Ordered | 23 September 1916[1] |
| Builder | AG Weser, Bremen |
| Cost | 3,341,000 German Papiermark |
| Yard number | 285 |
| Laid down | 24 January 1917[2] |
| Launched | 26 October 1917[3] |
| Commissioned | 24 November 1917[3] |
| Fate | Sunk 30 April 1918[3] |
| General characteristics [3] | |
| Class & type | Type UB III submarine |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 55.85 m (183 ft 3 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 5.80 m (19 ft) |
| Draught | 3.72 m (12 ft 2 in) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range |
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| Test depth | 50 m (160 ft) |
| Complement | 3 officers, 31 men[3] |
| Armament |
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| Service record | |
| Part of |
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| Commanders |
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| Operations | 2 patrols |
| Victories | None |
Construction
SM UB-85 was built by AG Weser of Bremen and following just under a year of construction, launched at Bremen on 26 October 1917, and was commissioned later that same year. Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-85 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun. UB-85 would carry a crew of up to 3 officers and 31 men and had a cruising range of 8,180 nautical miles (15,150 km; 9,410 mi). UB-85 had a displacement of 516 t (508 long tons) while surfaced and 647 t (637 long tons) when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at 13.4 knots (24.8 km/h; 15.4 mph) when surfaced and 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) when submerged.
Service history
On her second patrol, she was picked up by HM Drifter Coreopsis II [Note 2] off the coast of Belfast, Northern Ireland on 30 April 1918, after she was partly flooded through a semi-open hatch while trying to evade attack by the British vessel.[2] The ingress of water could not be controlled, since cables for a heater in the officers' compartment had previously been laid through a watertight door, by order of Kapt. Krech.[5] The submarine was forced to surface and was abandoned by her crew while under fire at position 54°47′N 5°23′W. No casualties occurred amongst the 34 crew who were taken as prisoners of war.[6]
Relationship with cryptozoology
Under interrogation, the captain is reported to have said that the submarine had surfaced the night before to recharge the batteries and had been attacked by a large sea creature, a "strange beast" that rose out of the deep and damaged the vessel, leaving it unable to submerge. The crew had fired their sidearms at the creature.[7][8]
Wreck
Engineers working on an electricity cable, the Western HVDC Link, discovered the almost intact wreck of a Type UB III submarine, believed to be either UB-85 or UB-82, lying off the Galloway coast in October 2016.[9] Dr Innes McCartney who identified the wreck said: "We are certainly closer to solving the so-called mystery of UB-85 and the reason behind its sinking - whether common mechanical failure or something that is less easily explained."[7]