SM U-56 - Misplaced Pages

For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-56.

History
U-56 arriving in a spanish port
German Empire
Name	U-56
Ordered	23 August 1914
Builder	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number	238
Laid down	28 December 1914
Launched	18 April 1916
Commissioned	23 June 1916
Fate	Missing since 3 November 1916. 35 dead (all hands lost)
General characteristics
Class and type	Type U 51 submarine
Displacement	715 t (704 long tons) surfaced 902 t (888 long tons) submerged
Length	65.20 m (213 ft 11 in) (o/a) 52.51 m (172 ft 3 in) (pressure hull)
Beam	6.44 m (21 ft 2 in) (oa) 4.18 m (13 ft 9 in) (pressure hull)
Height	7.82 m (25 ft 8 in)
Draught	3.64 m (11 ft 11 in)
Installed power	2 × 2,400 PS (1,765 kW; 2,367 shp) surfaced 2 × 1,200 PS (883 kW; 1,184 shp) submerged
Propulsion	2 shafts
Speed	17.1 knots (31.7 km/h; 19.7 mph) surfaced 9.1 knots (16.9 km/h; 10.5 mph) submerged
Range	9,400 nmi (17,400 km; 10,800 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced 55 nmi (102 km; 63 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth	50 m (164 ft 1 in)
Complement	36
Armament	4 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (two bow, two stern) 7 torpedoes 2 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 deck guns
Service record
Part of:	II Flotilla 18 June – 3 November 1916
Commanders:	Kptlt. Hermann Lorenz 24 February – 3 November 1916
Operations:	1 patrol
Victories:	5 merchant ships sunk (5,701 GRT)

SM U-56 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-56 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.

On 2 November 1916, U-56 was attacked by gunfire from the Imperial Russian Navy destroyer Grozovoi off Khorne Island, Norway (near Vardø). U-56 survived this attack. U-56 dropped off the crew of the Norwegian merchant ship Ivanhoe ashore at 07:45 on 3 November 1916 at Lodsvik. The Norwegian sailors were aboard the ship during the action of the previous day and their description matches with the Russian account.

Summary of raiding history

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
22 October 1916	Theodosi Tschernigowski	Russia	327	Sunk
23 October 1916	Rensfjell	Norway	781	Sunk
25 October 1916	Dag	Norway	963	Sunk
26 October 1916	Oola	United Kingdom	2,494	Sunk
1 November 1916	Ivanhoe	Norway	1,136	Sunk

References

Notes

"SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" (English: His Majesty's) and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine.
Tonnages are in gross register tons

Citations

Gröner 1991, pp. 8–10.
Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Hermann Lorenz". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 56". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U 56". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 16 March 2015.

Bibliography

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.

German Type U 51 submarine
U-51 U-52 U-53 U-54 U-55 U-56
Preceded by: Type U 43 Followed by: Type U 57 List of U-boats of Germany

German Type U 51 submarine

Preceded by: Type U 43
Followed by: Type U 57

List of U-boats of Germany

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1916
Shipwrecks	1 Nov: Torero 3 Nov: Connemara, Yatagan 5 Nov: SM U-20 6 Nov: Arabia, Chester A. Congdon, SM UB-45 8 Nov: HMS Zulu 9 Nov: Balto 14 Nov: Burdigala 19 Nov: Rurik 21 Nov: HMHS Britannic 26 Nov: Suffren 27 Nov: Karnak 28 Nov: Moresby 29 Nov: Minnewaska 30 Nov: Aud, SM UB-19 Unknown date: SM U-56, SM UC-15
Other incidents	4 Nov: SM U-20 17 Nov: Deutschland
1915 1916 1917 October 1916 December 1916

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