SM U-118: Difference between revisions

|Ship image=[[File:SM U 118 Beach.jpg|300px|SM ''U-118'' washed ashore at Hastings, Sussex.]]

|Ship caption= SM ''U-118'' washed ashore at Hastings, Sussex.

|Ship class=[[German Type UE II submarine]]

|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1164|t|LT|0|lk=inon|abbr=on}} surfaced

|Ship armament=
*4 × {{convert|50|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} bow [[torpedo tubestube]]s

*14 torpedoes[[torpedo]]es

*1 × [[15 cm SK L/45|{{convert|15|cm|in|sp=us|abbr=on}} SK L/45]] [[deck gun]]

*unknownUnknown start – 11 November 1918

|commanders=*''Kptlt.'' Herbert Stohwasser<ref>{{cite webUboat.net

|titlename= Herbert Stohwasser

|victories=*2 merchant ships sunk <br>({{GRT|10,439}})

'''''SM ''U-118'''''{{#tag:ref|"SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" ({{langx|en|His Majesty's}}) and combined with the ''U'' for ''Unterseeboot'' would be translated as ''His Majesty's Submarine''.|group=Note}} was a [[German Type UE II submarine|type UE II]] mine -laying submarine of the [[Imperial German Navy]] and one of 329 [[submarine]]s serving with that navy during [[World War I]].

''U-118'' engaged in [[Naval warfare of World War I|naval warfare]] and took part in the [[First Battle of the Atlantic]].<ref name=U118>{{cite webUboat.net

|titleid=U-118

TheSM ''SM U-118'' was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 8 May 1918, following her construction at the [[AG Vulcan Stettin]] shipyard in Hamburg. She was commanded by Herbert Stohwasser and joined the I Flotilla operating in the eastern Atlantic. After four months without sinking any ships, on 16 September 1918, the SM ''U-118'' scored her first hit. Some {{convert|175|mi}} north-west of Cape Villano, the ''U-118'' torpedoed and sank the British steamer ''Wellington''. The following month, on 2 October 1918, she sank her second and last ship, the British tanker ''Arca'' at about {{convert|40|mi}} north-west of [[Tory Island]].<ref name=U118/> The [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|ending of hostilities]] on 11 November 1918 led to the subsequent surrender of the Imperial German Navy. ''U-118'' was surrendered to the Allies at [[Harwich]] on 23 February 1919.<ref name="wreck">{{cite web|url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?138132|title=U-118|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref>

''U-118'' was to be brokentransferred upto forFrance, scrap.but Inwhile thein earlytow hoursfrom ofHarwich 15to April 1919[[Brest, howeverFrance|Brest]], whilein shecompany waswith being{{SMS|UB-121|sub=y}}, towed throughin the [[Englishearly Channel]]hours towardsof [[Scapa15 Flow]]April 1919, the dragging [[hawser]]she broke offtow in a storm. The, submarineand ran aground on the beach at [[Hastings]] in [[Sussex]] at approximately 00:45, directly in front of the Queens Hotel.

Initially, there were attempts to displace the stricken vessel. Three tractors tried to refloat the submarine, and a French [[destroyer]] attempted to break the shipboat apart using her guns.<ref name="wreck" /> All were unsuccessful, and the closeness of the submarine to the public beach and the Queens Hotel prevented the use of explosives.

The stranded submarine became a popular tourist attraction, and thousands visited Hastings that Easter to see her. She was under the authority of the local coast guard station, and the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] allowed the Towntown Clerkclerk of Hastings to charge a small fee for visitors to climb on the deck. This went on for two weeks, during which the town gained almost £300 (UK£ {{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|300|1918|r=-2}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}) to help fund a welcome for the town's soldiers returning from the war.<ref name="wreck" />

Two members of the coast guard, chief boatman William Heard and chief officer W. Moore, showed important visitors around the interior of the submarine. The visits were curtailed in late April, when both coast guard men became severely ill. Rotting food on board was thought to be the cause, however,but the men's condition continuedpersisted and got worse. Moore died in December 1919, followed by Heard in February 1920. An inquest decided that a noxious gas, possibly chlorine released from the submarine's damaged batteries, had caused abscesses on the men's lungs and brain.<ref name="wreck" />

Although visits inside the submarine had stopped, tourists still came to take be photographed alongside or on the U-boat's deck.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/u-boats.htm|title=U-boats|accessdateaccess-date=24 January 2010}}</ref> Finally,The betweenwreck Octoberwas andsold Decemberby the [[British Admiralty]] to James Dredging Co. on 21 May 1919 for £2,200 the(£ U{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|2200|1919|r=-1183}}}} wasin {{CURRENTYEAR}}) and broken up andon soldthe forbeach scrapuntil 1921.<ref>{{cite webbook |urllast1=http://www.1066online.co.uk/hastings-history/hastings-miscellaneous/miscellaneous-history.htmDodson |first1=Aidan |last2=Cant |first2=Serena |title=GermanSpoils Submarineof UWar: the fate of enemy fleets after the two World Wars |date=2020 |publisher=Seaforth |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1181-5267-4198-1 |accessdatepages=1922, October24, 201396–98,125}}</ref> The [[deck gun]] was left behind, but was removed in 1921. Some of the ship's keel may yet remain buried in the beach sand.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hastingschronicle.co.uk/|title=Key events 1900 – 1949|accessdateaccess-date=24 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100225234509/http://www.hastingschronicle.co.uk/|archive-date=25 February 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! width="25px" |Tonnage<brref /group=Note name=tonnage>(Tonnages are in [[Grossgross register tonnage|GRTtons]])</ref>

! width="160px"|Fate<ref name=U118/>{{cite Uboat.net

|title=German Warships 1815–1945, U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels