SM U-29 (Austria-Hungary) - Service Career

Service Career

U-29 underwent diving trials at Fiume and then made her way to Pola on 29 November 1916. There, on 21 January 1917, SM U-29 was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy under the command of Linenschiffleutnant Leo Prásil. Prásil, a 29-year-old native of Pola, had previously served as commander of U-10.

U-29 departed on her first patrol on 23 January, destined for duty in the Mediterranean. The next day, however, the U-boat encountered a severe storm near Lussin that damaged her. Prásil steered the boat into the harbor at Brgulje to wait out the storm. Departing Brgulje on the 25th to resume her journey to the Mediterranean, the submarine developed a leak when performing a test dive. U-29 headed back to Pula for repairs, which lasted until 30 January. On 5 February the U-boat set out for Cattaro, which she reached after three days journey.

Prásil took U-29 out of Cattaro on 17 February to begin the delayed patrol in the Mediterranean, but on the 20th encountered another severe storm. Suffering no damage in the tempest, the boat continued on. On 24 February, she had an at-sea rendezvous with U-43. On 1 March the U-boat's gyrocompass broke down, necessitating a return to port. Two days later, as she neared Cattaro, U-29 encountered yet another storm, this one again damaging the ship. The beleaguered U-boat headed back to the base at Pula for more repairs, and remained there until early April.

On 4 April, U-29 set out from Pula, touched at Cattaro, and continued on into the Mediterranean for her second patrol there. While 25 nautical miles (46 km) from Cape Matapan, Prásil torpedoed and sank the steamer Dalton, traveling in ballast. U-29 took the master of the 3,486-ton British ship captive; three other men lost their lives in the attack. Five days later and some 115 nautical miles (213 km) away, U-29 torpedoed Mashobra, a British India Line passenger steamer of 8,173 gross register tons (GRT). The ship, en route from Calcutta to London with a general cargo, was finished off by U-29's deck gun. As with Dalton, Mashobra's master was taken prisoner. Eight persons died in the attack. U-29's gyrocompass broke down again on 17 April, once again forcing the boat to return for repairs. U-29's second Mediterranean tour ended when Prásil docked the boat at Cattaro on 19 April.

U-29's third Mediterranean deployment began on 8 May when she departed Cattaro. After eleven days at sea, Prásil torpedoed the British cargo ship Mordenwood 90 nautical miles (170 km) from Cape Matapan. U-29 took the 3,125-ton ship's master captive. Two sources disagree on the number of casualties when Mordenwood went down, but place the number at either 21 or 31. Escorting destroyers launched a depth charge attack on U-29 but did not succeed in damaging the U-boat. Two days later, U-29 launched a torpedo attack on the British steamer Marie Suzanne but did not sink the ship. U-29 arrived at Cattaro on 25 May.

After a brief time in port, U-29 set out for the Mediterranean again on 17 June. One day out, the U-boat came under attack from an airplane out of Valona, compelling U-29 to crash dive; none of the three bombs dropped by the aircraft hit their mark. U-29's patrol ended without success when she docked at Cattaro on 6 July. After a return to Pola on 12 July, the U-boat underwent extensive repairs that kept her out of action for the next nine months.

On 16 March 1918, the newly refitted boat sailed from Pola to Cattaro, departing that port for another Mediterranean tour on 25 March. Near Valona the next day, an Italian destroyer attempted to ram U-29, scraping one of her propellers against U-29's conning tower. The damage done was slight and U-29 continued on into the Mediterranean, weathering a storm in the Ionian Sea on the 27th. On 4 April, U-29 launched a torpedo attack on what was thought to be a cargo ship. In fact, it was the British protected cruiser Edgar which had been hit. Edgar was damaged but did not sink; she suffered no casualties in the attack. The following day Prásil attempted to torpedo a ship in a convoy but missed and was exposed to a depth charge attack by the convoy's escorts. The U-boat ended the patrol with no further successes.

In June, the Austro-Hungarian Navy planned an assault on the Otranto Barrage, similar to a May 1917 action that evolved into the Battle of Otranto Straits. U-29 was deployed from Cattaro on 9 June in advance of the attack. One of the seven separate groups participating in the attack, the two dreadnoughts Tegetthoff and Szent István, came under attack from Italian MAS torpedo boats in the early morning hours of 10 June. Szent István was hit and sank just after 06:00, and the entire operation was called off. U-29 returned to Cattaro on 12 June. Over the next two months, U-29 operated in the Adriatic out of Cattaro, patrolling off Durazzo and the Albanian coast.

While at Cattaro, command of U-29 passed to Linenschiffleutnant Friedrich Sterz on 4 September. The 27-year-old native of Pergine, Tyrolia (in present-day Italy), had previously commanded U-22 and, like Prásil, had also served a stint as commander of U-10. After assuming command of U-29, Sterz set sail for Durazzo the same day. The U-boat had encounters with MAS torpedo boats on 9 and 12 September. On the latter date, U-29 had to crash dive to avoid a bombing attack from Allied airplanes. None of the seven bombs hit their mark and U-29 returned to Cattaro on 16 September.

Linenschiffleutnant Robert Dürrial replaced Sterz as commander on 29 September. The Galician Dürrial, like both Stertz and Prásil, had served as the commander of U-10, but had most recently commanded U-21. A day after assuming command, Dürrial headed for the Albanian coast in U-29 and patrolled off Durazzo.

After the Armistice with Bulgaria on 29 September ended Bulgaria's participation in the war, Durazzo gained importance to the remaining Central Powers as the main port for supplying their forces fighting in the Balkans. Anticipating this, the Allies put together a force to bombard Durazzo. While the second echelon of the attacking force got into position to bombard the town, U-29 and sister boat U-31 maneuvered to attack. While U-31 was able to hit and damage the British cruiser Weymouth, U-29 was blocked by screening ships and herself attacked. The Allied escorts subjected U-29 to a heavy depth charge attack. U-29 was able to make her way back to Cattaro on 8 October.

Over the next three weeks, U-29 patrolled between Cattaro and Antivari, Montenegro. After her arrival back at Cattaro on 1 November, U-29 was moored between the coastal battleship Monarch and U-14. There she remained until she was awarded to France as a war reparation in 1920. U-29 was towed, along with sister boats U-31 and U-41, from Cattaro for Bizerta for scrapping, but foundered on the way. In total, U-29 sank three ships with a combined tonnage of 14,784, and damaged one warship.