SM UB-16

SM UB-16

SM UB-16 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The submarine was sunk by a British submarine in May 1918.

UB-16 was ordered in November 1914 and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in February 1915. UB-16 was a little under 92 feet (28 m) in length and displaced between 127 and 141 metric tons (140 and 155 short tons), depending on whether surfaced or submerged. She carried two torpedoes for her two bow torpedo tubes and was also armed with a deck-mounted machine gun. UB-16 was broken into sections and shipped by rail to Antwerp for reassembly. She was launched in April 1915 and commissioned as SM UB-16 in May.

UB-16 spent her entire career in the Flanders Flotilla and sank 23 merchant ships, about half of them British fishing vessels. The U-boat was also responsible for sinking the new British destroyer Recruit in 1917. In 1918, UB-16 was converted into a minelayer with the replacement of her torpedo tubes with four mine chutes. On 10 May 1918, UB-16 was torpedoed by the British submarine E34 off the British east coast. Of the 16 men on board, only UB-16's commander survived the attack.