SM UB-6

SM UB-6

SM UB-6 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 interned after running aground in neutral Dutch waters, and was scuttled by her crew at Hellevoetsluis.

UB-6 was ordered in October 1914 and was laid down at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel in November. UB-6 was a little more than 92 feet (28 m) in length and displaced between 127 and 142 metric tons (140 and 157 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-6 was broken into sections and shipped by rail to Antwerp for reassembly. She was launched in March 1915 and commissioned as SM UB-6 in April.

UB-6 spent her entire career in the Flanders Flotilla and sank HMS Recruit, the first warship credited to the flotilla in May 1915. Through September 1916, the U-boat accounted for fourteen additional ships sunk, two ships damaged, and one ship seized as a prize. On 12 March 1917, UB-6 ran aground near the Maas River in the Netherlands due to a navigational error by her commander; the submarine and crew were interned by the neutral country and taken to Hellevoetsluis. Six days later, UB-6 was scuttled by her crew, which remained interned for the rest of the war. The wreck of UB-6 was ceded to France in 1919 and broken up at Brest in July 1921.