SM UB-43 - Austro-Hungarian Navy Service

Austro-Hungarian Navy Service

In November 1916, the German Imperial Navy, having a hard time finding trained submarine crews, inquired to find out if its ally Austria-Hungary was interested in purchasing some of its Mediterranean submarines. A general agreement led to protracted negotiations, which stalled over the outflow of Austro-Hungarian gold reserves to Germany. But, with all of the details worked out, the two parties agreed on the sale of UB-43 and sister ship UB-47 to Austria-Hungary in June 1917.

When handed over by the Germans on 21 July, UB-43 was in a "worn out condition". Despite the rough condition of the boat, the U-boat was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 30 July 1917 as SM U-43, dropping the B from her former designation. Linienschiffsleutnant Friedrich Schlosser was installed as the new commander of the U-boat, which remained at Pola for the next three months undergoing repairs. Departing that port on 1 November, U-43 made way to Cattaro, and then went out on patrol. Schlosser torpedoed the Italian steamer Orione on 16 November, but the Italian ship did not sink; she was towed to safety in Taranto.

On 30 November, a leak on U-43 partially flooded the boat and caused her to sink to a depth of 100 metres (330 ft) before she was bought under control and raised to the surface. The flooding damaged the U-boat's electrical systems, preventing her from submerging on her return to port for repairs. An unidentified submarine launched a torpedo at the surfaced U-43, but the torpedo's aim was off and it passed harmlessly in front of the bow. The boat made port at Cattaro on 1 December and at Pola on 6 December for two months of repairs.

During U-43's time under repair, Schlosser was reassigned to command U-14, and Linienschiffsleutnant Eugen Hornyák Edler von Horn was named to take his place aboard U-43 on 18 January 1918. Under von Horn, U-43 patrolled off Cattaro, having to crash dive at least once to escape attack from enemy torpedo boats. On 17 March, while returning to Cattaro from patrol, the crew of the Austro-Hungarian destroyer Dinara mistook U-43 for an enemy submarine and rammed her, damaging the diving planes. U-43 sailed for Fiume for three months of repairs.

The U-boat returned to action in June and patrolled off Montenegro, Durazzo, and Cattaro for the next five months. On 13 June, U-43 was slightly damaged in an air raid on Cattaro and, on 5 September, had to crash dive to avoid another air attack while off Cattaro. On 20 September, the boat rendezvoused with U-47 and received a French prisoner of war. The prisoner was the only survivor of the French submarine Circé, which U-47 had torpedoed the night before.

At the end of the war, U-43 was at Cattaro. In her Austro-Hungarian Navy career, U-43 damaged a single merchant ships of 4,016 gross register tons. U-43 was ceded to France as a war reparation in 1920, towed to Bizerta, and broken up there within a year.