SM U-12 1915
Marker: recorded wreck position (First World War).
Key facts
| Name | SM U-12 | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1915 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | First World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | submarine | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | German Empire | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Imperial German Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War I | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Depth | 50.0 m | Wikidata P4511 vertical depth |
| Sea / ocean | North Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Scotland | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 46 km from land |
| Position | 56.2500, -1.9333 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
SM U-12 was a German submarine, built in 1911 and sunk off Scotland in 1915. It was the first submarine to launch a plane at sea.
U-12 was a Type U 9 U-boat built for the Imperial German Navy. Her construction was ordered on 15 July 1908 and her keel was laid down by Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig. She was launched on 6 May 1910 and commissioned on 13 August 1911.
The German Empire was the first nation to experiment with submarine aircraft carriers. Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich von Arnauld de la Perière of the Naval Air Service and U-12's commander, Kapitanleutnant Walther Forstmann, theorised that they could increase the range of their seaplanes by carrying the aircraft out to sea on the deck of submarine and launching the seaplanes after the sub partially submerged, allowing the plane to float off.
Diving & visiting
In January 2008, divers Jim MacLeod, of Bo'ness, and Martin Sinclair, from Falkirk, found the wreckage of U-12 about 25 miles from Eyemouth after a five-year search.
Location
- Recorded position: 56.2500, -1.9333 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: North Sea
- Nearest coast: Scotland
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article SM U-12 (Germany) (revision 1339183605), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wrecksite”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
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Other wrecks of the World War I
- SM U-13 1914
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- SS Königin Luise 1914
- HMS Argyll 1915
- HMS Arno 1915
- HMS Natal 1915
- HMS Triumph 1915
- SM U-7 1915
All 163 wrecks of the World War I →
Browse more: UK & Ireland wrecks · wrecks off Scotland · North Sea · First World War