SM U-21 1919
Marker: recorded wreck position (Interwar).
Key facts
| Name | SM U-21 | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1919 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Interwar | derived from year |
| Ship type | submarine | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | War action | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | German Empire | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Imperial German Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | North Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Position | 54.3167, 3.7000 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
SM U-21 was a Type U 19 U-boat built for the Imperial German Navy shortly before World War I. The third of four Type U-19-class submarines, these were the first U-boats in German service to be equipped with diesel engines. U-21 was built between 1911 and October 1913 at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Danzig. She was armed with four torpedo tubes and a single deck gun; a second gun was added during her career.
In September 1914, U-21 became the first submarine to sink a ship with a self-propelled torpedo when she destroyed the cruiser HMS Pathfinder off the Firth of Forth. She also sank several transports in the English Channel and the Irish Sea later in the year, all in accordance with the cruiser rules then in effect. In early 1915, U-21 was transferred to the Mediterranean Sea to support the Ottoman Empire against the Anglo-French attacks during the Gallipoli Campaign. Shortly after her arrival, she sank the British battleships HMS Triumph and HMS Majestic while they were bombarding Ottoman positions at Gallipoli. Further successes followed in the Mediterranean in 1916, including the sinking of the French armored cruiser Amiral Charner in February.
Throughout 1916, U-21 served in the Austro-Hungarian Navy as U-36, since Germany was not yet at war with Italy and thus could not legally attack Italian warships under the German flag.
Location
- Recorded position: 54.3167, 3.7000 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: North Sea
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-21 (Germany) (revision 1362414674), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
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Browse more: Open ocean wrecks · North Sea · Interwar