On 27 June 1918, under the command of Lieutenant Helmut Patzig, U-86 sank the Canadian hospital shipHMHSLlandovery Castle off the coast of Ireland, in violation of international law and standing orders of the Imperial German Navy. When the crew took to the lifeboats, U-86 surfaced, ran down all the lifeboats except one, and shot at the people in the water. Only the 24 people in the remaining lifeboat survived. They were rescued shortly afterwards and testified as to what had happened. The 234 others on board Llandovery Castle were lost, including fourteen nursing sisters.[6]
USSCovington,[7] the former Hamburg Americaocean liner SS Cincinnati, was torpedoed by U-86 on 1 July 1918 and sank the next day.[8]Covington was the 17th largest ship sunk or damaged by U-boats during the war.[5]
A 1918 Canadian propaganda poster used U-86's sinking of Llandovery Castle as a focal point for selling Victory Bonds.
After the war, the captain of U-86Helmut Patzig, and two of his lieutenants were arraigned for trial on war crimes, but Patzig fled to the Free City of Danzig, and his trial was stopped on 20 March 1931 by virtue of the Laws of Amnesty. Lieutenants Ludwig Dithmar and Johan Boldt were convicted and sentenced to four years in prison; they were released after four months.
Design
German Type U 81 submarines were preceded by the shorter Type UE I submarines. U-86 had a displacement of 808 tonnes (795 long tons) when at the surface and 946 tonnes (931 long tons) while submerged.[1] She had a total length of 70.06m (229ft 10in), a pressure hull length of 55.55m (182ft 3in), a beam of 6.30m (20ft 8in), a height of 8m (26ft 3in), and a draught of 4.02m (13ft 2in). The submarine was powered by two 2,400 metric horsepower (1,800kW; 2,400shp) engines for use while surfaced, and two 1,200 metric horsepower (880kW; 1,200shp) engines for use while submerged. She had two propeller shafts. She was capable of operating at depths of up to 50 metres (160ft).[1]
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 16.8 knots (31.1km/h; 19.3mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 9.1 knots (16.9km/h; 10.5mph).[1] When submerged, she could operate for 56 nautical miles (104km; 64mi) at 5 knots (9.3km/h; 5.8mph); when surfaced, she could travel 11,220 nautical miles (20,780km; 12,910mi) at 8 knots (15km/h; 9.2mph). U-86 was fitted with six 50 centimetres (20in)torpedo tubes (four at the bow and two at the stern), twelve to sixteen torpedoes, and one 10.5cm (4.1in) SK L/45deck gun (from 1917). She had a complement of thirty-five (thirty-one crew members and four officers).[1]
Fate
U-86 was surrendered to the Allies at Harwich on 21 November 1918 in accordance with the requirements of the Armistice with Germany. Exhibited at Bristol in December 1918, along with UC-92, visitors could pay to go onboard with proceeds going to charity. She was then laid up at Portsmouth until scuttled in the English Channel on 30 June 1921.[9]
U86 being brought into Bristol Floating Harbour for exhibition at the end of the war. The background shows what is now M-Shed museum.Uboats U-86 and UC-92 on exhibition in Bristol at the end of the war. Bristol Hippodrome can be seen in the background.
Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Alfred Götze". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Helmut Patzig". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
Dodson, Aidan; Cant, Serena (2020). Spoils of War: the fate of enemy fleets after the two World Wars. Barnsley: Seaforth. pp.20, 21, 51, 54, 101, 124. ISBN978-1-5267-4198-1.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article SM_U-86, and is written by contributors.
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