DEUTSCHLAND was TYPE - Merchant Cruiser. When taken over by the Navy, they became CLASS U-151.

Displacement 1,512/1,875 tons
Length 65 meters (213.3 feet)
Beam 8.9 meters (29.3 feet)
Draft 5.6 meters (18.5 feet)
Power twin diesel/electric
Power (diesel) 800hp
Power (electric) 800hp
Speed (diesel) 12.4 knots
Speed (electric/merchant) 4 knots
Speed (electric/Naval) 5.2 knots
Crew (merchant) 28
Crew (Naval) 56 to 73
Tubes (fwd) two 20”
Guns two 4.1 or 5.9 inch
(NOTE - weaponry was added after being taken over by the Navy)

Finally, the builders delivered their latest creation, the first submarine Merchant Navy ship in the world to the owners, the German Ocean Shipping Federation. At the handover, Lohmann, on behalf of the Federation, stated that his company had plans to have six such vessels by the end of 1916. To Captain Paul König, the ship was a challenge to his professional ability as a seaman. Certainly an extraordinary one, under the circumstances.

Dr. Lohmann, not a seaman himself, still had great affection for the sea. This is well illustrated in his comments when the DEUTSCHLAND was finally completed.

“I should like to compare the project with a happy marriage, where husband and wife are in perfect harmony with each other - the dockyard, as the mother who brings the child into the world and gives it to the father - the shipowners and commerce - to place it in the world. The soul and mind of the child is incorporated in our Captain, our officers and crew who are required to perform the glorious task of taking the DEUTSCHLAND to America and back.”

Here at last was the first inkling of the maiden voyage of the newly commissioned vessel. However, there were to be many days of trials and training before the Merchant Navy submarine departed on her first trip.

During the trials, König found many problems never explained in a textbook. He found his new command to be as sober as a tramp steamer and as trustworthy as a tug; but also as tricky as a racehorse! He found out very quickly that DEUTSCHLAND could be as pliant as a racing yacht yet as pig-headed as a mule. In other words, she would only obey him who knew her down to her smallest technicalities, Once at sea, he fully expected to spend most of the time on the surface, only diving to elude the watchful eyes of the enemy. In this way, the voyage would be much faster. Still, even one dive meant that his crew must react as efficiently as any fully experienced submarine crew of the German Navy.

After many years above and below the water to master the largest submarine ever constructed, the time arrived to put the theory of an underwater merchant ship into practice. Loaded with 750 tons of chemicals and dyes, all well stacked, DEUTSCHLAND was given a final check. Nothing was left to chance. So much was riding on the success of this venture. The tug CHARLOTTE began to pull as Captain König ordered all connection with the shore to be let go. What thoughts must have been going through the minds of the crew as they saw their homeland fade in the distance astern of them? Never before had a submarine attempted to sail the 4,250 odd nautical miles from Europe to America. There would be no assistance available to them. The British Empire’s Fleet would see to that. Then, their craft was unproven. Just built from the ideas in naval architects’ minds.

Finally, the underseas boat was not manned by highly trained naval personnel, but by Merchant Navy crew who had never sailed below the ocean’s surface before. One thing in their favour was that the enemy had no inkling that DEUTSCHLAND existed, let alone details of the audacious voyage she had now embarked upon.

Clearing the sheltered waters, the submarine now began to react to the long swells of the North Sea. the conning tower could only accommodate two men under such conditions. König and his Chief Officer were forced to wear full sea rig, consisting of sou’wester, oilskins and seaboots. The sea continually broke over the deck and swamped the conning tower. This earned the structure the name of the ‘bath tub’. As the seas increased, it became a cat-and-mouse game. On observing a huge sea approaching, the two men would duck below and close the hatch. On passing, they would reappear on deck. It was necessary to spend as much time on lookout as possible. They certainly did not want to be spotted by a British ship whilst making a break for the North Atlantic ocean via the north of Scotland. Danger was everywhere.

It was time to subject DEUTSCHLAND to her first dive in the open sea, The order was given to clear everything for a submerging test. Alarm bells sounded, men raced to their allotted stations, the two officers clear the conning tower, fastening the hatch behind them, and the buoyancy tank valves were opened to admit the sea water necessary to take the submarine below the seas. Immediately the diesel engines were stopped and the battery operated electric motors started. A sudden feeling of unearthliness overtook the crew. Gone were the assuring hammering of the diesel motors. Now there was nothing but a humming noise as the electric motor took over the role of propulsion. The only visual contact König had with the outside world was through the periscope.

More Kriegsmarine First Cargo-Submarine, Deutschland

Part 1: Design and Construction
Part 2: First Voyage
Part 3: Reaching America and Return to Germany