This book by KELLY LYDON incorporates a lot of research that he did into World War I German U-Boat history. We will publish excerpts from his book on a monthly basis, but you can buy your copy of this book right away. Details at the end of this story.

The Imperial Navy Cabinet recognized the need for diesel powered U-Boats as a result of the ATROPO, the two U-Boats for Austro-Hungary and the KOBBEN. They did embark on a diesel powered U-Boat program with all the dockyards in competition. The Mittel Class of U-Boats or medium-sized U-Boat had been built and were on the stocks between 10 November 1910 through June 1914.

The Mittel Class begins with the U-19. However, in August 1914, WW I began, the German Navy had 28 U-Boats of which 18 were operational. When the war broke out, the German Admiralty did not want to risk a major confrontation with Britain's mighty Grand Fleet. Therefore, it was the antiquated U-Boats of the DESIDERATA Class who ventured into the North Sea and took the fight to the British. Although at first it would appear that critics would be fight about the submarine as an experimental secondary weapon.

On 9 August 1914 in the North Sea, the U-15 under command of Kapitdnleutnant Pohle was rammed by the HMS BIRMINGHAM and all hands were lost. Also, in August 1914 in the Helgoland Bight, the U-13 under the command of Schweinitz hit a mine or was rammed and again, all hands were lost.

Since the DESIDERATA U-Boats required a tall exhaust pipe while on the surface, the British warships could easily ram them, much like the ancient Greeks did with their tfiremes in their battles on the Aegean Sea.

However, the U-Boat was to make modern naval history. On 5 September 1914, Kapitinieutnant Otto Hersing in his new U-21, sank the British warship HMS PATHFINDER within a one mile range. The British Admiralty took notice.

However, in the early morning of 22 September 1914, a greater tragedy was to fall upon the British Navy. The U-9 sank three British cruisers within an hour, costing the British more than one thousand men. The cruisers HMS ABOUKIR, HMS HOGUE & HMS CRE&VY had been on patrol off the Dutch coast, carrying mostly naval reservists. The U-9 struck again on 15 October 1914, torpedoing and sinking the 7,350 ton cruiser HMS HARXE.

The U-9 was commanded by Kapitanleutnant Otto Weddigen who, along with his crew, was decorated and hailed as heroes in Germany. The U-9 had been built at the Danzig Shipyard in 1910, carried four 45cm torpedoes, one 37mm gun. Her overall length was only 188 feet and she carried twenty-five officers and men.

Periscope Paranoia

Suddenly, the British Grand Fleet and the Admiralty were struck with a case of 'periscope paranoia'. By the same token, Admiral von Tirpitz, the Kaiser and the Imperial Naval Staff soon realized the true value of their U-Boats.

The battleship mentality was no longer in vogue.

In summary, the DESIDERATA Class boats had made modern naval history, for they had proved the value of the submarine; i.e. stealth. Modem naval strategy would be forever altered. However, the DESIDERATA Class with their cumbersome exhaust pipes, paid the ultimate price in making naval history. Of the original 14 DESIDERATA boats, 11 were sunk in the opening months of the war. The exception being U-10 under the command of Kapitanleutnant Stuhr, which was sunk by a mine in the Baltic on 6 June 1916. There were no survivors.

In her operational history, the U-10 had accounted for several ships totaling 1,625 gross tons.

However, even more ominous for the British was the action of the DESIDERATA U-17 on 20 October 1914. The British steamer GILTRA (866 gross tons) was stopped off the Norwegian coast by the U-17 under the command of Kapitanleutnant Feldkirchner. The crew of the GILTRA was taken in tow in lifeboats and the steamer was scuttled, all in compliance with international naval conventions. This was the first British merchantman to be sunk by a U-Boat.

Although the boats and crews of the DESIDER4TA Class made the ultimate sacrifice, they were soon replaced by the improved U-Boats of the Mittel Class.