Unterseeboot 19
Unterseeboot 19 (U-19) has been the designation of two
submarines of the German Navy.
The first U-19 was the lead ship of her type. Her construction was ordered on
November 25,
1910, and her keel was laid down on
October 20,
1911, at the
Kaiserliche Werft of
Danzig. She was
launched on
October 10,
1912, and
commissioned into the
Kaiserliche Marine on
July 6,
1913.
From
August 1,
1914, to
March 15,
1916, U-19 was commanded by Constantin Kolbe. He was relieved by Raimund Weisbach, who had previously served as torpedo officer on
U-20 and had (on
Kapitänleutnant Schweiger's orders) launched the torpedo that sank
Lusitania. During his brief command, Weisbach carried out an unusual mission: he delivered the revolutionary
Roger Casement and two other agents to
Ballyheige Bay in
Ireland in hopes that they would foment an uprising that would distract the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from
World War I.
Weisbach was relieved on
August 11,
1916, by Johannes Spieß, who was relieved in turn on
June 1,
1917, by Heinrich Koch. Koch turned the boat over on
October 25,
1917, to Hans Albrecht Liebeskind, who commanded for less than a month before being relieved on
November 17,
1917, by Johannes Spieß again. On
June 1,
1918, Hans Albrecht Liebeskind took over again and commanded U-19 until the end of the war.
U-19 conducted 12 patrols, sinking 46 ships totalling 64,816 tons, including
Santa Maria (5,383 tons) off Lough Swilly on
February 25,
1918,
Tiberia (4,880 tons) off Black Head near Larne on
February 26,
1918, and
HMS Calgarian (17,500 tons) off Rathlin Island on
March 1,
1918.
On
November 11,
1918, U-19 was surrendered to the British, and was broken up at
Blyth sometime in
1919 or
1920. The main gun of U19 was donated to the people of Bangor, Co. Down and today sits near the War Memorial in the town's Ward Park. It was donated by the Admiralty in recognition of the valorious conduct of Commander The Hon. Edward Barry Stewart Bingham whilst on board HMS Nestor while fighting in the Battle Of Jutland in July 1916 for which he received the Victoria Cross.
The second U-19 was a
Type IIB submarine. Her keel was laid down on
July 20,
1935 at the
Germaniawerft of
Kiel. She was
launched on
December 21,
1935, and
commissioned into the
Kriegsmarine on
January 16,
1936, under the command of
Käpitanleutant Viktor Schütze.
U-19 conducted 20 patrols, sinking 15 ships totalling 35,871 tons. On
May 1,
1940, U-19 was withdrawn from combat duty and used for training and as a school boat. On
May 1,
1942, she returned to active duty. On
September 10,
1944, she was scuttled in the
Black Sea off the coast of
Turkey. U-19 suffered no casualties to any of her crews.
See Also: List of U-boats
