SM UB-3

UB-3 was similar in appearance to her sister boat SM UB-4, pictured here in 1915.
History
German Empire
NameUB-3
Ordered15 November 1914
BuilderGermaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number241
Laid down3 November 1914
Launched5 March 1915
Commissioned14 March 1915
FateDisappeared after 23 May 1915
General characteristics
Class & typeType UB I submarine
Displacement
  • 127 t (125 long tons) surfaced
  • 142 t (140 long tons) submerged
Length28.10 m (92 ft 2 in) (o/a)
Beam10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Draft9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 6.47 knots (11.98 km/h; 7.45 mph) surfaced
  • 5.51 knots (10.20 km/h; 6.34 mph) submerged
Range
  • 1,650 nmi (3,060 km; 1,900 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) surfaced
  • 45 nmi (83 km; 52 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph)
Test depth50 metres (160 ft)
Complement14
Armament
Notes33-second diving time
Service record
Part of:
Commanders:
  • Oblt.z.S. Siegfried Schmidt
  • 24 March – 23 May 1915
Operations: 1 patrol
Victories: None

SM UB-3 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. She disappeared on her first patrol in May 1915, and was the first of her class to be lost.

UB-3 was ordered in October 1914 and was laid down at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel in November. UB-3 was a little more than 28 metres (92 ft) in length and displaced between 127 and 142 metric tons (125 and 140 long tons), depending on whether surfaced or submerged. She carried two torpedoes for her two bow torpedo tubes and was also armed with a deck-mounted machine gun. She was launched and commissioned as SM UB-3 in March 1915.

UB-3 was broken into sections and shipped by rail to the Austro-Hungarian port of Pola in April for reassembly. She officially joined the Pola Flotilla on 1 May and departed on her first patrol for temporary duty in Turkey on 23 May, and was never seen again. A postwar German study concluded that UB-3 was likely the victim of an unexplained technical problem in the absence of any minefields or enemy action.