SM UB-42

SM UB-42 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. UB-42 operated in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas during the war. She was broken up at Malta in 1920.

UB-42 was ordered in July 1915 and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in September. UB-42 was 36.90 m (121 ft 1 in) in length and displaced between 270 and 305 tonnes (266 and 300 long tons), depending on whether surfaced or submerged. She was equipped to carry a complement of four torpedoes for her two bow torpedo tubes and had an 5 cm (1.97 in) deck gun. As part of a group of six submarines selected for Mediterranean service, UB-42 was broken into railcar sized components and shipped to Pola where she was assembled, launched and commissioned in March 1916.

In 21 patrols during the war, UB-42 sank eleven ships of 16,047 gross register tons (GRT), captured one 97 GRT vessel as prize, and damaged HMS Veronica a British Acacia-class sloop. In October 1916, UB-42 delivered five Georgians who had gold to help finance a Georgian independence movement. After the surrender of the Ottoman Empire in late October 1918, UB-42 fled to Sevastopol, where she was surrendered in November. UB-42 was taken to Malta, where she was broken up in 1920.