SM U-17 was a German submarine during World War I. U-17 sank the first British merchant vessel in the First World War, and also sank another ten ships, damaged one ship and captured two ships, surviving the war without casualty.

War service

On , Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Feldkirchner was given command of U-17. On 20 October, U-17 stopped the 866 ton off the Norwegian coast, and having searched her cargo, ordered the crew to the lifeboats before scuttling the vessel. On 26 October, U-17 torpedoed the French ferry † in the Strait of Dover. The vessel made port before sinking, with the loss of 40 lives out of over 2,500 on board. † - www.uboat.net credits the damage to the French steamer Amiral Ganteaume to .

On 2 March 1915 the command of U-17 passed to Kapitänleutnant Hans Walther. On 12 June 1915, U-17 chased and torpedoed the off the coast of Scotland. The crew escaped on lifeboats while the vessel was scuttled and sunk. Walther's command ended on 9 January 1916 and the next day U-17 joined the Training Flotilla.

Post war U-17 was decommissioned on 27 January 1919 and sold for scrapping.

Summary of raiding history DateShip NameNationalityTonnageTonnages are in gross register tonsFate20 October 1914Glitra866Sunk26 October 1914Amiral Ganteaume4,590Damaged12 June 1915Cocos85Sunk12 June 1915Desabla6,047Sunk18 June 1915Ailsa876Sunk8 August 1915Glenravel1,092Sunk8 August 1915Malmland3,676Sunk10 August 1915Utopia155Sunk14 August 1915Gloria130Sunk15 August 1915Götaland3,538Captured as prize15 August 1915Marie158Sunk16 August 1915Romulus819Sunk16 August 1915Tello1,218Sunk24 October 1915Rumina1,418Captured as prize

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links Photo of U-17. Photos of cruises of German submarine U-54 in 1916-1918. Great photo quality, comments in German. A 44 min. film from 1917 about a cruise of the German submarine U-35. A German propaganda film without dead or wounded; many details about submarine warfare in World War I.

Room 40: original documents, photos and maps about World War I German submarine warfare and British Room 40 Intelligence from The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, UK. A song about the U-17, sung by Billy Murray