SM UC-38 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy () during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 25 June 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 26 October 1916 as SM UC-38."SM" stands for "Seiner Majestät" () and combined with the U for Unterseeboot would be translated as His Majesty's Submarine. UC 38 was a successful commerce raider, operating throughout her career in the Mediterranean theatre. In nine patrols UC-38 was credited with sinking 43 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. She was sunk in December 1917 in an action off Cape Ducato, Greece, during which she torpedoed the French cruiser Chateaurenault.
Design A Type UC II submarine, UC-38 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a length overall of , a beam of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines each producing (a total of ), two electric motors producing , and two propeller shafts. She had a dive time of 35 seconds and was capable of operating at a depth of .
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . When submerged, she could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . UC-38 was fitted with six mine tubes, eighteen UC 200 mines, three torpedo tubes (one on the stern and two on the bow), seven torpedoes, and one Uk L/30 deck gun. Her complement was twenty-six crew members.
Action off Cape Ducato On 14 December 1917, by , under Hans Hermann Wendlandt, UC-38 met a French convoy comprising the fast cruiser Chateaurenault, serving as a troopship, and her escorts Mameluk, Rouen and Lansquenet. UC-38 approached and fired one torpedo on Chateaurenault, which was hit in her middle section at 6:47. UC-38 dived at 38 metres, while the Mameluk and Rouen rushed to the launching position of the torpedo, and Lansquenet started picking up people thrown overboard by the explosion. Chateaurenault requested her escorts to close in and evacuate personnel, which was completed by 07:26. The trawler Balsamine came to the rescue and made attempts to take Chateaurenault in tow.
Back to periscope depth, UC-38 saw Chateaurenault still afloat, and fired a second torpedo, which hit at 8:20; Chateaurenault foundered quickly, but all personnel still alive aboard could be rescued. Lansquenet, in the process of picking up her launches, rushed to the launching point and fired 7 depth charges. One caused a light leak in the submarine; Captain Wendlandt ordered a dive to bring his ship below the area targeted by the grenades, but a false manœuvre made UC-38 climb instead, and a second explosion caused a large leak, forcing Wendlandt to crash surface and abandon ship.
UC-38 surfaced briefly and was immediately targeted by the guns of Mameluk, which continued her attack by launching several depth charges. UC-38 surfaced again, and this time both Mameluk and Lansquenet opened fire, hitting her several times and killing several of her crew as they exited. She sank at 8:40, and the French destroyers picked up the survivors.
German sources claim that 25 men were rescued and 9 killed; a sailor of UC-38 claimed that 20 men were saved out of a 28-man crew; French enquiry reports 20 rescued and 5 confirmed dead out of a 27-man crew.
Sinking Sir Ronald Ross, first British Nobel laureate for his discovery of the malaria vector, embarked aboard the cruiser at Taranto, Italy, on 13 December 1917 on his way to Salonika. Ross recounts the moment the SM UC-38 was destroyed in his 1923 memoirs:"Suddenly all the soldiers began pointing in one direction and one behind me said ‘Voyez monsieur’. There, 200 yards from us, was the deck of an emerging submarine. She had been touched by one of our depth-charges. Her crew were jumping off her deck into the sea, one after the other, as fast as they could like frogs. In another minute a storm of shells and shot ploughed up the water round her. The our captain yelled out ‘Asseyez vous’. We were going to fire off our own big gun...Our shell took effect; up rose the stern of the submarine and then slowly down she slid, as her victim had done, leaving a number of pink heads dotting the water – Boches clamouring to be saved. A Frenchman near me was handing round pistols to shoot at them, but our captain promptly stopped that. Boats went out and rescued 18 of the German crew; they came aboard naked and shivering but happy! For some reason we were all happy together."
Summary of raiding history DateNameNationalityTonnageMerchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.Fate16 February 1917Laertis3,914Sunk19 February 1917Quinto1,796Sunk20 February 1917Doravore2,760Sunk22 February 1917Adelina528Sunk22 February 1917Ape301Sunk22 February 1917Giovanni P.105Sunk22 February 1917Michielino20Sunk22 February 1917San Michele583Sunk22 February 1917Vincenzino20Sunk24 February 1917Albina187Sunk27 February 1917Elena M.125Sunk27 February 1917S. Ciro Palmerino113Sunk24 March 1917Emanuela16Sunk31 March 1917Brodness5,736Sunk1 April 1917Warren3,709Sunk2 April 1917Filicudi257Sunk3 April 1917Annunziata A206Sunk3 April 1917Caterina R.214Sunk3 April 1917Domenico260Sunk3 April 1917Nuova Maria Di Porto Salvo48Sunk12 April 1917Monviso4,020Damaged13 June 1917St. Andrews3,613Sunk15 June 1917Elvaston4,130Damaged15 June 1917Pasha5,930Sunk15 June 1917Saint Louis V5,202Damaged12 July 1917Grace1,861Sunk15 July 1917L.B.S. 101120Sunk15 July 1917L.B.S. 2910Sunk15 July 1917HMS Redbreast1,313Sunk16 July 1917Firfield4,029Sunk16 July 1917Unidentified Sailing Vessel20Sunk17 July 1917HMS Newmarket833Sunk18 July 1917K.50740Sunk28 August 1917Pasqualino Carmela61Sunk28 August 1917Scilla397Sunk29 August 1917Vronwen5,714Sunk22 September 1917Garifaglia430Sunk23 September 1917Agios Nicolaos119Sunk3 November 1917Nefeli3,868Sunk7 November 1917Villemer3,627Sunk11 November 1917540Sunk11 November 1917HMS Staunch750Sunk14 November 1917Panormitis20Sunk14 November 1917Panaghia14Sunk6 December 1917Tubereuse183Sunk14 December 1917Châteaurenault8,018Sunk
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