SM U-1 (Austria-Hungary)

U-1 departs the harbor at Pola in 1914
History
Austria-Hungary
Name	SM U-1
Ordered	24 November 1906
Builder	Pola Navy Yard, Pola
Laid down	2 July 1907
Launched	10 February 1909
Commissioned	15 April 1911
Refit	late 1914–early 1915
Fate	Transferred to State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on 31 October 1918
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
Name	U-1
Acquired	31 October 1918
Fate	Handed over to the Allied powers on 10 November 1918
Italy
Name	U-1
Acquired	9 November 1918
Fate	Ceded to Italy under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1920 and broken up at Pola
Service record
Commanders:	Egon Marchetti 15 April – 20 September 1911[1] Otto Zeidler 20 September 1911 – 8 July 1913 Narciss Blessich 18 July 1913 – 2 May 1914 Franz Nejebsy 26 June 1914 – 17 December 1915 Klemens Ritter von Bezard 17 December 1915 – 27 May 1916 Franz Nejebsy 27 May 1916 – 18 January 1917 Eugen Hornyák Edler von Horn 18 January – 13 September 1917 Othmar Printz 28 March – 31 October 1918
Victories:	None
General characteristics (as built)
Type	U-1-class submarine
Displacement	229.7 t (226 long tons; 253 short tons) surfaced 248.9 t (245 long tons; 274 short tons) submerged
Length	30.48 m (100 ft 0 in)
Beam	4.8 m (15 ft 9 in)
Draft	3.85 m (12 ft 8 in)
Propulsion	2 × shafts 2 × gasoline engines, 720 bhp (540 kW) total 2 × electric motors, 200 bhp (150 kW) total
Speed	10.3 knots (19.1 km/h; 11.9 mph) surfaced 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) submerged
Range	950 nmi (1,760 km; 1,090 mi) at 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), surfaced 40 nmi (74 km; 46 mi) at 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph), submerged
Test depth	40 meters (131 ft 3 in)
Complement	17
Armament	3 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (two front, one rear); 5 torpedoes
General characteristics (after modernization)
Displacement	223.0 t (219 long tons; 246 short tons) surfaced 277.5 t (273 long tons; 306 short tons) submerged
Length	30.76 m (100 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	2 × shafts 2 × diesel engines, 720 bhp (540 kW) total 2 × electric motors, 200 bhp (150 kW) total
Armament	3 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (two front, one rear); 5 torpedoes 1 × 37 mm (1.5 in) deck gun (installed in 1917, removed in January 1918)

SM U-1 or U-I was the lead boat of the U-1-class of submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine or k.u.k. Kriegsmarine). U-1 was designed by American naval architect Simon Lake of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, and constructed at the Navy Yard in Pola. She was one of two Lake-designed submarines purchased as part of a competitive evaluation of foreign submarine designs after domestic proposals were rejected by the Navy.

Ordered on 24 November 1906, U-1 was laid down in July 1907 before being launched in February 1909. She was 30.48 meters (100 ft 0 in) long and displaced 229.7 metric tons (226 long tons; 253 short tons) while surfaced and 248.9 metric tons (245 long tons; 274 short tons) while submerged. An experimental design, U-1 included unique features such as a diving chamber and wheels for traveling along the seabed. Originally powered by gasoline engines for surface running, sea trials throughout 1909 and 1910 showed these engines to be incapable of reaching the submarine's contracted speed and to pose a risk of poisoning the crew. U-1 was commissioned in April 1911 and served as a training boat through 1914, though she was mobilized briefly during the Balkan Wars. U-1's design has been described by naval historians as a failure that was rendered obsolete by the time she was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Despite these criticisms, tests of her design provided information which the Navy used to construct subsequent submarines.

At the beginning of World War I, U-1 was in drydock awaiting new batteries and replacement diesel engines. U-1 returned to service as a training boat until October 1915. From November she conducted reconnaissance cruises out of Trieste and Pola until being declared obsolete in early 1918. She continued to serve in a training role at the submarine base on Brioni, but was at Pola at the end of the war. Facing defeat in October 1918, the Austro-Hungarian government transferred its navy to the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs to avoid having to hand its ships over to the Allied Powers. Following the Armistice of Villa Giusti in November 1918, U-1 was seized by Italian forces and subsequently granted to the Kingdom of Italy under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1920. Italy chose to scrap the submarine, and she was broken up at Pola later that same year without ever having sunk or damaged any vessels during her career.