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SM U-5 (Austria-Hungary)

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32-601: SM U-5 or U-V was the lead boat of the U-5 class of submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy ( German : Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine, K.u.K. Kriegsmarine ) before and during the First World War . The submarine was built as part of a plan to evaluate foreign submarine designs, and was the first of three boats of the class built by Whitehead & Co. of Fiume after

64-432: A mine . The boat sank at a depth of 36 meters (118 ft) with a loss of 6 of the 19 men on board. From 20 to 24 May the submarine was raised, and through November underwent a refit. During this reconditioning, a new conning tower was added and the deck gun was upgraded again, this time to a 7.5 cm/30 (3.0 in) gun. Upon completion, U-5 was recommissioned, but had no more war successes. In her career, U-5 sank

96-510: A single-hull with a teardrop-shaped body that bore a strong resemblance to modern nuclear submarines. She was 105 feet 4 inches (32.11 m) long by 13 feet 9 inches (4.19 m) abeam and had a draft of 12 feet 10 inches (3.91 m). She displaced 240 metric tons (260 short tons) surfaced, and 273 metric tons (301 short tons) submerged. Her two 45-centimeter (17.7 in) bow torpedo tubes featured unique, cloverleaf-shaped design hatches that rotated on

128-466: A war reparation , and scrapped in 1920. In all, U-5 sank three ships totaling 7,929  gross register tons  (GRT) and 12,641 tons. U-5 was built as part of a plan by the Austro-Hungarian Navy to competitively evaluate foreign submarine designs from Simon Lake , Germaniawerft , and John Philip Holland . The Austro-Hungarian Navy authorized the construction of U-5 (and sister ship, U-6 ) in 1906 by Whitehead & Co. of Fiume . The boat

160-553: A central axis, and the boat was designed to carry up to four torpedoes . For surface running, U-5 was outfitted with 2 gasoline engines , but suffered from inadequate ventilation, which resulted in frequent intoxication of the crew; her underwater propulsion was by two electric motors . The U-5 was christened by Agathe Whitehead on 10 February 1909. U-5 was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 1 April 1910, with Linienschiffsleutnant Urban Passerar in command. Over

192-512: A design by Irishman John Philip Holland . U-5 was laid down in April 1907 and launched in February 1909. The double- hulled submarine was just over 105 feet (32 m) long and displaced between 240 and 273 metric tons (265 and 301 short tons), depending on whether surfaced or submerged. U-5 ' s design had inadequate ventilation and exhaust from her twin gasoline engines often intoxicated

224-456: A naval commander. Her husband was only permitted to see the family while on furlough, and spent the war captaining two submarines, patrolling the Strait of Otranto . Her brother, John Whitehead Jr., and brother-in-law, Werner Ritter von Trapp, both died during the war. Throughout the war, she contributed her time to the war effort by knitting clothes and rolling bandages for the soldiers and visiting

256-582: A nobleman and naval officer who would eventually be assigned to command SM U-5 . Shortly afterward, he was invited to vacation with the Whiteheads at Erlhof. After a two-year courtship, Whitehead and von Trapp were married on 14 January 1911 in a Catholic ceremony at the Austro-Hungarian Naval Academy's chapel. After their wedding, the couple moved into the von Trapp family's villa in Pola , near

288-669: A palatial home near the Adriatic Sea . Her family was closely linked with the Austrian imperial family and, shortly after her birth, Emperor Franz Joseph I visited the family's home and torpedo factory in Fiume. Fluent in English, German, and Italian, she was educated at home by tutors and was given piano, violin, and voice lessons. Her father died in 1902 from stomach cancer. From that time on, Whitehead's mother raised her and her five siblings and

320-800: A theme by which vessels in the class are named, as in the Royal Navy 's Tribal-class frigates , named after tribes of the world, such as HMS  Mohawk . If a ship class is produced for another navy, the first active unit will become the lead ship for that navy; for example, the Oliver Hazard Perry -class frigates are known as the Adelaide class in Royal Australian Navy service. Agathe Whitehead Agathe Gobertina von Trapp (née Whitehead ; 14 June 1891 – 3 September 1922)

352-415: A total of three ships totaling 7,929  GRT and 12,641 tons. After the war's end, U-5 was transferred to Venice where she was inspected by British military commissions. U-5 was later ceded to Italy as a war reparation in 1920 and was scrapped. Lead ship The lead ship , name ship , or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to

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384-526: The Austro-Hungarian Navy fleet. She was initially stationed at the submarine base on Brioni , but was moved to Cattaro by late 1914. U-5 made an unsuccessful attack on a French battleship squadron off Punta Stilo on 3 November. In December, the ship's armament was augmented by a 3.7 cm/23 (1.5 in) quick-firing (QF) deck gun , and had her first radio receiver installed. In April 1915, Georg Ritter von Trapp assumed command of U-5 , and

416-542: The Austro-Hungarian Navy's submarine base. She gave birth to a son, Rupert , in 1911 and a daughter, Agathe , in 1913. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 and the start of the First World War , Whitehead's family's assets overseas were frozen and they were not permitted to leave the country. All non-military personnel were ordered to evacuate from Fiume and Pola, and Whitehead took her children to Zell am See to stay with her mother and siblings at Erlhof while her husband stayed behind to serve as

448-479: The crew. The boat was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy in April 1910, and served as a training boat—sometimes making as many as ten cruises a month—through the beginning of the First World War in 1914. The submarine scored most of her wartime successes during the first year of the war while under the command of Georg Ritter von Trapp . The French armoured cruiser Léon Gambetta , sunk in April 1915,

480-476: The end of August, U-5 captured the 1,034  GRT Greek steamer Cefalonia as a prize off Durazzo . In late November, Friedrich Schlosser succeeded von Trapp as U-5 ' s commanding officer. Schlosser and U-5 made an unsuccessful attack on an Italian Indomito -class destroyer on 7 June 1916, but the boat managed to torpedo the Italian armed merchant cruiser Principe Umberto off Cape Linguetta on

512-569: The entire complement of officers, including Rear Admiral Victor Baptistin Sénès . Of the French ship's complement, 648 were killed in the attack; there were 137 survivors. Léon Gambetta was the largest ship of any kind sunk by U-5 . In June, U-5 helped search for the lost Austro-Hungarian seaplane L 41 , and in July, received an upgrade of her deck gun to a 4.7 cm (1.9 in) QF gun. In early August, U-5

544-477: The family attended the wedding of Whitehead's sister, Mary, to Baron Gioacchino Pietro Malfatti di Montetretto. Later that year a scarlet fever epidemic hit the schools in Klosterneuburg, and the children were infected. By Christmas 1921, five of the von Trapp children were isolated in the home. Whitehead spent extra time caring for her youngest daughter, Martina, who was faring worse than the other children. By

576-465: The first one is completed, launched and tested. Nevertheless, building copies is still more efficient and cost effective than building prototypes , and the lead ship will usually be followed by copies with some improvements rather than radically different versions. The improvements will sometimes be retrofitted to the lead ship. Occasionally, the lead ship will be launched and commissioned for shakedown testing before following ships are completed, making

608-516: The following month, led the boat in sinking the French armored cruiser Léon Gambetta off Santa Maria di Leuca . On the night of 26 April, Léon Gambetta was patrolling the Straits of Otranto at a leisurely 6.5 knots (12.0 km/h) without the benefit of a destroyer screen. U-5 launched two torpedoes at the French cruiser, hitting with both. The ship was rocked by the explosions of the two torpedoes and went down in ten minutes, taking down with her

640-503: The lead ship a combination of template and prototype, rather than expending resources on a prototype that will never see actual use. Ship classes are typically named in one of two ways; echoing the name of the lead ship, such as the Pennsylvania -class battleships , whose lead ship was USS  Pennsylvania , and the Olympic class , whose lead ship was RMS  Olympic , or defining

672-452: The lines and maneuvered to get a shot at von Trapp's boat. Nereide launched a single torpedo at U-5 that missed, after which del Greco ordered his boat submerged. U-5 lined up a shot and launched a single torpedo at the slowly submerging target, striking her, and sending her to the bottom with all hands. The Italian captain received the Medaglia d'Oro al Valore Militare for his actions. At

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704-523: The management of the torpedo factory passed to a paternal relative. After the family spent a summer at Lake Zell in the Austria Alps, Whitehead's mother built Erlhof, a waterfront house which became the family's summer residence. On 10 February 1909, Whitehead christened the Austrian submarine SM U-5 . A celebratory ball was held later that evening, where she was introduced to Georg Ritter von Trapp ,

736-468: The next day. According to a contemporary account, Principe Umberto and two other ships were transporting troops and materiel under escort of two destroyers. After the torpedo hit, Principe Umberto went down quickly with the loss 1,750 men. Principe Umberto was the last ship hit by U-5 . On 16 May 1917, U-5 was conducting a training cruise in the Fasana Channel near Pula when her stern struck

768-402: The next three years she served primarily as a training boat, making as many as ten training cruises per month. On 1 May 1911, she hosted a delegation of Peruvian Navy officers that inspected her. In June 1912, she towed a balloon as part of efforts to assess the underwater visibility of hull paint schemes. At the outbreak of World War I , U-5 was one of only four fully operational U-boats in

800-440: The same general design . The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may take five to ten years to build. Improvements based on experience with building and operating the lead ship are likely to be incorporated into the design or construction of later ships in the class, so it is rare to have vessels that are identical. The second and later ships are often started before

832-643: The wives of Naval personnel in their community. During this time she gave birth to three more children, Maria Franziska , Werner , and Hedwig . When the war ended, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell, the family were granted Italian citizenship since Zara , where Georg von Trapp was born, was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy . Whitehead gave birth to another daughter at Erlhof, Johanna . The family moved to Klosterneuburg , where Whitehead gave birth to another daughter, her last child, Martina . In 1921

864-612: Was a British-Austrian heiress and aristocrat. She was the first wife of Georg Ritter von Trapp and the mother of seven children of the Trapp Family singers . Whitehead was born on 14 June 1891 in Fiume as the first daughter and third child of John Whitehead and Countess Agathe Gobertina von Breunner-Enckevoirth. Her father, a British engineer who had been made a knight of the Order of Franz Joseph ,

896-543: Was designed by American John Philip Holland and licensed by Holland and his company, Electric Boat . U-5 was laid down on 9 April 1907 in the United States, partially assembled, and shipped to Whitehead's for final assembly, a process which, author Edwin Sieche notes, "caused a lot of trouble". She was launched at Fiume on 10 February 1909 by Agathe Whitehead, and towed to Pola on 17 August. U-5 ' s design featured

928-462: Was sent out from Lissa when the Austro-Hungarian Navy received word from a reconnaissance aircraft that an Italian submarine had been sighted at Pelagosa . On the morning of 5 August, the Italian submarine  Nereide was on the surface, moored under a cliff in the island's harbor. When U-5 surfaced just offshore, Nereide ' s commanding officer, Capitano di Corvetta Carlo del Greco, cast off

960-457: Was the largest ship sunk by U-5 . The sinking of Italian troop transport ship SS  Principe Umberto in June 1916 with the loss of 1,926 men, was the worst naval disaster of World War I in terms of human lives lost. In May 1917, U-5 hit a mine and sank with the loss of six men. She was raised, rebuilt, and recommissioned, but sank no more ships. At the end of the war, U-5 was ceded to Italy as

992-409: Was the niece of Countess Marie von Breunner-Enckevoirth , the wife of Victor II, Duke of Ratibor and Prince of Corvey , and the niece of Countess Eleonore von Breunner-Enckevoirth, the wife of Karl Maria Alexander, 9th Prince of Auersperg . Her maternal cousin, Princess Agathe of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst , was the wife of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia . Whitehead grew up at Villa Whitehead,

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1024-547: Was the son of Robert Whitehead , the eponym of the Whitehead torpedo . Her mother, an amateur architect and pianist, was a member of the Austrian and Hungarian nobility . Through her father, Whitehead was a niece of the diplomat Sir James Beethom Whitehead , who served as the British Minister to Serbia, and a first cousin of Sir Edgar Whitehead , who served as Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia . Through her mother, she

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