SM UB-53 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the Imperial German Navy () during World War I. She was commissioned into the Pola Flotilla of the German Imperial Navy on 21 August 1917 as SM UB-53.
She operated as part of the Pola Flotilla based in Cattaro. UB-53 was sunk by mines of the Otranto Barrage on 3 August 1918 at in the Otranto Strait, 10 crew members died.SS Athenia (1914). On 7 April 1918 the submarine saw an airship catch fire accidentally and crash into the sea near the Strait of Otranto with the loss of all hands. It apparently was the German Navy Zeppelin L 59, modified for long-range flights, on the outbound leg of a flight from Yambol, Bulgaria, in an attempt to bomb the Royal Navy base at Malta.Whitehouse, Arch, The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, p. 236.
Construction
UB-53 was ordered by the GIN on 20 May 1916. She was built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 9 March 1917. UB-53 was commissioned later that same year under the command of Kptlt. Robert Sprenger. Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-53 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a deck gun. UB-53 would carry a crew of up to 3 officer and 31 men and had a cruising range of . UB-53 had a displacement of while surfaced and when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at when surfaced and when submerged.
Summary of raiding history DateNameNationalityTonnageTonnages are in gross register tonsFate17 December 1917Nina126Sunk31 December 1917Lily2,993Sunk20 February 1918Taxiarchis292Sunk26 February 1918Saida45Sunk2 March 1918Euxeinos2,891Sunk6 March 1918Kalgan1,862Sunk9 April 1918Aveiro2,209Sunk22 April 1918Kheda Moulekar40Sunk22 April 1918Marshalla77Sunk22 April 1918Sadika45Sunk22 April 1918Welbeck Hall5,643Sunk24 April 1918Mabrouska256Sunk27 April 1918Azizeh30Sunk27 April 1918Nemaat Kheda40Sunk
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