She was built by AG Vulcan of Hamburg and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 11 December 1917. UB-88 was commissioned early the next year under the command of Oblt.z.S. Johannes Ries.[3] Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-88 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a 10.5 cm (4.13 in) deck gun. UB-88 would carry a crew of up to 3 officers and 31 men and had a cruising range of 7,120 nautical miles (13,190 km; 8,190 mi). UB-88 had a displacement of 510 t (500 long tons) while surfaced and 640 t (630 long tons) when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) when surfaced and 7.4 knots (13.7 km/h; 8.5 mph) when submerged.
Service history
SM UB-88 in Miami, Florida (c. 1919)SM UB-88 in the U.S. c. 1920
UB-88 was surrendered to the United States on 26 November 1918 in accordance with the requirements of the Armistice with Germany. She was refurbished and did an exhibition tour in 1919 from
New York, down the East Coast, and up the Mississippi River before passing through the Panama Canal and touring the West Coast as far north as Seattle, Washington.[3]
After having all useful parts and salvage stripped from her,[3] she was sunk as a target on 3 January 1921 in waters off Los Angeles County, California.[1] The propellers were saved and placed on display in the city of San Pedro but were stolen in 1923 by metal thieves and were never recovered.[3]
The wreck of the vessel was found in July 2003 using publicly available sonar data from the Pacific Seafloor Mapping project. She sits upright approximately 7.5 miles (12 km) south of the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles at a depth of 190 feet (58 m). The outer hull has corroded revealing the inner pressure hull. Divers have entered the wreck and found the interior to be almost completely bare. As she was given a special commission to the United States Navy, she is protected by the Sunken Military Craft Act.[3]
^Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boat commanders: Johannes Ries". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
Personal account of Charles Daniel Turner, United States Navy sailor who served aboard UB-88 following surrender, Charles Daniel Turner Collection (AFC/2001/001/27862), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress