SM UB-29

SM UB-29 was a German Type UB II submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 30 April 1915 and launched on 31 December 1915. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 18 January 1916 as SM UB-29.

The submarine sank 36 ships in 17 patrols for a total of. UB-29 was supposedly sunk by two depth charges from HMS Landrail (1914) south of Goodwin Sands at 51.15°N, 1.76667°W on 13 December 1916, although the location of its wreck discovered in Belgian waters, approximately 15 nm NW of Ostend, contradicts this claim. The Landrail might have mistaken UB-29 for another boat, possibly the UC-19.

The UB-29's wreckage – exceptionally well preserved and with the hull still intact – was found by Belgian divers in the summer of 2017, and formally identified in November 2017. Its exact location was not published, in order to enable further research and protection of the site.

Design
A Type UB II submarine, UB-29 had a displacement of 265 t when at the surface and 291 t while submerged. She had a total length of 36.13 m, a beam of 4.36 m, and a draught of 3.66 m. The submarine was powered by two Benz six-cylinder diesel engines producing a total 267 PS, two Siemens-Schuckert electric motors producing 280 PS, and one propeller shaft. She was capable of operating at depths of up to 50 m.

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 9.15 kn and a maximum submerged speed of 5.81 kn. When submerged, she could operate for 45 nmi at 5 kn; when surfaced, she could travel 6650 nmi at 5 kn. UB-29 was fitted with two 50 cm torpedo tubes, four torpedoes, and one 5 cm SK L/40 deck gun. She had a complement of twenty-one crew members and two officers and a thirty-second dive time.

Wreckage
The well preserved wreckage of the submarine was discovered in 2017 off the coast of Ostend. Hence, the assumption that it was sunk south of Goodwin Sands after a collision with HMS Landrail cannot be maintained. One possible explanation is that UB-29 escaped after the collision, and ran into a mine in Belgian waters. Another explanation is that HMS Landrail sank another U-boat, possibly the UC-19. The German government decided to leave the 22 crew members in the wreckage. Only some minor artefacts lying outside the submarine will be salvaged for an exposition in Belgium and will later be handed to the Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg.