List of the largest ships hit by U-boats in World War I


During the First World War, U-boats of the German Imperial Navy and the Austro-Hungarian Navy sank over 6,000 Allied and neutral ships totaling over 14,200,000 tons. Many additional ships that are not included in those totals were damaged, but were able to return to service after repairs. This list contains the approximately 100 ships over 10,000 tons that were either damaged or sunk by U-boats by torpedoes, submarine-laid mines, gunfire, or other means.

List

Ships listed are presented in descending order on the tonnage figure. Those that were damaged are indicated with an asterisk after their names. Three ships—,, and —appear on the list twice. Justicia was damaged by on 19 July 1918 and sunk while under tow the following day by. Celtic was damaged by and in separate incidents in February 1917 and March 1918, respectively. Southland was seriously damaged by in September 1915 and sunk by in June 1917. All U-boats listed are German unless otherwise noted in the table.
Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen in sank three Royal Navy cruisers that appear on the list—,, and —in a little more than an hour during the action of 22 September 1914. The first three victims of UB-14s career—the, the British troopship, and the troopship in July, August, and September 1915, respectively—were all on the list.
Four U-boat commanders appear four or more times on the list. Kptlt. Hans Rose in sank two ships and damaged two others between June 1917 and April 1918, while Kptlt. Otto Steinbrinck in did the same between March and July 1917. Between October 1916 and October 1918, Kptlt. Wolfgang Steinbauer sank three ships on the list in and damaged a fourth in. Kptlt. Gustav Sieß—responsible for sinking the largest ship on the list, the hospital ship struck a mine and sunk —topped the list with five entries, four sunk in and a fifth sunk in, all between April 1916 and April 1917. Other notable commanders that appear on the list are Kptlt. Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière who sank the most tonnage of any submarine commander ever, and Linienschiffsleutnant Georg Ritter von Trapp of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, known as the patriarch of the family made famous in The Sound of Music and its subsequent film adaptation.
ShipNationalityTonsDateU-boatCommanderNotes
48,75821 November 1916Gustav SießSunk by Mine
32,23419 July 1918Otto von SchraderDamaged, taken under tow
32,23420 July 1918Hans Oskar WutsdorffSunk while under tow from 1st attack
30,3967 May 1915Walther SchwiegerSunk with great loss of life
22,18921 December 1914Egon LerchReturned to port under own power
20,90415 February 1917Alfred von GlasenappStruck mine, returned to port under tow
20,90431 March 1918Wilhelm MeyerTorpedoed, returned to port under tow
19,38029 May 1915Ernst von VoigtDecoy disguised as, sunk
18,5657 April 1917Otto SteinbrinckStruck mine, returned to port
18,5104 October 1916Wolfgang SteinbauerTorpedoed while empty
18,40018 October 1918Wolfgang SteinbauerLightly damaged by 2 torpedoes
18,3725 September 1918Heinrich MiddendorfHeavy damage, returned to port under own power
18,30019 March 1917Robert MorahtTorpedoed and sunk
18,16831 May 1918Walter RemyTorpedoed and sunk, most lives saved
18,09925 February 1917Gerhard Berger
18,00029 September 1918Otto Dröscher
16,3509 November 1918Heinrich Kukat
16,3391 July 1918Helmut Brümmer-Patzig
15,80119 August 1915Rudolf Schneider
15,54419 November 1916Karl Vesper
15,0001 January 1915Rudolf Schneider
14,9664 October 1916Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière
14,90027 May 1915Otto Hersing
14,89225 January 1917Alfred von Glasenapp
14,3484 May 1917Otto Schultze
14,3485 February 1918Wilhelm Meyer
Minnewaska14,31729 November 1916Johannes Kirchner
14,3002 October 1917Otto Rohrbeck
14,2781 January 1917Wolfgang Steinbauer
14,15011 April 1918Hans Trenk
14,00027 April 1916Gustav Sieß
14,0009 January 1917Kurt Hartwig
13,9364 February 1918Gerhard Schulz
13,91116 March 1916Arthur Metz
13,75326 February 1916Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière
13,7147 September 1917Karl Edeling
13,68019 July 1918Richard Feldt
13,60317 July 1918Wilhelm Werner
13,54323 March 1916Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière
13,52830 January 1918Robert Moraht
13,5002 January 1917Gustav Sieß
13,44114 June 1917Ernst Wilhelms
13,42712 December 1916Franz Becker
13,40519 October 1916Egon von Werner
13,40527 January 1918Leo Hillebrand
13,3708 May 1916Walther Schwieger
12,92719 October 1917Ernst Hashagen
12,75025 November 1916Hans Walther
12,64417 February 1917Hermann von Fischel
12,52718 January 1916Egon von Werner
12,5151 March 1918Johannes Spieß
12,4699 September 1918Karl Petri
12,43127 February 1916Matthias Graf von Schmettow
12,41627 April 1915Georg Ritter von Trapp
12,35028 April 1917Thomas Bieber
12,22228 October 1917Helmut Gerlach
12,0975 February 1917Friedrich Moecke
12,07723 July 1917Karl Petri
12,0457 September 1918Karl Petri
12,03614 March 1917Hans Degetau
12,00914 November 1916Gustav Sieß
12,00220 March 1917Herbert Pustkuchen
12,00022 September 1914Otto Weddigen
12,00022 September 1914Otto Weddigen
12,00022 September 1914Otto Weddigen
11,99912 February 1917Herbert Pustkuchen
11,98525 May 1915Otto Hersing
11,8992 September 1915Heino von Heimburg
11,8994 June 1917Otto Wünsche
11,63526 June 1917Alfred Saalwächter
11,49526 March 1918Franz Becker
11,4841 July 1917Walter Roehr
11,4831 March 1917Otto Steinbrinck
11,47729 August 1917Georg Ritter von Trapp
11,42327 June 1918Helmut Brümmer-Patzig
11,14022 March 1917Ralph Wenninger
11,13718 February 1917Walter Roehr
11,12025 April 1917Max Viebeg
11,11713 August 1915Heino von Heimburg
11,1067 April 1918Hans Rose
11,10027 December 1916Wolfgang Steinbauer
11,00026 July 1917Otto Steinbrinck
10,96315 April 1917Gustav Sieß
Yasaka Maru10,93221 December 1915Max Valentiner
10,9204 September 1915Walther Schwieger
10,85020 June 1915Max Valentiner
10,8505 June 1916Curt Beitzen
10,7989 April 1917Otto Steinbrinck
10,75721 August 1917Ernst Killmann
10,64418 May 1918Martin Schwab
10,50923 July 1918Otto von Schrader
10,49426 January 1918Egon von Werner
10,43521 August 1917Hans Rose
10,42217 April 1917Wilhelm Barten
10,40227 June 1917Hans Rose
10,32026 October 1916Carl-Siegfried Ritter von Georg
10,2894 August 1918Waldemar Kophamel
10,16021 August 1915Max Valentiner
10,15720 April 1917Hellmuth Jürst
10,1187 July 1915Heino von Heimburg
10,06415 October 1917Hans Rose
10,04026 June 1918Walter Warzecha
10,03715 March 1918Karl Kroll