Michael, No, the location is not a match. UC 29's minefield ran from 56°34.4'N, 2°21'W to 56°341'N, 2°13.5'W. Tod Head is at 56°53'N 2°13'W. MPL
Forum: WWI forum

OK, first question: does anyone have the owners of these two sailing vessels when they were sunk: EDUARD, British, 476 grt, built 1898, sunk by UC 70 on April 16, 1917 ALBERTINE BEATRICE, Dutch, 1395 grt, built 1885 as THETIS, sunk by U 82 on June 15, 1917 Thanks in advance, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

OK, thought I'd give everybody an update as to where we are: Have gotten through updating all steamers sunk of 300 grt+ built built from 1874 plus virtually all purpose-built warships. In addition, I'm also completed the matching game for most (but not all) ships damaged or taken in as a prize. Also have updated in a variety of other ships as well. To put it in perspective, about 4,9
Forum: WWI forum

From the date and location, I strongly suspect the U-boat would have to have been U 39. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

We're slowly updating the files on ships sunk, damaged, or taken in as a prize. I've worked through lists of steamer of 300+ grt built from 1874 on and FRANCOLI isn't in any of them. So it would seem that the FRANCOLI was a very old vessel indeed, especially for a steamer. Miramar lists a ship for Spanish owners named FRANCOLI as being built in 1865, which would be a possibility.
Forum: WWI forum

Simon, UB 37 is correct for both Lynx and Diligence. UB 37's KTB mentions six fishing vessels, and gives fishing port registrations for five of them (the one not given is Catena). Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

Michael -- nice find. Michael and Simon -- This is obviously a weird one, as it isn't in Spindler or British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18. My first thought is that this might be some sort of error in LWL, but Michael's find seems to eliminate that possibility. The series of events described does tie things up nicely, with Diligence being a CTL but not sunk outright. That's a d
Forum: WWI forum

Joe, Yeah, there are probably 50 to 80 small fishing vessel and small sailing vessels that needs to go into the database. Included in that are a number of "unidenified sailing vessels" -- including multiple vessels on the same day by the same U-boat in some cases. Fun stuff indeed. All these will probably get included in bulk in a month or two. As for a location for U 53's si
Forum: WWI forum

Correct on both accounts, especially the "S" and "F" in certain type faces. BTW, this is the sort of problems that I'm slowly weeding out of the database. Am now through steamers of 300+ grt built from 1874 - 1918. Am currently working on damaged steamers and everything else Norwegian. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

George, Correct, U 90 under Remy on May 15, 1918. The primary source document would be U 90's KTB (Kriegstagebuch = war diary). I actually have a microfilmed copy of it obtained from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and plan to look through a different section this weekend anyways. Can certainly get you a scan of the relivent portions. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: General Discussions

Michael, The January 1918 U 84/U 93/UC 50 situation is an absolute mess. That said, we're pretty sure U 93 was elsewhere on January 15 (like off Brest) and that SPITAL was not sunk by U 93, but rather through an internal expplosion. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

Oliver, I agree that CORTON is the most difficult of the cases and that UB 35 is a possibility. The situation is actually even more confusing -- BVLAS lists CORTON as being torpedoed on the 22nd, not the 23rd as in Lloyd's War Losses. U 90 describes an attack on a convoy bound for Southampton, which would be consistant with CORTON's actual destination. Looks like we need the file
Forum: WWI forum

Joe, I was aware of that "typo" -- I had left it there as a reminder to myself that I needed to take another look at U 90 and UB 31's activities. Basically, Spindler made a complete mess of it. As Simon says, U 90 should get credit for VICTOR DE CHAVARRI. UB 31, in turn, is the boat that damaged ADMIRAL COCHRANE. Spindler also got the date wrong on when U 90 torpedoed CORT
Forum: WWI forum

And we should now have Gansser on all appropriate sinkings. MPL
Forum: WWI forum

Daniel, It's a transcription error. I have some sources for crew casualties. The mane's name was Ing. Langfeldt, with Ing. being an abbreviated listing for his first name. He was a Heuzer. I'm bad on RN ranks, but I do believe a O.Matrose would be the equivalent of an AB. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

Daniel, I'm doing these in a different order: Some basics: O. = Ober, one rank above (more senior version of) what follows. Mt. = Maat = a petty officer. Working down the rank food chain of the abbreviations you asked about: M.O.Ing. - Marine-Oberingenieur - the engineering officer equivalent of an Oberleutnant zur See Deck Offizier ranks would really be the equivalent of
Forum: WWI forum

Joe, Sorry not to get back to you sooner on this, have been trying to catch up on a ton of things, and I always seem to get to e-mails and forum posts last. Anyway, remember, I'm upgrading the information in the database. That means adding in the voyage and cargo, number of casualties if teh ship was British, American, Danish, or Norwegian, year built, builder, and operator. And along
Forum: WWI forum

Sept. 26, 1916 is correct and the page has been updated. As a general note, I'm updating all the pages, adding information and making sure everything is correct. It's a slow process. Right now, I'm working on merchant ships sunk of 300+ grt, and have gone through ships built between 1874 - 1905, 1907 - 1911, and 1915 - 1918. Up next is 1906, then 1912, 1913, and 1914. After
Forum: WWI forum

Yves, Joe, It's actually a two step process. Yves or I can add it in, but Gummi has to finish the process by adding a ship detail section (which Yves or I have to add it). Don't ask... Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

That's true only for a portion of World War I. By 1918, U-boats were seldom using their deck guns; virtually all (U-cruisers excepted) of the steamers sunk then were through torpedo attack. And remember, unrestricted submarine warfare was all about allowing U-boats the freedom to torpedo first and ask questions later. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

Actually it's a WWI U-boat. The exact identity is uncertain, but the best quess at this point is U 122 or U 123. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: General Discussions

James, I'm currently working to upgrade the ship hit section. Basically, this is a multistep process that will add more detail, catch any ships that should be in the database but aren't and delete entries that shouldn't be in there. Right now, the focus is on working through steamers of 300+ grt that were sunk. I'm working through these by year built, and comparing my da
Forum: WWI forum

I'm not sure that I would include Kemp's "U-Boats Destroyed" in a topic on "good books on WW1 U boats",,, At minimium it's dated, has numerous, and brings nothing new to the table. Messimer "Verschollen" is better. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

Klaus, No, not a single book. For officer information: Ehrenrangliste der Kaiserliche Deutschen Marine, bearbeitet K.Adm. A.Stoelzel Ideally, we would add information from the yearly Rangliste as well. For sinkings, we use several sources, including Spindler, British Vessels Lost at Sea, Lloyd's War Losses: The First World War, Bendert's books on UB and UC boats, the Starke-
Forum: WWI forum

Clio, I've got UC 44's KTB on microfilm and will have a look over the weekend. Speaking of UC 44, she's just been credited with sinking the destryer HMS Itchen on July 6, 1917. This sinking had previously been attributed to U 99. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

John, See Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

Correct, Salaminia was sunk by gunfire from UB 64. UB 64 claimed the sinking (but IIRC not by name). I've got copies of the official statements made after the sinking by crew members on the steamer. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

Simon, Looks like it's a dup with ALKOR, sunk by U 98 the next day. Note the tonnage is the same. The source is A. Laurens, Histoire GSM, so probably a misspelling. Have taken ELKOV out of the database. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

Freddy, Try using but be careful about spellings (KATHLEEN not KATLEEN). After that, if there's something that doesn't show up, let me know and I'll look into it. Best wishes, Michael
Forum: WWI forum

Freddy, What I can easily match up: - 29 JUNE 1915 : (British) ss ARMINIA = ARMENIAN, sunk by U 24. - 30 JUNE 1915 : (British) ss LOMAS – 60 miles West of Scilly = sunk by U 39 - 4 JULY 1915 : Norwegian bark FURY CROSS = FIERY CROSS, sunk by U39 on July 3rd. - 25 DEC 1915 : (British) ss VANSTERUM = VAN STIRUM, sunk by U 24 - 02 MAY 1916 : (French) trawler BERNADETTE - 486 grt saili
Forum: WWI forum