Type U 1

Type U 1 (“Lake” U-Boats)
U 1 und U 2 = 2 U-Boats

In 1906 and 1907, almost at the same time three types of U-boats were put on order, i.e. in 1906 the “Lake” U-Boats and in 1907 the “Germania” plus the “Holland” U-boats. The names of the types stem from the US submarine designer Simon Lake, the German Germaniawerft, and another US submarine designer, John Philip Holland. Following thorough tests a type of submarine was to be chosen, that had proven to be the best. All U-Boats were designated to be coastal submarines in the Adriatic Sea.

The type “Lake” U-Boats U 1 and U 2 were single hull submarines and were ordered on 24 November 1906, being the first U-boats for the Austro-Hungarian Navy, to be constructed on the basis of blueprints of submarine designer Simon Lake, some building parts were even shipped from the US. After the launching on 10th of February 1909 (U 1) and 03 April 1909 (U 2) a series of tests were executed for this new type of warship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Eventually, both U-boats were commissioned, U 1 on 15th of April 1911 and U 2 on 22nd of June 1911.