SM U-53

U-53 in Newport, Rhode Island 7 October 1916
History
German Empire
Name	U-53
Ordered	23 August 1914
Builder	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number	235
Laid down	17 March 1915
Launched	1 February 1916
Commissioned	22 April 1916
Fate	1 December 1918 - surrendered. Broken up at Swansea in 1919
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Type U 51 submarine
Displacement	715 t (704 long tons) surfaced 902 t (888 long tons) submerged
Length	65.20 m (213 ft 11 in) (o/a) 52.51 m (172 ft 3 in) (pressure hull)
Beam	6.44 m (21 ft 2 in) (oa) 4.18 m (13 ft 9 in) (pressure hull)
Height	7.82 m (25 ft 8 in)
Draught	3.64 m (11 ft 11 in)
Installed power	2 × 2,400 PS (1,765 kW; 2,367 shp) surfaced 2 × 1,200 PS (883 kW; 1,184 shp) submerged
Propulsion	2 shafts
Speed	17.1 knots (31.7 km/h; 19.7 mph) surfaced 9.1 knots (16.9 km/h; 10.5 mph) submerged
Range	9,400 nmi (17,400 km; 10,800 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced 55 nmi (102 km; 63 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth	50 m (164 ft 1 in)
Complement	36
Armament	4 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (two bow, two stern) 7 torpedoes 2 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 deck guns
Service record
Part of:	II Flotilla 31 May 1916 – 11 November 1918
Commanders:	Kptlt. Hans Rose[2] 22 April 1916 – 17 August 1918 Kptlt. Otto von Schrader[3] 18 August – 29 November 1918
Operations:	13 patrols
Victories:	87 merchant ships sunk (224,314 GRT) 1 warship sunk (1,050 tons) 10 merchant ships damaged (46,339 GRT)

SM U-53 was one of the six Type U 51 U-boats of the Imperial German Navy during the First World War. While in command of U-53 her first captain Hans Rose became the 5th ranked German submarine ace of World War I sinking USS Jacob Jones and 87 merchant ships for a total of 224,314 gross register tons (GRT).^[4]