Kriegsmarine collection from Croatia

[amiklic1]

Today I want to add one special item which just came yesterday. It was shown here before, and it passed it's way around the globe, but now it is just where it belongs.

It's boxed Austro-hungarian SM U-4 U-boat commander Rudolf Singule's iron cross 1st class 1914, with his name engraved on the reverse.

[amiklic1]

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[amiklic1]

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[amiklic1]

and some facts

Kpt Rudolph Singule

Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule


SM U - IV 1913 - 1916

The SMU - 4 was a class U - 3 submarine built by Germaniawerft of Kiel. She was launched in November 1908 and was at the time

one of only four operational submarines in the Austrian-Hungarian U boat fleet.

During the first year of the war she was unsuccessful in attacking warships however capturing as prizes; several small vessels.

During September of 1914 U - 4's primary mission was reconnaissance patrols.


SMU - 4 was the longest serving U - Boat of the Austrian-Hungarian submarine force.

In late November, U-4 seized the 13 ton Albanian sailing vessel Fiore del Mar as a prize off Montenegro.

U-4 received her first radio set the following month.

U-4's next success was the capture of three Montenegrin boats on 19 February 1915.

During April 1915, the boat was equipped with a 3.7-centimeter quick firing deck gun.

On 24 May, in the Gulf of Drin, U-4 unsuccessfully attacked an Italian Lombardia-class cruiser, but on 9 June 1915, Linienschiffsleutnant Singule spotted the British cruiser 'Dublin' escorting a convoy along the Montenegrin coast.

Despite a screen of six destroyers, U-4 was able to torpedo HMS 'Dublin' off San Giovanni de Medua. Twelve men on the HMS 'Dublin' died in the attack, but the cruiser made her way safely, although damaged, back to port. HMS Capt Kelly, steaming at high speed with strong escort of French and Italian destroyers off N Albanian coast afterbeing torpedoed near San Giovanni di Medua, soon worked up to 17kts, got back to Brindisi, but remained out of action for some time.

In July 1915, U-4 observed an Italian squadron of ships shelling the railroads at Ragusa. Singule selected the Italian armored cruiser 'Giuseppe Garibaldi' as a target and torpedoed her. 'Giuseppe Garibaldi, at 7,234 tons, being the largest ship sunk by U-4—sank with a loss of 53 men; 525 men survived.

In August, U - 4 was sent out to search for her missing sister ship, U-3, which was overdue, and learned of U - 3 having been sunk on 13 August by the French destroyer 'Bisson'.

In November, U-4 made an unsuccessful attack on a British Topaze-class cruiser.

In early December, U-4 dispatched two small Albanian vessels in the Gulf of Drin. The 10 ton sailing vessel 'Papagallo' was sunk, and the 'Gjovadje' was taken as a prize.

New periscopes and a new gyrocompass were installed on U-4 later in the month.

On 3 January 1916, operating again near the Gulf of Drin, Singule and U-4 seized another Albanian sailing vessel, 'Halil', and sank two smaller boats.

In early February, U-4 sank the 475 ton French patrol vessel 'Jean Bart', 6 nautical miles southwest of Cape Laghi, off Durazzo.

Just five days later, U-4 made an unsuccessful attack on a British Birmingham-class cruiser.

Over 26 and 27 March, U-4 participated in a search for the lost Austro-Hungarian submarine U-24.

Three days later, U-4 sank the British schooner 'John Pritchard' Of Carnar with explosive charges off the island of Antipaxos.

In July, U-4 was outfitted with a new 66 mm deck gun, which equaled the main gun planned for the U-20 class, under construction at the time.

On 2 August, U-4 missed an Italian Nino Bixio-class cruiser in a torpedo attack, and three days later, was missed by two torpedoes in an attack by an enemy submarine.

A week later, U-4 successfully torpedoed and sank the Italian schooner 'Ponte Maria' off Brindisi and weathered another unsuccessful enemy submarine attack.

Two days later, on 14 August, U-4 closed out her busy month of August by attacking the British steamer 'Inverbervie' off Cape Nau.

Some two months later, U-4 sank the Italian tanker 'Margaretha'. Originally the J.M.Lennard & Sons ship, 'Atilla', went down without any reported loss of life on 13 October.

In early May 1917, U-4 sank the steamer 'Perseo', the second largest ship sunk in the Ionian Sea. Although 'Perseo' was serving as an Italian troop transport at the time, there are no reports of casualties in the 4 May attack.

In mid-May 1917, U-4 participated in a support role in a raid on the Otranto Barrage that precipitated the Battle of Otranto Straits. On the night of 14/15 May, the Austro-Hungarian cruisers 'Helgoland', 'Saida', and 'Novara' attacked the drifters that deployed the anti-submarine nets that formed part of the Barrage, sinking 14, damaging 5, and taking 72 prisoners.

Destroyers 'Csepel' and 'Balaton' were sent to simultaneously attack Italian transports shuttling between Italy and Valona, and sank an Italian destroyer and a munitions ship. U-4, which was posted near Valona, was a part of a force of three U-boats intended to intercept British and Italian ships responding to the attacks; the other two were the Austro-Hungarian U-27 and the German UC-25 .

A squadron of British cruisers and Italian and French destroyers joined the battle against the Austro-Hungarian cruisers on 15 May. Several ships on each side were damaged by the time the engagement was broken off. As a result of the attacks the drifter line of the Barrage was moved farther south and maintained only during the day, a success for the Central Powers.

U-4 did not take any offensive action during the raid and ensuing battle. On 30 May at Corfu, U-4 torpedoed and sank the French passenger steamer 'Italia', in operation by the French Navy as an armed boarding ship.

On 19 June, U-4 scored a triple victory when she sank the French steamers 'Edouarde Corbière' and 'Cefira' and the Greek ship 'Kerkyra' off Taranto. U-4 sank what would be her final ship on 12 July, when she torpedoed the French tug 'Berthilde' off Cape Stilo.

In September, U-4 received a new bulwark on her conning tower.

U-4 arrived at Pola for the final time on 1 November 1918 and was there at the war's end.

She was ceded to France as a war reparation and scrapped in 1920.

U-4 was the longest serving Austro-Hungarian submarine and sank a total of 18,264 ton s of enemy shipping during the war.


Ships engaged by SM U - 4

28 Nov 1914 Linienschiffsleutnant Hermann Jüstel SS FIORE DEL MARE taken as prize 13 tons Albania

9 Jun 1915 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule HMS 'DUBLIN' damaged 5,400tons British

18 Jul 1915 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI' 7,234tons Italian

9 Dec 1915 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'GJOVADJE' taken as prize Albania

9 Dec 1915 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'PAPAGALLO' 10tons Albania

3 Jan 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'HALIL' taken as prize Albania

2 Feb 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'JEAN BART' 475tons French

30 Mar 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'JOHN PRITCHARD' 118tons British

14 Aug 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'PANTELLARIA' 204tons Italy

14 Sep 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'INVERBERVIE; 4309tons British

14 Sep 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule British Motor Launch 230 37tons

14 Sep 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule British Motor Launch 253 37 tons

14 Sep 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule British Motor Launch 255 37tons

13 Oct 1916 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'MARGARITHA' 2092tons Italy

4 May 1917 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'PERSEO' 4857tons Italy

30 May 1917 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'ITALIA' 1305tons French

19 Jun 1917 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'CEFIRA' 411tons French

19 Jun 1917 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'EDOUARD CORBIERE' 475tons French

19 Jun 1917 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'KERKYRA' 411tons Greece

12 Jul 1917 Linienschiffsleutnant Rudolph Singule 'BERTHILDE' 672tons French

19 ships sunk 22,697 tons

3 ships damaged 8935 tons

[Dmv]

Very nice stuff you've collected!

You know that the signule EK1 is in Gordon Williamson's book "Torpedo Los!"
page 386 (although no case is shown)

[amiklic1]

Very nice stuff you've collected!

You know that the signule EK1 is in Gordon Williamson's book "Torpedo Los!"
page 386 (although no case is shown)

Yes, I have the book, of course.
I'm not sure about the case, if it's original to the cross or not, forum colleague had the cross in it before he sold the cross to Gordon:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...hlight=singule.

First mention of the cross on WAF was around 10 year ago:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...hlight=singule

[NARVIK1940]

This is a VERY impressive Kriegsmarine collection. Congratulations! Top notch! Do you have any KM combat helmets?

[amiklic1]

No.

I plan to get at least two, but I am not impressed with helmets at all.
I have a few original shells which I planned to restore to look as KM, but never started to do that, really.


I like nice, clean, parade items and equipment. Helmets are a part of "been there" philosophy, which I plan to cover if and when I find some nice to have, but no sucess till today. In LaGleize in June I found a helmet which I weas looking at, but it appeared to be fake based on WAF members, so I left it there ;-).
Here is the thread:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=602022

The main reason I am not looking at helmets is the fact that I, in fact, my knowledge about them is very limited.

[amiklic1]

Something new is happening. After third room rearrangament in one year, I am building my own displays in which I'll be able to show three frocck coats and 6 tunics. What else to expect from 6 sq. meters room ;-). Some displays are finished, as shown before, some are in building phase, and today I have started the largest one, for three frock coats and many other smaller items. Here is how it looks now, with just lower cabinets side and back side panel. Right side and front will be glass, and I will order it after I put the top and screw everything together. I like to show you the progress, so I'll put another photo with finished and "equipped" display.

Enjoy!

[amiklic1]

Some new items in my naval collection, but not Kriegsmarine. I just could not resist to buy these. Both navies were sailing on Adriatic sea in the past, and I would like to have one uniform and a few bits of each naval forse sailing there in the last few centuries.
First is the French naval officer parade dress uniform from 1912., second is Italian frock coat from 1920.

Enjoy!

[jacquesf]

This is just a stunning collection and very well presented. J

[amiklic1]

And when I hear that from you, Jacques, I know that's true.
Thanks!

[km-spain]

Andjelo nice pieces, not everything has to bee Kriegsmarine ... or yes :-) ... Your new war room looks very well, I'm looking forward to see it finish. Congratulations

[TrondK]

Very impressive collection. !!!

[scott3000]

Very Impressive Collection