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The Wartime Memories Project - The Great War - Day by Day
May 1918On this day:
- More gas attacks
- SM U-118
Type UE 2
Shipyard Vulcan, Hamburg (Werk 92)
Ordered 27 May 1916
Launched 23 Feb 1918
Commissioned 8 May 1918
Commanders.
8 May 1918 - 11 Nov 1918 Herbert Stohwasser
Career 1 patrols.
start date unknown - 11 Nov 1918 I Flotilla
Successes 2 ships sunk with a total of 10,439 tons.
- 16 Sep 1918 U 118 Herbert Stohwasser Wellington 5,600 br
- 2 Oct 1918 U 118 Herbert Stohwasser Arca 4,839 br
Fate 23 Feb 1919 - Surrendered. To have been transferred to France, but the tow parted and she went aground off Hastings on April 15, 1919. Broken up .
There was another U 118 in World War Two.
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 23 Sep 1941 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 6 Dec 1941.
John Doran
- Naval Action - 8th May 1918 The Action of 8 May 1918 was a small naval engagement which occurred off Algiers, North Africa during World War I. In the action, an American armed yacht and a British destroyer encountered the German U-boat UB-70.
Initially, the engagement was thought to be inconclusive, but later on the allied warships were credited with sinking the German submarine.
On 16 April, the German U-boat UB-70—under Kapitänleutnant Johannes Remy—left her home port in Germany for the Mediterranean Sea at the end of World War I. Her mission was to conduct unrestricted submarine warfare operations against allied supply lanes, primarily against Italian merchantmen. Little is known about the disappearance of UB-70 except that she was in operation against an allied supply convoy somewhere near Algiers, Algeria. At about 1700 on 8 May 1918, the American armed yacht USS Lydonia, under Richard P. McCullough, and the British destroyer HMS Basilisk were protecting a convoy from Bizerte to Gibraltar. They encountered UB-70 lining up for a shot at the British merchant ship SS Ingleside. The Central Powers submarine fired torpedoes and at least one hit the civil vessel. Ingleside burst into flames and immediately began to sink. The merchant ship was manned by an unknown number of crew, some of whom were killed or wounded, and some went down with the ship. The survivors waited for rescue on deck of their sinking ship or in the water. Ingleside went down and by 1735 the protecting allied warships spotted the submarine. According to post-war accounts, either USS Lydonia or HMS Basilisk rammed the U-boat when it began to submerge and flee. A running battle ensued for fifteen minutes.
The allied warships were coordinated and together dropped several well placed depth charges on the fleeing enemy submarine until a slight oil slick began to emerge.
Aftermath
After assuming they had sunk the enemy U-boat, Lydonia and Basilisk proceeded hastily to the wreck of Ingleside. The British and American vessels rescued some survivors and took them to a friendly port, probably Algiers. At first the incident was listed as an inconclusive contact, but after the war the authorities realized that UB-70 had not been heard from for months, and the American and British vessels received honours for their victory. The action off Africa became one of the few confirmed sinkings of a German U-boat by an American vessel during their shorter participation in the naval war. UB-70 was also the only vessel known to have been sunk by an American vessel in Mediterranean waters during the conflict.
John Doran
- 13th Londons near Arras The 13th Battalion London Regiment are around Neuville Vitasse, outside Arras.
- NEAR SERCUS
A & B Coy’s working. C & D Coy’s training. 18th DLI war diary WO95/2361/1
- Musketry
- Training
- Enemy More Active
- Reliefs Completed
- Reorganisation
- Enemy Attacks
- Working Parties
- Reliefs
- Training
- Long-range Shelling
- Heavy Gas Bombardment
- Reliefs Complete
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- Course
- Construction
- Improving and repairing defences
- Quiet Night
- Shelling
- Battalion "Stand To" practice.
- On the March
- Slight shelling.
- Move
- "B" & "C" Companies on train.
Can you add to this factual information? Do you know the whereabouts of a unit on a particular day? Do you have a copy of an official war diary entry? Details of an an incident? The loss of a ship? A letter, postcard, photo or any other interesting snipts?
If your information relates only to an individual, eg. enlistment, award of a medal or death, please use this form: Add a story.
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Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day.
This section is under construction.
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Want to know more about of May 1918? There are:27 items tagged of May 1918 available in our Library These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Remembering those who died this day, of May 1918. Lt. Russell Stanley Brown. 34th Btn. Read their Story. Pte. Frederick Ernest Bruce. 34th Btn. Read their Story. 2nd Lt. Edward Budd. MC and Bar. 116th Coy. 12th Div Train Army Service Corps Read their Story. Gnr. William Charles Davis. Royal Garrison Artillery Read their Story. Cpl. Alexander Dobbins. 5th/6th Btn. Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) L/Sjt. Frank Mason Jenkins. MM. 9th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers Read their Story. Pte Philip Humbert Layton. 2/4th Btn Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 2nd Lt. Albert Edward Lester. MC 13th Btn. London Regiment Read their Story. Gunner Charles Morton. 251st Brigade, D Battery Royal Field Artillery L/Sgt. Fredrick Richard Quilty. MID 13th Battalion Rifle Brigade Pte. James Roberts. 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment Read their Story. Mjr. Thomas Henderson Weir. MC. 526(1st Durham) Field Coy. Royal Engineers Read their Story.
Add a name to this list.
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