SM U - 27 ( Austria - Hungary ) SM " U - 27 or U - XXVII " was the lead boat of the " U - 27 " class of U - boat s or submarine s for the Austro - Hungarian Navy . " U - 27 " was built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino ( CNT ) at the Pola Navy Yard and launched on 19 October 1916 . She was commissioned on 24 February 1917 . She had a single hull and was just over in length . She displaced nearly when surfaced and over when submerged . Her two diesel engines moved her at up to on the surface , while her twin electric motors propeller her at up to while underwater . She was armed with two bow torpedo tube s and could carry a load of up to four torpedoes . She was also equipped with a deck gun and a machine gun . During her service career , " U - 27 " sank the British destroyer , damaged the Japanese destroyer , and sank or captured 34 other ships totaling . " U - 27 " was surrendered at Pola at war ' s end and handed over to Italy as a war reparation in 1919 . She was broken up the following year . " Conway ' s All the World ' s Fighting Ships , 1906 – 1921 " calls " U - 27 " Austria - Hungary ' s " most successful submarine " . Design and construction . Austria - Hungary ' s U - boat fleet was largely obsolete at the outbreak of World War I . The Austro - Hungarian Navy satisfied its most urgent needs by purchasing five Type UB I submarines that comprised the from Germany , by raising and recommissioning the sunken French submarine " Curie " as , and by building four submarines of the that were based on the 1911 Danish " Havmanden " class . After these steps alleviated their most urgent needs , the Austro - Hungarian Navy selected the German Type UB II design for its newest submarines in mid 1915 . The Germans were reluctant to allocate any of their wartime resources to Austro - Hungarian construction , but were willing to sell plans for up to six of the UB II boats to be constructed under license in Austria - Hungary . The Navy agreed to the proposal and purchased the plans from AG Weser of Bremen . " U - 27 " displaced surfaced and submerged . She had a single hull with saddle tank s , and was long with a beam of and a draft of . For propulsion , she had two shafts , twin diesel engines of for surface running , and twin electric motors of for submerged travel . She was capable of while surfaced and while submerged . Although there is no specific notation of a range for " U - 27 " , the German UB II boats , upon which the " U - 27 " class was based , had a range of over at surfaced , and at submerged . " U - 27 " class boats were designed for a crew of 23 – 24 . " U - 27 " was armed with two bow torpedo tube s and carried a complement of four torpedoes . She was also equipped with a 75 mm / 26 ( 3 . 0 in ) deck gun and an machine gun . After intricate political negotiations to allocate production of the class between Austrian and Hungarian firms , " U - 27 " was ordered from Cantiere Navale Triestino ( CNT ) on 12 October 1915 . She was laid down by early 1916 at the Pola Navy Yard , and launched on 19 October . Service career . After her completion , " U - 27 " was commissioned into the Austro - Hungarian Navy on 24 February 1917 under the command of " Linienschiffsleutnant " Robert Teufl von Fernland . Previously in command of , von Fernland was 31 - year - old native of Vienna . In April , von Fernland and " U - 27 " both achieved their first kills . On 12 April , " U - 27 " encountered the 3 , 756 - ton Greek steamship " Niritos " sailing from Genoa for Port Said . About off Augusta , Sicily , " U - 27 " shelled and sank the 11 - year - old Greek ship . Four days later , von Fernland torpedoed another Greek steamer , the 2 , 976 - ton " Zinovia " . Carrying coal from Barry for Taranto , " Zinovia " was sent to the bottom from Cape Rizzuto . In mid - May 1917 , " U - 27 " 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 , , and attacked the drifters that deployed the anti - submarine net s that formed part of the Barrage , sinking 14 , damaging 5 , and taking 72 prisoners . Destroyers and were sent to simultaneously attack Italian transports shuttling between Italy and Valona , and sank an Italian destroyer and a munitions ship . " U - 27 " , which was assigned to patrol between Brindisi and Cattaro , 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 ( which was posted near Valona ) and the German ( assigned to mine Brindisi ) . 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 - 27 " did not take any offensive action during the raid and ensuing battle . On 9 June , " U - 27 " sank " Roland " , a French sailing ship , off the Greek island of Cerigo . Two days later , von Fernland torpedoed the Japanese destroyer between Cerigotto and Meles . " Sakaki " was one of eight s that were part of the Japanese contribution to the Allied effort in the Mediterranean . Although the Japanese ships often performed escort service for British troop convoys , Helgason does not report whether " Sakaki " was engaged in that duty when she was attacked . Even though 68 Japanese sailors perished in the attack , nearly two - thirds the complement of a typical " Kaba " class ship , " Sakaki " remained afloat , was repaired , and remained in service . On 29 December , " Linienschiffsleutnant " Josef Holub replaced von Fernland as commander of " U - 27 " . Holub , a 32 - year - old native of Galicia , had previously been in command of and . Holub recorded his first victory with " U - 27 " in January 1918 . While near Marca , Sirocco , the U - boat torpedoed and sank the Italian steamer " Andrea Costa " on 22 January . The 3 , 991 - ton " Andrea Costa " had sailed from Rangoon , but was sunk just short of her destination of Malta . A little more than four months would pass before Holub and " U - 27 " would score their next success . From late April to early May , " U - 27 " sank six small ships — five Greek and one Italian — including three on one day , 6 May . All of the ships with reported tonnages were under 50 tons . " U - 27 " torpedoed the British destroyer at 09 : 18 on 14 May with the loss of one stoker and one artificer . " Phoenix " had been attached to the group of ships patrolling the Otranto Barrage when she was torpedoed amidships on the starboard side . Although she survived the initial attack , " Phoenix " was listing badly and taking on large quantities of water . An attempt was made by Australian destroyer to tow " Phoenix " to safety but by 12 : 45 she was in danger of capsizing and her crew were removed . " Phoenix " eventually sank at 13 : 10 in position . From 3 to 11 July , " U - 27 " sank another ten ships , the largest reported being the 67 - ton sailing vessel " Giuseppino Padre " . " U - 27 " dispatched three of the ships on 3 July , and sank two each on 10 and 11 July . On 13 August , " U - 27 " attacked the 2 , 209 - ton British steamer " Anhui " . The 15 - year - old ship was en route from Famagusta to Port Said , when " U - 27 " torpedoed her off Crete . Four persons on " Anhui " died when the ship with her general cargo went down . " U - 27 " s next victims were all encountered in mid - September . On 11 September , the French sailing ship " Antoinette " was seized as a prize and towed into the port of Beyrouth . Starting three days later , Holub and " U - 27 " sent an additional ten small ships to the bottom , including the final six all on 20 September . Except for the two largest ships — the 113 - ton " Agios Nicolas " and the 103 - ton " Theologos " — none were over 60 tons . At the war ' s end , " U - 27 " was in port at Pola . The U - boat was surrendered to Italy as a war reparation in 1919 and was scrapped at Fiume in 1920 . In addition to the sinking and damaging of two destroyers , she sank or captured 34 merchant ships totaling . " Conway ' s All the World ' s Fighting Ships , 1906 – 1921 " calls " U - 27 " Austria - Hungary ' s " most successful submarine " . Ships sunk or damaged . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > damaged but not sunk < br > < nowiki > * * < / nowiki > captured as a prize