SM U - 28 ( Austria - Hungary ) SM " U - 28 or U - XXVIII " was a " U - 27 " class U - boat or submarine for the Austro - Hungarian Navy . " U - 28 " , built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino ( CNT ) at the Pola Navy Yard , was launched in January 1917 and commissioned in June . 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 propelled 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 - 28 " sank the British Q ship and nine other ships , sending a combined tonnage of to the bottom . " U - 28 " was surrendered at Venice in 1919 , granted to Italy as a war reparation and broken up the following year . 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 - 28 " 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 - 28 " in " Conway ' s All the World ' s Fighting Ships , 1906 – 1921 " , 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 - 28 " was armed with two bow torpedo tube s and could carry 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 - 28 " 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 8 January 1917 . Service career . After her completion , " U - 28 " was commissioned into the Austro - Hungarian Navy on 26 June 1917 under the command of " Linienschiffsleutnant " Zdenko Hudeček . Previously in command of , Hudeček was a 30 - year - old native of Theresienstadt ( present - day Terezín in the Czech Republic ) . Four days after the U - boat ' s commissioning , Hudeček achieved his first kill at the helm of " U - 28 " . On 30 June , while on patrol about east of Malta , " U - 28 " came upon the 4 , 809 - ton British steamer " Haigh Hall " . The turret hull ship was carrying wheat from Bombay to Naples when torpedoed and sunk by Hudeček . Three days later , the British India passenger ship met the same fate . Even though escorted by an Italian destroyer and a trawler , " Mongara " was torpedoed and sunk by " U - 28 " just from the breakwater at Messina . The 8 , 205 - ton liner — the largest ship sunk by " U - 28 " — was en route from Sydney to London when she went down , but was spared any loss of life in the attack . In eight days in commission , " U - 28 " s tally was over 13 , 000 tons , already exceeding the totals of all four U - boats of the . The following month , " U - 28 " sank the 3 , 881 - ton collier " Maston " from Cape Spartivento , Calabria , on 13 August , killing two men of the British ship ' s crew . Three days after " Maston " went down , " U - 28 " sank " Bradford City " , a 3 , 683 - ton British Q ship in the Straits of Messina , with no loss of life . " Bradford City " , operating under the pseudonym " Saros " , had been particularly detached to the Straits to hunt " U - 28 " and had ignored orders to proceed to port from officers unaware of her naval status . After the torpedo struck , the ship ' s " panic party " had taken to the boats in the hope of luring her attacker to the surface , but the arrival of the French naval trawler " Hiver " drove " U - 28 " away before the gun crews aboard " Bradford City " could engage the submarine . " Bradford City " sank within 30 minutes off San Remo . In October , " U - 28 " closed out her 1917 list of victims with " Bontnewydd " , a British steamer sunk north - northeast of Susa . The 3 , 296 - ton steamer was sailing in ballast from Marseilles for Karachi . In January 1918 , " U - 28 " sank an additional three ships . " Bosforo " , an Italian steamer of 2 , 723 tons headed for Salonika , was sent to the bottom near Cape Spartivento on 12 January . The following day , " U - 28 " dispatched the British steamer " Rapallo " south of Cape Peloro . One sailor aboard the one - year - old ship died in the attack , which occurred while the ship was headed to Messina in ballast . On 21 January , " West Wales " , a collier headed from Barry to Alexandria , was sunk from Malta , taking her load of coal and two of her crew to the bottom . On 8 March , " U - 28 " attacked two ships , sinking one of them . The first ship , " Mitra " , a 5 , 592 - ton tanker was hit by " U - 28 " but was able to make port in Malta with her cargo of oil . Later in the month , " U - 28 " sank from Linosa , killing one sailor in the attack . The 1905 British ship was carrying cotton and cottonseed from Alexandria for London when the attack occurred . Three days later , " Stolt Nielsen " , a 5 , 684 - ton steamship , was sent to the bottom from Malta . Carrying a general cargo for the Admiralty when she went down , the British ship turned out to be the final ship to be sunk by " U - 28 " . At the war ' s end , " U - 28 " was surrendered to Italy at Venice in 1919 . Later awarded to Italy as a war reparation , she was scrapped at Venice in 1920 . In her 18 - month career , " U - 28 " sank ten ships with a combined tonnage of 44 , 743 , and damaged an eleventh . Ships sunk or damaged . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > damaged but not sunk