SM U - 41 ( Austria - Hungary ) SM " U - 41 or U - XLI " was a " U - 27 " class U - boat or submarine for the Austro - Hungarian Navy . " U - 41 " , built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino ( CNT ) at the Pola Navy Yard , was launched in November 1917 . When she was commissioned in February 1918 , she became the last boat of her class to enter service . She was also the last domestically constructed Austro - Hungarian U - boat to enter service . She had a single hull just over in length . She displaced 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 a short service career marred by repeated engine breakdowns , " U - 41 " sank one ship , the French steamer " Amiral Charner " of . " U - 41 " was at Cattaro at war ' s end , and was ceded to France as a war reparation in 1920 . She was towed to Bizerta and broken up within a 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 . Once these steps had 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 , one of the two German shipyards building UB II submarines . " U - 41 " displaced surfaced and submerged . She had a single hull with saddle tank s , and was planned to be 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 - 41 " 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 - 41 " 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 . " U - 41 " was ordered from Cantiere Navale Triestino ( CNT ) as a replacement for ( which had been sunk in May 1916 ) . She was laid down on 23 February 1917 at the Pola Navy Yard . During construction , " U - 41 " was lengthened by nearly to accommodate diesel engines that had been ordered for " U - 6 " before her loss . " U - 41 " was launched on 11 November . Service career . On 19 February 1918 , SM " U - 41 " was commissioned into the Austro - Hungarian Navy under the command of " Linienschiffsleutnant " Edgar Wolf . Previously in command of for a week in April 1915 , the 28 - year - old Wolf was a native of Fiume ( present - day Rijeka , Croatia ) . When she entered service , " U - 41 " was the last boat of her class to do so . She was also the last domestically constructed U - boat completed and commissioned into the Austro - Hungarian Navy . Wolf and " U - 41 " departed Pola on 17 March for a patrol in the Mediterranean . On 30 March , Wolf attempted to torpedo a steamer off the coast of Africa , but missed his target . Three days later , the left diesel engine failed and Wolf steered his boat back to port , arriving at Cattaro on 5 April . " U - 41 " sailed for Pola on 9 April and , completing the journey two days later , underwent repairs over the next six weeks . While conducting a diving trial out of Pola on 25 May , the boat sprang a leak at the depth of . She returned to Pola and underwent more extensive repairs , remaining there until August . After making way to the submarine base at Brioni , " U - 41 " set out on another patrol into the Mediterranean on 29 August , but put into Sebenico the next day for engine repairs . Resuming her patrol after a day ' s delay , " U - 41 " reached her patrol area east of Malta . Wolf and " U - 41 " scored their first success on 13 September , when they torpedoed and sank the steamer " Amiral Charner " west of Pantellaria . The 4 , 604 - ton French ship was carrying horses and a general cargo from Marseilles for Salonika when she was attacked . Six were killed in the attack on the French ship . On 26 September , " U - 41 " attacked another steamer west of Kefalonia , but was apparently unsuccessful . " U - 41 " ended her patrol at Cattaro on 28 September . On October 6 , Wolf and " U - 41 " set out from Cattaro to patrol off Durazzo and the Albanian coast . After nine days without success , the boat returned to Cattaro , and remained there through the end of the war . On 1 November , " U - 41 " was taken over by a British commission , who controlled the vessel until she was ceded to France as a war reparation in 1920 . " U - 41 " and sister boats and were towed to Bizerta . " U - 29 " foundered en route , but " U - 31 " and " U - 41 " reached their destination and were scrapped within the next year .