SM U-117

SM U-117 was a Type UE II long-range minelayer submarine of the Imperial German Navy. She was laid down in 1917, at Hamburg, Germany, by Aktiengesellschaft Vulcan and launched on 10 December 1917. She was commissioned in the Imperial German Navy on 28 March 1918, with Kapitänleutnant Otto Dröscher in command. After shakedown, U-117 was posted to the U-Kreuzer Verband (submarine cruiser unit) on 1 June 1918. Over the next five weeks, she completed fitting out at Kiel. In her short career, she became the most successful submarine of her class, sinking 20 vessels. On 11 July, U-117 departed Kiel and took the eastern route through the Baltic Sea around Denmark and out into the North Sea by way of the Skagerrak. After rounding the Shetland Islands, she set a course for the coast of North America to lay minefields off the coast of the United States and to conduct cruiser warfare. During the voyage across the Atlantic, heavy weather foiled her attempts to attack two lone steamers, two convoys, and a small cruiser. U-117 reached the American coastal zone on 8 August 1918, and her fortunes improved soon thereafter.