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First World War (1914-1918)
The U-Boat Menace

The emergence of the submarine was a major development in naval warfare. German submarine - or U-Boat - attacks against Allied shipping in the Atlantic and in European waters posed a major threat to the Allied war effort.

Artifact Record

Life Ring, UC-77

This is a life ring from the German Unterseeboot (U-Boat, or submarine) UC-77, which sank or damaged more than 40 Allied ships.

Commissioned in late December 1916, UC-77 was designed primarily for mine laying in the English Channel and in coastal waters and operated around the British Isles before being sunk with all of its crew in July 1918. Lieutenant-Colonel Beckles Wilson, who collected war trophies for Great Britain and Canada, acquired this life ring, which had originally been intended for a German museum in Berlin.

Life Ring, German
CWM 19390002-094