SM U-118 - A World War One German Submarine Washed Ashore On The Beach - Hastings, England - In Front Of 'Queens Hotel’ - 4.16.1919

On April 16, 1919, the residents at Queens Hotel, a beach-front hotel in Hastings, on the Sussex coast in England, awoke to the most amazing sight.  No longer was there just a pebble beach and the waves rolling in, but also a most original beach ornament, a German U-Boat.
There firmly aground on the pebbles was the German U-boat SM U-118.  The Imperial German Navy was served by 329 U-boats during WW I and this one, commanded by Herbert Strohwasser, undertook only one patrol, sinking two ships before she was surrendered on February 23, 1919, as part of the general surrender of the Imperial Navy at the end of the war.  She had been constructed in the Vulcan Boatyards and was launched on January 23, 1918.
She displaced 1,164 tons when on the surface and 1,512 tons when submerged.  She measured 267 feet long and was 24.3 feet at her beam.  She carried two diesel motors which produced 1,200 hp on the surface, and underwater she was powered by two electric motors, together producing 600 hp.
At the end of the war, she was designated to be transferred to France to be cut up for scrap and was being towed through the English Channel towards Scapa Flow when she was caught in a storm, and the towing hawser snapped.  At 12:45 am, wind and waves deposited U-118 onto the beach in front of the Queens Hotel.
Two enterprising members of the Coast Guard charged to take people inside the sub, but when the guardsmen fell ill this practice was stopped, they eventually died from inhaling poisonous chlorine gas that was being emitted by the batteries.
The Navy tried to refloat the submarine using three tractors, but this was not successful.
Then a French destroyer attempted to break it up by shelling it.  This was quickly stopped due the proximity of the hotel and other buildings in the town.
It was eventually scrapped in 1921.
This purpose-built killing machine took part in trying to block English trade routes during WW I.  The Royal Navy was superior in size and capability, and could operate globally, which was not the case with the German navy.
The U-boats fulfilled a pivotal role in preventing supplies, both food, and munitions, from reaching English shores.  The U-boats sank some 5,000 ships and killed a similar number of men during the First World War.
During the campaign, 217 U-Boats were lost to various causes, ending up on the bottom of the sea or, in this case, on the beach.