War History
The following brief War History of the UB-88 was obtained
from the British Admiralty Office in London, by Naval
Operations, Washington:
“UB-88 is a small ocean going type of submarine
carrying one gun, ten torpedoes and a crew of about thirty
officers and men. She was commanded by Kapitan Leutnant Von
Robenau.
“She probably did her trials in February and March
1918, but did not leave Germany until the first week in
June.
“She proceeded to the vicinity of Flamborough Head on
the east coast of England, where she sank two steamers. She
apparently had been allotted to the Flanders Flotilla,
since she proceeded south and arrived at Zeebrugge on June
12, 1918.
“She left there on June 20, and proceeded again to
the east coast of England where she sank six steamers. She
was back in Zeebrugge again on July 1.
“On July 29 she left the Flanders coast and then
proceeded via the Straits of Dover into the English
Channel. Her area of operations during this cruise was
probably off Brest, where she torpedoed steamers.
“She returned to Zeebrugge on August 11, having again
passed the Straits of Dover.
“Her next voyage commenced about September 12, when
she again proceeded via Dover to the English Channel. (She
is believed to have been the last German submarine
successfully to have passed Dover Straits.)
“This time she operated in Tor Bay for about a week,
sinking four steamers. She then decided to return to
Flanders via the north of Scotland, and arrived at
Zeebrugge on September 29, only to find the complete
evacuation of the Flanders coast was taking place.
“She was forced to leave there for Germany on October
1, and probably arrived in Germany on October 5.
“She surrenderd at Harwich, England on November 27,
1918.”