Ub-82 [possibly]: Torr Head, Firth of Clyde
Overview
This record is one of two near-duplicate map points labelled possibly UB-82, a German First World War submarine. UB-82 was sunk on 17 April 1918 by the patrol vessels Pilot Me and Young Fred, and all 37 aboard died. Survey records describe an intact submarine-sized wreck, but the saved modern point conflicts sharply with positions written in the same national account. The history is strong; the match to this pin remains possible.
The vessel and voyage
UB-82 was a German Type UB III submarine built by A. G. Weser at Bremen, launched in September 1917 and commissioned the following month under Walter Gustav Becker. It was about 56 metres long, carried torpedoes and a deck gun, and completed three patrols without a recorded victory. Its final work brought it into the waters north of Ireland, where British patrol vessels guarded approaches used by military and merchant shipping.
How it was lost
On 17 April 1918 the British patrol drifters Pilot Me and Young Fred attacked UB-82 with depth charges and sank it. Contemporary reports of oil helped mark a loss area. The national wreck account later linked a submarine-shaped seabed target with UB-82, but its narrative survey positions differ greatly from this record's saved map point. The attack and date are reliable history for the submarine; the exact resting place shown here is still a possible match.
Deaths and survival
All 37 people aboard UB-82 died and there were no survivors. Commander Walter Gustav Becker was among them. That makes any correctly identified hull a war grave, but the casualty fact does not settle which plotted point contains the crew. The two near-duplicate national records and their conflicting position information should be read together. Respect for the dead means keeping the known loss separate from an uncertain pin until physical evidence confirms the submarine.
What remains
Historic surveys reported a roughly 50-metre, seven-metre-high wreck in about 47 metres of water, lying near north-south, apparently intact and surrounded by fish. It was proposed as UB-82 rather than proved by a named find. More seriously, those survey coordinates and the wartime oil position do not agree with this saved map point. The description may belong to the intended UB-82 record while the current plotted conversion is wrong; that conflict must be fixed before the remains can be described as lying here.
Why it mattered
UB-82 shows the close fight to control the sea routes around northern Ireland in the final year of the First World War. Small patrol vessels could destroy a submarine with depth charges, ending a mission and 37 lives even though that submarine had sunk no ship. The record also shows how mapping errors can move a powerful story. Keeping the duplicate points and conflicting positions visible protects both the archaeological search and the real resting place of the crew.
History checked 2026-08-15 against the named sources below.
A wreck point does not grant permission to dive, disturb the site or recover anything. Check current law and local conditions first.