# SMS Vulkan

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This article is about the 1908 German navy U-boat salvage tug. For the 1843 Austrian navy paddle steamer, see [SMS Vulcano](/source/SMS_Vulcano).

**SMS *Vulkan*** was a [U-boat](/source/U-boat) [salvage tug](/source/Salvage_tug) in the [Kaiserliche Marine](/source/Kaiserliche_Marine) laid down in 1907 and commissioned in 1908. The ship displaced 1595 tons and had a top speed of 12 knots.

The famous U-boat commander [Max Valentiner](/source/Max_Valentiner) served as salvage officer on *Vulkan* in early 1911. On 17 January 1911, he and the crew saved all 30 men from [*U-3*](/source/SM_U-3_(Germany)) by rescuing them via a [torpedo tube](/source/Torpedo_tube) after it sank near [Kiel](/source/Kiel) harbour in [Heikendorfer Bay](/source/Heikendorfer_Bay) because of an unclosed ventilation shaft valve. Amongst the saved crew was [Otto Weddigen](/source/Otto_Weddigen), the later commander of and [Paul Clarrendorf](/source/Paul_Clarrendorf), the commander of *U-boot-Abnahme-Kommando* in Kiel which enlisted U-boat crews.

*Vulkan* is also famous for salvaging two U-boats, on 27 August 1915 and on 17 September 1917.

At the end of World War One on 11 November 1918 the vessel surrendered to the [British](/source/United_Kingdom) forces together with the larger salvage tug [SMS *Cyclop*](/source/SMS_Cyclop_(1916)). It sank en route to [Harwich](/source/Harwich) on 6 April 1919 in position [54°54′N 06°18′E](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?params=54_54_N_06_18_E).

## See also

- [Russian salvage ship Kommuna](/source/Russian_salvage_ship_Kommuna)

## External links

- [u-boot-net.de webpage about SMS Vulkan](https://web.archive.org/web/20070927220129/http://www.u-boot-net.de/include.php?path=content%2Fcontent.php&contentid=70) (in German)
- [max-valentiner.dk webpage about Max Valentiner and salvage of U-3 in 1911](http://www.max-valentiner.dk/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171127135757/http://www.max-valentiner.dk/) 2017-11-27 at the Wayback Machine (in Danish)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SMS Vulkan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Vulkan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Vulkan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.