During WW1 nearly one third of the u-boats built were dedicated minelayers of the UC and UE series and some of them racked up quite a lot of tonnage, such as UC-17 with 144,423 tons (though a fair bit was achieved with guns and torpedoes). Quite likely it was a lot easier to get close to ports back then, as ASW had to be invented from scratch. Mines were however also extensively used for ASW and with quite devastating effect.
|