A Brummer-class cruiser could carry 400 mines, compared with 18 in a UC II submarine. The submarine could travel 7,000 to 10,000 nautical miles at seven knots on the surface, while Brummer managed about 5,800 nautical miles at 12 knots and could reach 28 knots for the dash in and out. Matching one cruiser's mine load would require roughly 21 or 22 UC IIs. Four 150 mm guns, two 88 mm guns, and two 50 cm torpedo tubes also let the cruiser fight shipping and smaller warships instead of serving as a passive carrier.
Notable Point · 7:00-9:40
Mine capacity, speed, and armament
A comparison with the UC II submarine shows why Brummer's 400 mines and 28-knot speed made it a very different operational threat.