The German Type UE I submarine was an ocean-going single-hull submarine with saddle tanks built by AG Vulkan in Hamburg and Kaiserliche Werft Danzig. The Type UE I was equipped with two six-cylinder Benz engines for for a surface top speed of to . Armed with a single torpedo tube forward and aft, plus one SK L/30 deck gun (U-72 received a SK L/45 gun in 1917), its main weapon were the 38 mines in two minelaying tubes. The boats were crewed by four officers and 28 men for a complement of 32.