 In November 1916, the German Imperial Navy, having a hard time finding trained submarine crews, inquired to find out if its ally Austria-Hungary was interested in purchasing some of its Mediterranean submarines.A general agreement led to protracted negotiations, which stalled over the outflow of Austro-Hungarian gold reserves to Germany.But, with all of the details worked out, the two parties agreed on the sale of "UB-47" and sister ship to Austria-Hungary in June 1917.