British E-class submarine

Class overview
Builders:
Operators:
Preceded by: British D class submarine
Succeeded by: British L class submarine
Completed: 58
General characteristics
Displacement:

Group 1: Surfaced: 665 tons Submerged: 796 tons

Group 2: Surfaced: 667 tons Submerged: 807 tons

Group 3: Surfaced: 662 tons Submerged: 807 tons

Australian Boats: Surfaced: 664 tons

Submerged: 780 tons
Length:

Group 1: 178 ft (54 m) Group 2+3: 181 ft (55 m)

Australian boats: 176 ft (54 m)
Beam: All Groups: 15.05 ft (4.59 m)
Propulsion:

Group 1+ Australian Boats: 2 × 800 hp Vickers diesel 2 × 600 hp electric 2 screws

Group 2+3: 2 × 800 hp Vickers diesel 2 × 840 hp electric

2 screws
Speed:

Group 1: Surfaced: 15 knots (28 km/h) Submerged: 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h)

Group 2: Surfaced: 15.25 knots (28.24 km/h) Submerged: 10.25 knots (18.98 km/h)

Group 3 and Australian boats: Surfaced: 15 knots (28 km/h)

Submerged: 10 knots (19 km/h)
Range:

All groups: Surfaced: 3000 nmi at 10 knots

Submerged: 65 nmi at 5 knots
Complement: All groups: 30
Armament:
Model of an E class submarine
Interior of an E class submarine, possibly E34

The British E class submarines started out as improved versions of the British D class submarine. All of the first group and some of the second group were completed before the outbreak of World War I. The group 1 boats of the E class cost £101,900 per hull but the price eventually increased when the second group entered service to £105,700 per hull.

As submarine technology improved, the E class went through several modifications to install the new improvements which were all installed by the time the final group was under construction.

The class served in the North Sea and the Baltic and Turkish operations while some served with Russian ships in Russian coastal waters before being scuttled to avoid capture by the communists who were gradually taking control of Russia.

The E class served with the Royal Navy throughout World War I as the backbone of the submarine fleet and were eventually replaced by the British L class submarine. All the E class submarines were withdrawn from service by 1922.

Boats

Notes

  1. "Sub's wartime grave discovered". BBC News. 23 October 2009.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British E class submarines.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, October 11, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.