HMS B8
Solent , between 1906 and 1912
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | B8 |
| Ordered | 1904–1905 Naval Programme |
| Builder | Vickers |
| Cost | £47,000 |
| Launched | 23 January 1906 |
| Completed | 10 April 1906 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 1919 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | B-class submarine |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 142 ft 3 in (43.4 m) |
| Beam | 12 ft 7 in (3.8 m) |
| Draught | 11 ft 2 in (3.4 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range | 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 8.7 kn (16.1 km/h; 10.0 mph) on the surface |
| Test depth | 100 feet (30.5 m) |
| Complement | 2 officers and 13 ratings |
| Armament | 2 × 18 in (450 mm) bow torpedo tubes |
HMS B8 was one of 11
Design and description
The B class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding
For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder 600-
The boats were armed with two
Construction and career
Ordered as part of the 1904–1905 Naval Programme, B8 was built by
After the start of the First World War and the unsuccessful pursuit of the German ships Goeben and Breslau in August 1914, the B-class submarines were transferred to the Dardanelles area in mid-September to prevent any breakout attempt by the German ships. After the arrival of the larger and more modern E-class submarines in early 1915, the B-class boats began to return to Malta. After the Kingdom of Italy joined the Allies in May 1915, the B-class submarines in the Mediterranean were transferred to Venice to reinforce Italian forces in the northern Adriatic.[6] B8, B7 and B9 were the first to arrive in Venice on 11 October, although B8 was immediately sent to the dockyard to repair damage suffered when she collided with the Italian tugboat Luni. B8 was the first British submarine in the Adriatic to sight an enemy warship when she spotted an Austro-Hungarian destroyer off the Istrian coast on 8 November, although she was unable to attack it. The five British submarines made a total of 13 patrols off the Austro-Hungarian coast before the end of 1915, hampered by bad weather and drifting mines, followed by 13 more in the first two months of 1916.[7]
B8 reported spotting a periscope and being missed by a torpedo while beginning a patrol on 28 February; postwar research has revealed that no enemy submarines were in the area where in the incident occurred. By 27 April the boat was being refitted at Venice. After its completion in early May, the boat began her first patrol of the month on the 23rd. She was attacked by the Austro-Hungarian submarine
Notes
References
- Akermann, Paul (2002). Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955 (reprint of the 1989 ed.). Penzance, Cornwall: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 1-904381-05-7.
- Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Harrison, A. N. (January 1979). "The Development of HM Submarines From Holland No. 1 (1901) to Porpoise (1930) (BR3043)". United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 16 September 2019 – via RN Subs.
- Kemp, Paul & Jung, Peter (1989). "Five Broken Down B Boats: British Submarine Operations in the Northern Adriatic 1915–1917". Warship International. XXVI (1): 10–29. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Wilson, Michael (1981). "The British 'B' Class Submarine". In Roberts, John (ed.). Warship Volume V. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 38–44, 74–79. ISBN 0-85177-244-7.