HMS E5
HMS E5
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | E5 |
Builder | Vickers, Barrow |
Cost | £106,700 |
Laid down | 9 June 1911 |
Launched | 17 May 1912 |
Commissioned | 28 June 1913 |
Fate | Sunk presumedly by naval mine , 7 March 1916 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | E-class submarine |
Displacement |
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Length | 178 ft (54 m) |
Beam | 15 ft 5 in (4.70 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Complement | Three officers and 28 men[1] |
Armament | 4 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (1 bow, 2 beam, 1 stern) |
HMS E5 was a British
Design
The early British E-class submarines, from E1 to E8, had a displacement of 652 long tons (662 t) at the surface and 795 long tons (808 t) while submerged. They had a length overall of 180 feet (55 m) and a beam of 22 feet 8.5 inches (6.922 m), and were powered by two 800 horsepower (600 kW) Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two 420 horsepower (310 kW) electric motors.[2][3] The class had a maximum surface speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) and a submerged speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), with a fuel capacity of 50 long tons (51 t) of diesel affording a range of 3,225 miles (5,190 km; 2,802 nmi) when travelling at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), while submerged they had a range of 85 miles (137 km; 74 nmi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph).[2]
The early 'Group 1' E class boats were armed with four
E-Class submarines had wireless systems with 1 kilowatt (1.3 hp) power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to 3 kilowatts (4.0 hp) systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was 100 feet (30 m) although in service some reached depths of below 200 feet (61 m).
Service history
E5 experienced an engine room explosion on 8 June 1913, twenty days before commissioning, which resulted in thirteen deaths. A further three men were killed when there was an oil blow back into the starboard engine off St Ann's Head. The submarine depot ship HMS Adamant and Alligator carried the medical team out to meet E5 on her way into Pembroke Dock. Ten other men were seriously injured, although all civilian staff from Barrow were safe and unharmed.
In December 1913, E5 was part of the 8th Submarine Flotilla, based at Portsmouth as part of the Home Fleets[4]
When war was declared with Germany on 5 August 1914, E5 broke off a refit to re-join 8th Submarine Flotilla at its war station in Harwich later that day.[5]
The
In April 1915, E5 was deployed (along with
On 25 September 1915 E5 torpedoed the German Sperrbrecher (auxiliary minesweeper) SP11, causing SP11 to be beached. Salvage attempts on the German ship were abandoned on 27 September.[12] E5's crew was awarded prize money by the British Admiralty for the sinking of SP11.[13]
Loss
E5 was lost on 7 March 1916 while rescuing the survivors of the
]There were different theories about the reason for the loss of E5. One theory was that she struck a mine, possibly after straying into a German minefield upon being sighted by the German light cruiser Regensburg. Another theory attributed her loss to depth charge attack by torpedo boats escorting the battlecruiser Seydlitz.
In 2016 divers found the wreck of E5 off the island of Schiermonnikoog. Her hatches were open, which suggests that the crew had tried to escape. There was no sign of damage to her hull, indicating that she had not sunk as a result of enemy action.[citation needed]
Notes
- ISBN 978-1-4728-0035-0.
- ^ ISBN 1-904381-05-7
- ^ "E Class". Chatham Submarines. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
- ^ "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Submarines". The Navy List. January 1914. p. 269d.
- ^ Position and Movements, H.M. Ships, War Vessels and Aircraft, British and Foreign, Parts I. and II., August 1914. London: Admiralty Records. 1914.
- ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 6 1921, pp. 54–56
- ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 23 1924, pp. 81–82, 84
- ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 23 1924, pp. 84–85
- ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 23 1924, pp. 93–94
- ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 29 1925, pp. 185, 188–189
- ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 29 1925, pp. 227, 230
- ^ Gröner, Jung & Maass 1985, p. 244
- ^ "Royal Navy Ships Receiving Naval Salvage and Prize Bounty Money: from the London Gazette - August 1914 to December 1920". World War One at Sea. Naval-History.net. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
References
- Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1985). Der deutschen Kriegschiffe 1815–1945: Band 3: U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher (in German). Koblenz, Germany: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. ISBN 3-7637-4802-4.
- Monograph No. 6: The Passage of the Expeditionary Force, August 1914 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. III. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1921. pp. 1–70.
- Monograph No. 23: Home Waters—Part I: From the Outbreak of War to 27 August 1914 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. X. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1924.
- Monograph No. 29: Home Waters—Part IV: From February to July 1915 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XIII. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1925.
Further reading
- Hutchinson, Robert (2001). Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day. OCLC 53783010.
- Preston, Antony. The Royal Navy Submarine Service, A Centennial History.
External links