British E class submarine
Encyclopedia
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 All the E class submarines were withdrawn from service by 1922.
British D class submarine
There were plans for a further two, D9 and D10, but these were launched at Chatham Dockyard as HMS E1 and HMS E2.-See also:*Not to be confused with the United States D class submarine of 1909-1910.-Sources:...
. All of the first group and some of the second group were completed before the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
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
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
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
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
throughout World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
as the backbone of the submarine fleet and were eventually replaced by the British L class submarine
British L class submarine
The British L class submarine were originally planned under the emergency war programme as an improved version of the British E class submarine. The scale of change allowed the L class to become a separate class....
. All the E class submarines were withdrawn from service by 1922.
Boats
- Group 1
- E1HMS E1HMS E1 was a British E class submarine built by Chatham Dockyard and cost £101,700. E1 was laid down on 14 February 1911. She was launched on 9 November 1912 and was commissioned on 6 May 1913...
- Launched 9 November 1912. - E2HMS E2HMS E2 was a British E class submarine built by Chatham Dockyard. E2 was laid down on 14 February 1911 and launched on 23 November 1912.She was sold 7 March 1921 to B Zammit, Malta....
- Launched 23 November 1912. - E3HMS E3HMS E3 was the third E-class submarines to be constructed, built at Barrow by Vickers in 1911-1912. Built with compartmentalisation and endurance not previously achievable, these were the best submarines in the Royal Navy at the start of the First World War...
- Launched 29 October 1912. Torpedoed by U-27 on 18 October 1914. - E4HMS E4HMS E4 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness, costing £101,900. E4 was laid down on 16 May 1911, launched on 5 February 1912 and commissioned on 28 January 1913.-Service history:...
- Launched 5 February 1912. - E5HMS E5HMS E5 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 9 June 1911 and was commissioned on 28 June 1913. She cost £106,700.-Service history:...
- Launched 17 May 1912. Mined & sunk in the North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, 7 March 1916. - E6HMS E6HMS E6 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 12 November 1911 and was commissioned on 17 October 1913. She cost £106,900.-Service history:...
- Launched 12 November 1912. Mined on 26 December 1915. - E7HMS E7HMS E7 was a British E class submarine built at Chatham Dockyard. She was laid down on 30 March 1912 and was commissioned on 16 March 1914. She cost £105,700.-Service history:...
- Launched 2 October 1913. Scuttled on 5 September 1915 in the DardanellesDardanellesThe Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
during the Battle of GallipoliBattle of GallipoliThe Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
. - E8HMS E8HMS E8 was a British E class submarine built at Chatham Dockyard. She was laid down on 30 March 1912 and was commissioned on 18 June 1914. She cost £105,700. During World War I she was part of the British submarine flotilla in the Baltic.-Service history:...
- Launched 30 October 1913. - AE1HMAS AE1HMAS AE1 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy . She was the first submarine to serve in the RAN, and was lost at sea with all hands near East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, on 14 September 1914, after less than seven months in service...
- Built for the RAN. Lost near Papua New GuineaPapua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, 14 September 1914. - AE2HMAS AE2HMAS AE2 was an E class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy . She was commissioned into the RAN at Portsmouth on 28 February 1914 and was scuttled little more than a year later in the Sea of Marmara after being hit by enemy shellfire during the Battle of Gallipoli.-Construction and...
- Built for the RAN. Scuttled on 28 April 1915, in the Sea of MarmaraSea of MarmaraThe Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
during the Battle of Gallipoli.
- E1
- Group 2
- E9HMS E9HMS E9 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow. She was laid down on 1 June 1912 and was commissioned on 18 June 1914.-Service history:...
- Launched 29 November 1913. Part of the British submarine flotilla in the BalticBritish submarine flotilla in the BalticA British submarine flotilla operated in the Baltic Sea for three years during the First World War. The squadron of nine submarines was attached to the Russian Baltic Fleet. The main task of the flotilla was to prevent the import of iron ore from Sweden to Imperial Germany...
. - E10HMS E10HMS E10 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 10 July 1912 and was commissioned on 10 March 1914. She cost £105,700.E10 was lost in the North Sea on 18 January 1915.- References :...
- Launched 29 November 1913. Lost 18 January 1915. - E11HMS E11HMS E11 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Navy launched on 23 April 1914. E11 was one of the most successful submarines in action during the 1915 naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, sinking over 80 vessels of all sizes in three tours of the Sea of Marmara.-European operations:In...
- Launched 23 April 1914. - E12HMS E12HMS E12 was a British E class submarine built by HM Dockyard, Chatham. She was laid down on 16 December 1912 and was commissioned on 14 October 1914. She cost £101,900.-Service history:...
- Launched 5 September 1914. - E13HMS E13HMS E13 was a British E class submarine built by HM Dockyard, Chatham. E13 was laid down on 16 December 1912 and was commissioned on 9 December 1914. The hull cost £101,900.-Service history:...
- Launched 22 September 1914. Ran aground and interned by the Danes. - E14HMS E14HMS E14 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. During the First World War, two of her captains were awarded the Victoria Cross, and a large number of her officers and crew were also decorated....
- Launched 7 July 1914. 27 January 1918, Sunk by coastal battery fire. Nine survivors. - E15HMS E15HMS E15 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Navy, commissioned in 1914.- Service history :During World War I, E15 served in the Mediterranean, participating in the Gallipoli Campaign against the Ottoman Empire. On 16 April 1915, under the command of Lieutenant Commander T.S...
- Launched 23 April 1914. Destroyed on 19 April 1915 in the Dardanelles. - E16HMS E16HMS E16 was an E-class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness for the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 15 May 1913 and was commissioned on 27 February 1915...
- Launched 23 September 1914. - E17HMS E17HMS E17 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 16 February 1915 and was commissioned on 7 April 1915.-Service history:...
- Launched 16 January 1915. - E18HMS E18HMS E18 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Navy, launched in 1915 and lost in the Baltic Sea in May 1916 while operating out of Reval. The exact circumstances surrounding the sinking remain a mystery. The wreck of the submarine was discovered in October 2009.- 1915 :E18 entered service in the UK...
- Launched 4 March 1915. Mined & sunk in the Baltic Sea close to the EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n island of HiiumaaHiiumaaHiiumaa is the second largest island belonging to Estonia. It is located in the Baltic Sea, north of the island of Saaremaa, a part of the West Estonian archipelago. Its largest town is Kärdla.-Name:...
, possibly on 2 June 1916. - E19HMS E19HMS E19 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Navy, commissioned in 1914 at Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. During World War I she was part of the British submarine flotilla in the Baltic....
- Launched 13 May 1915. - E20HMS E20HMS E20 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 25 November 1914 and was commissioned on 30 August 1915.-Service history:...
- Launched 12 June 1915. Torpedoed on 5 November 1915 in the Dardanelles.
- E9
- Group 3
- E21HMS E21HMS E21 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 29 July 1915 and was commissioned on 1 October 1915.HMS E21 was sold on 14 December 1921....
- Launched 24 July 1915. - E22HMS E22HMS E22 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 27 August 1914 and was commissioned on 8 November 1915.-Service history:...
- Launched 27 August 1915. In 1916 fitted as aircraft carrier for two Sopwith BabySopwith Baby-See also:...
floatplanes. Torpedoed and sunk in North Sea off Great YarmouthGreat YarmouthGreat Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
while on surface by German U-boat, 25 April 1916. - E23HMS E23HMS E23 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on the 28 September 1914 and was commissioned on 6 December 1915.-Service history:...
- Launched 28 September 1915. - E24HMS E24HMS E24 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Navy built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was launched on 9 December 1915 and was commissioned on 9 January 1916.E24 was mined off Heligoland Bight on 24 March 1916...
- Launched 9 December 1915. Minelayer. - E25HMS E25HMS E25 was a British E class submarine built by William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir. She was, along with the future , one of a pair of submarines ordered by the Ottoman Navy on 29 April 1914, but was taken over by the Royal Navy and assigned the E25 name...
- Launched 23 August 1915. - E26HMS E26HMS E26 was a British E class submarine built by William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir. She was, along with the future , one of a pair of submarines ordered by the Ottoman Navy on 29 April 1914, but was taken over by the Royal Navy and assigned the E26 name...
- Launched 11 November 1915. Lost on 6 July 1916. - E27HMS E27HMS E27 was a British E class submarine built by Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun. She was laid down on 9 June 1917 and was commissioned in August 1917.HMS E27 was sold in Newport on 6 September 1922....
- Launched 9 June 1917. - HMS E28 was cancelled on 20 April 1915.
- E29HMS E29HMS E29 was a British E class submarine built by Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. She was laid down on 1 June 1915 and was commissioned in October 1915....
- Launched 1 June 1915. - E30HMS E30HMS E30 was a British E class submarine built by Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle upon Tyne. She was laid down on 29 June 1914 and was commissioned in November 1915....
- Launched 29 June 1915. Lost on 22 November 1916. - E31HMS E31HMS E31 was a British E class submarine built by Scotts, Greenock. She was laid down in December 1914 and was commissioned on 8 January 1916.-Service history:...
- Launched 23 August 1915. - E32HMS E32HMS E32 was a British E class submarine built by J. Samuel White, Cowes, Isle of Wight. She was laid down on 16 August 1916 and was commissioned in October 1916.HMS E32 was sold in Sunderland on 6 September 1922....
- Launched 16 August 1916. - E33HMS E33HMS E33 was a British E class submarine built by John Thornycroft, Woolston, Hampshire. She was laid down on 18 April 1916 and was commissioned in November 1917.HMS E33 was sold in Newport on 6 September 1922....
- Launched 18 April 1916. - E34HMS E34HMS E34 was a British E class submarine built by John Thornycroft, Woolston, Hampshire. She was laid down on 21 January 1917 and was commissioned in March 1917.-Service history:HMS E34 sank the U-Boat off Harwich in the North Sea on 10 May 1918....
- Launched 27 January 1917. Minelayer. - E35HMS E35HMS E35 was a British E class submarine built by John Brown, Clydebank. She was laid down on 20 May 1916 and was commissioned on 14 July 1917.-Service history:...
- Launched 20 May 1916. - E36HMS E36HMS E36 was an E-class submarine built by John Brown, Clydebank for the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 7 January 1915 and was commissioned on 16 November 1917....
- Launched 16 September 1916. Lost on 17 January 1917. - E37HMS E37HMS E37 was a British E class submarine built by Fairfield, Govan, Clyde. She was laid down on 25 September 1915 and was commissioned on 17 March 1916.HMS E37 was lost in the North Sea on 1 December 1916. There were no survivors....
- Launched 2 September 1915. Lost on 1 December 1916. - E38HMS E38HMS E38 was a British E class submarine built by Fairfield, Govan, Clyde. She was laid down on 13 June 1916 and was commissioned on 10 July 1916.HMS E38 was sold in Newport on 6 September 1922....
- Launched 13 June 1916. - E39HMS E39HMS E39 was a British E class submarine launched by Palmers, Jarrow in 1916 and was completed by Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle upon Tyne. She was laid down on 18 May 1916 and was commissioned in October 1916....
- Launched 18 May 1916. - E40HMS E40HMS E40 was a British E class submarine launched by Palmer, Jarrow in 1916 and was completed by Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle upon Tyne. She was laid down on 9 November 1916 and was commissioned in May 1917.HMS E40 was sold on 14 December 1921....
- Launched 9 November 1916. - E41HMS E41HMS E41 was a British E class submarine built by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead. She was laid down on 26 July 1915 and was commissioned in February 1916.-Service history:...
- Launched 22 October 1915. Minelayer. - E42HMS E42HMS E42 was a British E class submarine built by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead. She was laid down on 23 October 1915 and commissioned in July 1916.She served during the First World War, making an unsuccessful attack on U-92 on 1 July 1918....
- Launched 22 October 1915. - E43HMS E43HMS E43 was a British E class submarine built by Swan Hunter, Wallsend. She was laid down on 22 December 1914 and was commissioned on 20 February 1916....
- Launched 11 November 1915. - E44HMS E44HMS E44 was a British E class submarine built by Swan Hunter, Wallsend. She was laid down on 8 January 1916 and was commissioned on 18 July 1916.HMS E44 was sold in South Wales on 13 October 1921....
- Launched 21 February 1916. - E45HMS E45HMS E45 was a British E class submarine built by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead. She was laid down on 29 January 1916 and was commissioned in August 1916.HMS E45 torpedoed U-Boat in the North Sea on 15 October 1917....
- Launched 25 January 1916. Minelayer. - E46HMS E46HMS E46 was a British E class submarine built by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead. She was laid down on 4 April 1916 and was commissioned in October 1916.HMS E46 was sold in South Wales on 6 September 1922....
- Launched 4 April 1916. Minelayer. - E47HMS E47HMS E47 was an E-class submarine launched by Fairfield, Govan for the Royal Navy and completed by William Beardmore, Dalmuir. She was laid down on 29 May 1916 and was commissioned in October 1916.-Service history:...
- Launched 29 May 1916. Lost on 20 August 1917. - E48HMS E48HMS E48 was a British E class submarine launched by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan in 1916 and was completed by William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir. She was laid down on 2 August 1916 and was commissioned in February 1917....
- Launched 2 August 1916. - E49HMS E49HMS E49 was an E-class submarine built by Swan Hunter, Wallsend for the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 15 February 1915 and was commissioned on 14 December 1916....
- Launched 18 September 1916. Mined & sunk near HuneyHuneyHuney is an uninhabited island due east of the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The island is located approximately 1 kilometre south west of the Balta and has an area of just . Huney is linked to Unst at an extremely low tide by a sandy tombolo called the Yei of Huney...
in the Shetland IslandsShetland IslandsShetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
, 12 March 1917. - E50HMS E50HMS E50 was a British E class submarine built by John Brown, Clydebank. She was laid down on 14 November 1916 and was commissioned on 23 January 1917....
- Launched 13 November 1916. Mined & sunk, 1 February 1918. - E51HMS E51HMS E51 was a British E class submarine built originally ordered from Yarrow, Scotstoun but transferred to Scotts, Greenock on 3 March 1915. HMS E51 was laid down on 30 November 1916 and commissioned on 27 January 1917....
- Launched 30 November 1916. Minelayer. - E52HMS E52HMS E52 was a British E class submarine ordered from Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun but was transferred on 3 March 1915 to William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton. She was laid down on 25 January 1917 and was commissioned on an unknown date....
- Launched 25 January 1917. - E53HMS E53HMS E53 was a British E class submarine built by William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir. She was laid down on an unknown date and was commissioned in March 1916.HMS E53 was sold on 6 September 1922....
- Launched in 1916. - E54HMS E54HMS E54 was a British E class submarine built by William Beardmore, Dalmuir. She was laid down on 1 February 1915 and was commissioned in May 1916.She sank UC-10 on 21 August 1916.HMS E54 was sold on 14 December 1921....
- Launched in 1916. - E55HMS E55HMS E55 was a British E class submarine built by William Denny, Dumbarton. She was laid down on 5 February 1916 and was commissioned in March 1916.HMS E55 was sold in Newcastle on 6 September 1922....
- Launched 5 February 1916. - E56HMS E56HMS E56 was a British E class submarine built by William Denny, Dumbarton. She was laid down on 19 June 1916 and was commissioned on an unknown date.HMS E56 was sold in Granton, Edinburgh on 9 June 1923....
- Launched 19 June 1916.
- E21
External links
- Diving video of the E34 http://www.hollandadventureproductions.nl/N.E34.html
- Diving video of the E47 http://www.hollandadventureproductions.nl/N.E47.html