British B class submarine

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United Kingdom
HMS B4
Builders:	Vickers
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceding class:	A-class
Following class:	C-class
In service:	1904
Ships in Class
Ships in class:	B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B10, B11
General Characteristics
Displacement:	287 tons surfaced; 316 tons submerged
Length:	135 ft
Beam:	13.5 ft
Draught:	Unknown
Speed:	12 knots (22 km/h) surfaced, 7 knots (13 km/h) submerged
Range:	1,300 nautical miles (2400 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h) on the surface
Complement:	15
Armament:	2 × 18 in (457 mm) bow torpedo tubes

The B class was a class of eleven submarines of the Royal Navy, built by Vickers and launched in 1904–1906. Most served in World War I.

[edit] Design

The B class was similar in design to the A class, intended for coastal patrol work. The boats had petrol engines for surface propulsion and batteries for underwater propulsion. The design was intended to overcome the limitations of speed, endurance and seakeeping that affected the boats of the A class, and the boats were substantially longer and heavier. Improvements were made to surface speed, about 12 to 10 knots (22 to 19 km/h) for the A class, and endurance (1,300 to 600 nautical miles (2400 to 1100 km), but the underwater speed of 7 knots (13 km/h) was much the same. Seakeeping was improved by the addition of a deck casing, and underwater manoeuvrability by the addition of hydroplanes.

[edit] History

B2 sank off Dover on 4 October 1912 after colliding with SS Amerika.

By World War I, the boats of this class were obsolescent, and some were quickly relegated to training duties.

B6 to B11 were sent to the Mediterranean on the outbreak of World War I. On 13 December 1914, B11, commanded by Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook, entered the Dardanelles and torpedoed the Turkish battleship Mesudiye.

Due to lack of spare parts, these boats ceased to be used after 1915, and were converted to surface patrol boats and renamed S6 to S11. S10 was sunk on 9 August 1916 by Austrian air attack. The remaining boats served in the Adriatic and at Malta.

British B-class submarine