HM Submarine X1
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HM Submarine X1 |
| Builder: | Naval Dockyard Chatham |
| Laid down: | November 2, 1921 |
| Launched: | November 16, 1923 |
| Commissioned: | December 1925 |
| Decommissioned: | 1936 |
| Fate: | Scrapped at Pembroke, December 12, 1936 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2,780 long tons (2,820 MT) surfaced 3,600 long tons (3,700 MT) submerged |
| Length: | 363 feet 6 inches (110.8 m) |
| Beam: | 29 feet 9 inches (9.1 m) |
| Draught: | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 x MAN AG diesel engines, 6,000 horsepower (4,500 kW) 2,600 horsepower (1,900 kW) electric motor |
| Speed: | 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h) surfaced 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 12,400 nautical miles (23,000 km) surfaced |
| Complement: | 110 (8 officers and 102 ratings) |
| Armament: | 6 x 21 inch bow torpedo tubes 4 x 5.2 inch guns in 2 twin turrets 4 x machine guns |
for the midget submarine of the Second World War, see X class submarine
HM Submarine X1 was conceived and designed as a submersible commerce raider for the Royal Navy, and at the time of her launching was the largest submarine in the world. The idea of a submarine cruiser had been mooted as early as 1915, but was not put into practice until 1921.
X1, which was based on the uncompleted German U-173 class, was laid down on November 2 1921 at the Naval Dockyard Chatham and completed on September 23 1925, commissioning in December 1925.
The 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, of which Britain was a signatory, did not ban submarines but it did ban their use against merchant ships, which was X1's unacknowledged purpose; its armament had been designed to successfully engage the classes of vessels likely to be escorting convoys, such as destroyers and frigates. Therefore, a certain amount of secrecy surrounded X1, the government even going to the lengths of taking a national newspaper to court over its pictures of the new submarine following her launch, all copies of the paper being seized.
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[edit] Description
[edit] Propulsion
Twin MAN diesel engines had been fitted to X1 as they had been seen to be efficient when fitted in German U-boats of the First World War. In theory she could make 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h) on the surface, and at economical speed she had a greater range than normal cruisers, but unfortunately her diesel engines suffered from continual mechanical problems and she was plainly vulnerable to counter-fire from ships and bombing by aircraft.
[edit] Armament
Besides her six 21-inch bow torpedo tubes she carried two twin 5.2 inch gun turrets - one fore and one aft of the conning tower. X1 was intended to be able to sink or disable a destroyer at a range of 6,000 yards (5,500 m) with her guns alone, but in practice this was unlikely, as the low height above the water of her range-finding equipment and the unsteady nature of a submarine made her inherently unsuitable as a gun platform.
[edit] Fate
X1 was placed in Reserve in 1933, taken off the active list in 1936, and finally scrapped at Pembroke on December 12, 1936. As such she became the only vessel designed, built for and scrapped by the Royal Navy between the two World Wars.
[edit] See also
- British M class submarine - an earlier attempt at a gun equipped submarine
- Surcouf - a similar French large gun-armed submarine
[edit] References
- Compton-Hall, Richard (1985). Submarine warfare, Monsters and midgets. Blandford Press. ISBN 0 7137 1389 5.
- Submariners.co.uk Boat database
