HMS E8

Career
Name: HMS E8
Builder: HM Dockyard, Chatham
Cost: £105,700
Laid down: 30 March 1912
Commissioned: 18 June 1914
Fate: Scuttled, 4 April 1918
General characteristics
Class and type: E class submarine
Displacement: 665 long tons (676 t) surfaced
796 long tons (809 t) submerged
Length: 178 ft (54 m)
Beam: 15 ft 5 in (4.70 m)
Propulsion: 2 × 1,750 hp (1,305 kW) diesel
2 × 600 hp (447 kW) electric
2 screws
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) surfaced
9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) submerged
Range: 3,000 nmi (5,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
65 nmi (120 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph)
Complement: 30
Armament: 4 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes (1 bow, 2 beam, 1 stern)

HMS 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

On 23 October 1915, she sank the 9,050 ton, 3 funnel armoured cruiser SMS Prinz Adalbert 20 nautical miles (37 km) west of Libau. As the result of this action the submarine's commander, Commander Francis Goodhart, was awarded the Cross of St. George by Tsar Nicholas II.[1] During her time in the Baltic Aksel Berg, who later became the founder of Soviet cybernetics, was her liaison officer.[2]

E8 met her fate on 4 April 1918 outside Helsinki 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) off Harmaja Light, Gulf of Finland. She was scuttled by her crew, along with E1, E9, E19, C26, C27, and C35 to avoid seizure by advancing German forces who had landed nearby.

She was then salvaged in August 1953 for breaking in Finland.

References

  1. ^ Tall, J.J; Paul Kemp (1996). HM Submarines in Camera An Illustrated History of British Submarines. Sutton Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 0750908750. 
  2. ^ "CHATHAM BUILT SUBMARINES: E8 Crew List". www.csubmarine.org. http://www.csubmarine.org/html/boats/crew_lists/e8.html. Retrieved 2009-11-22.