HMS R4
 R-class submarine | |
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS R4 |
| Builder: | Chatham Dockyard, Kent |
| Laid down: | 4 March 1917 |
| Launched: | 8 June 1918 |
| Commissioned: | 23 August 1919 |
| Nickname: | "The Slug" |
| Fate: | Sold, 26 May 1934 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | R class submarine |
| Displacement: | 420 long tons (427 t) surfaced 500 long tons (508 t) submerged |
| Length: | 163 ft (50 m) |
| Beam: | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Draught: | 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) |
| Propulsion: | 8-cylinder diesel engine, 480 hp (360 kW) 2 × electric motors, 1,200 hp (890 kW) total Single electric motor for low speed running One shaft |
| Speed: | 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h) surfaced 14 knots (26 km/h) submerged |
| Endurance: | Submerged: 1 hour at 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 2 officers and 20 ratings |
| Sensors and processing systems: | Bow hydrophone array |
| Armament: | 6 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes (forward) 12 × Mark VIII 18 inch torpedoes (inc. reloads) |
HMS R4 was a British R class submarine built at Chatham Dockyard. She was laid down on 4 March 1917 and launched on 8 June 1918. R4 was commissioned on the 23 August 1919. She came too late to see any combat in World War I, like most of the other R class submarines. The submarine's shape resulted in her being nicknamed "The Slug".[1]
R4 was the only boat to survive through to the 1930s. Additions to her casing produced slightly better sea keeping at the cost of a reduced speed from 15 knots submerged to 13 knots. R4 was used as a fast underwater target at the Portland anti-submarine school until 1934, then sold on 26 May 1934 to Young, Sunderland.
References
- Hutchinson, Robert, Submarines, War Beneath The Waves, from 1776 to the Present Day
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.