E Class
Overseas Submarine
- E Class Group One
- E1
- E2
- E3
- E4
- E5
- E6
- E7
- E8
This class was the backbone of the Royal Navy during WWI and bore the brunt of the submarine contribution to the war effort. A few experiments were carried out with the 'E' class including the carrying of seaplanes. Seven of the class were sent to the Baltic to assist the Russians, E.11 failed to arrive and E.13 was lost on passage.
Six of this class were configured as minelayers, they could carry 20 mines in vertical chutes which were situated in the saddle tanks, five each side, two mines to a chute.
The main base for this class serving in the North Sea was Harwich, which operated a maximum of eighteen boats. They also operated from the Tees and Blyth, and also in 1918 from Killybegs in Ireland.
At the end of WWI the 'E' class were operating from Harwich (11), Tees (6), Killybegs (2), Mediterranean (6) and Adriatic (4). Most of them were put on sale during 1919-1920, only E.48 survived into the late 1920's.
8 Built
| Submarine | Builder | Built |
| E1, E2, E7, E8. | HM Dockyard, Chatham | 1911 - 1914 |
| E3 - E6 | Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness | 1911 - 1914 |
Note: E1 and E2 were laid down as D9 and D10
Technical Information
| Displacement (tons) | 660 sf 800 sm |
| Length (ft): | 176 oa |
| Breadth (ft): | 22.5 oa |
| Draught/Height (ft): | 12. |
| Machinery: |
Vickers-Admiralty
Diesel Engines 1,600 hp 840 hp electric motors, 2 screws. |
| Speed (kts): | 15.25
sf 9.75 sm |
| Oil Supply (tons): | na |
| Armament: | 4 x 18 inch tubes, 1 bow, 2 beam and 1 stern. Reloads: 8. |
| Range: | na |
| Complement: | 3 Officers and 28 Ratings |
| sm = submerged, sf = surfaced, oa = overall, hp = horsepower, na = not available. | |
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H.M. Submarine E1.
A partial shot of the Moltke
which was damaged by E.1.
The above photo along with numerous others was generously donated
by
Dick
Driver of the U.S.A a fellow ex-submariner.
| Type: | E Class | Group One |
| Pennant No.: | I.81 | |
| Laid Down: | 14th February 1911. | HM Dockyard, Chatham. |
| Commissioned: | 6th May 1913. | Lt. Cdr. N.F. Laurence. |
| Commander: | 1913 1914 31st December 1914 1915 1916 |
Lt.
Cdr. N.F. Laurence. Lt. Cdr. N.F. Laurence. Cdr. N.F. Laurence. Cdr. N.F. Laurence. Lt. Cdr. Athelstan Fenner. |
| Complement: | 31 | 3 Officers, 28 Ratings. |
| Service Career: | 1914
- 8th Flotilla. 1914 - Baltic Flotilla. 1915 - Baltic Flotilla. 1916 - Baltic Flotilla. 1917 - Baltic Flotilla. 1917 - Baltic Flotilla. |
HMS
Maidstone, Harwich. Dvina, Revel (Tallin), Estonia. Dvina, Revel (Tallin), Estonia. Dvina, Revel (Tallin), Estonia. Dvina, Revel (Tallin), Estonia. Pamyat Azova, Helsingfors (Finland). |
| This
boat was laid down as D.9. First of a class of fiftyseven boats. Along with E.5 carried out a reconnaissance of the Kattegat in anticipation of forming the Baltic Flotilla. One of five boats to penetrate the Baltic. She sailed in October 1914 along with E.9 (Horton) and E.11 (Nasmith). She was the first of the 'E' boats to reach the Baltic. Attacked the Victoria Louise on the 18th October 1914, the torpedoes missed as a result of running too deep. Attacked and sank the transport Aachen, 30th July 1915. She damaged the German battlecruiser Moltke, 19th August 1915. |
||
| Fate: | Scuttled 3rd April 1918 at Helsingfors to prevent her falling into the hands of the Bolsheviks. | |
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H.M. Submarine E2.
| Type: | E Class | Group One |
| Pennant No.: | I.82 | |
| Laid Down: | 14th February 1911 as D.10 | HM Dockyard, Chatham. |
| Commissioned: | 30th June 1913. | Lt. Cdr. E. de B. Stocks. |
| Commander: | 1913 1914 31st December 1914 1915 1916 |
Lt. Cdr.
E. de B. Stocks. Lt. Cdr. S. Gravener. Lt. P.H. Bonham-Carter. Lt. Cdr. E. de B. Stocks. |
| Complement: | 31 | 3 Officers, 28 Ratings. |
| Service Career: | 1914 -
8th Flotilla. 1915 - Dardanelles Flotilla. 1918 |
HMS Maidstone,
Harwich. Hindu Kush at Mudros, Lemnos. H.M.S. Adamant, Brindisi. |
| This boat
was laid down as D.10. E2 operated on patrol in the Marmara with E11 with some success, between 13th August and 14th September, and also attempted to cut the Constantinople-Adrianople railway line by sending the First Lieutenant, Lt. L.V. Lyon, ashore with a demolition charge. Although a loud explosion was heard, nothing more was ever seen of Lyon. E2 became entangled in nets during the passage up the Narrows which badly strained the gun mounting. It took some two days hard work before the gun was serviceable. Then, in an action with E11 against a Turkish 'Q' ship the mounting collapsed, but E2's hard-pressed engineering department once again effected temporary repairs that enabled the submarine, with E11, to carry out a very successful bombarment at Mudania. E2 was the last British submarine to be recalled from the Marmara on 2nd January 1916. |
||
| Fate: | Sold 7th March 1931. | |
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H.M. Submarine E3.
Some interesting photographs can be found at Holland
Adventure Divers
| Type: | E Class | Group One |
| Pennant No.: | I.83 | |
| Laid Down: | 27th April 1911. | Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. |
| Commissioned: | 29th May 1914. | Lt. Cdr. G. Cholmley. |
| Commander: | 1914 | Lt. Cdr. G. Cholmley. |
| Complement: | 31 | 3 Officers, 28 Ratings. |
| Service Career: | 8th Flotilla. | HMS Maidstone, Harwich. |
| This boat
was the first submarine loss of WWI. She had wandered too far into the Western Ems looking for likely targets and was cut off by destroyers and sunk by a U-boat. |
||
| Fate: | Sunk by torpedo (U27) in the North Sea off Borkum 18th October 1914. | |
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H.M. Submarine E4.
This picture courtesy of Stephen
Johnson
| Type: | E Class | Group One |
| Pennant No.: | I.84 | |
| Laid Down: | 16th May 1911. | Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. |
| Commissioned: | 4th January 1913. | Lt. E.W. Leir. |
| Commander: | 1914 1916 |
Lt.
E.W. Leir. Lt. Cdr. J. Tenison. |
| Complement: | 31 | 3 Officers, 28 Ratings. |
| Service Career: | 1914 - 8th Flotilla. | HMS Maidstone, Harwich. |
| Supported
the British surface fleet at the 'Battle of Helgoland'. Lt. E.W. Leir was affectionately known as the 'Arch Thief' who plundered His Majesty's Navy of anything portable and about whom it was said that only his DSO was earned honestly. Leir carried out the first major rescue by a submarine. After an engagement with the German destroyer V187 which was sunk, HMS Defender had lowered boats to pick up survivors when a German cruiser arrived on the scene. Though everyone had been ordered to retire Leir surfaced and took on board an officer and nine ratings from the Defender and one officer and two men from the German destroyer. He provided the rest of the Germans with boats, food and compass to get them back to Heligoland. |
||
| Fate: | Lost
with all hands in collision with E.41 on 15th August 1916. Salvaged and put back into service. Sold 21st February 1922. |
|
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| Type: | E Class | Group One |
| Pennant No.: | I.85 | |
| Laid Down: | 9th June 1911. | Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. |
| Commissioned: | 7th June 1913. | Lt. Cdr. C. S. Benning. |
| Commander: | 1913 1914 1916 |
Lt. Cdr.
C. S. Benning. Lt. Cdr. C. S. Benning. Lt. Cdr. H. D. Edwards. |
| Complement: | 31 | 3 Officers, 28 Ratings. |
| Service Career: | 1914 - 8th Flotilla. | HMS Maidstone, Harwich. |
| Supported the British surface fleet at the 'Battle of Helgoland'. | ||
| Fate: | Sunk by mine in the North Sea, 7th March 1916. | |
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| Type: | E Class | Group One |
| Pennant No.: | I.86 | |
| Laid Down: | 12th September 1911. | Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. |
| Commissioned: | 15th October 1913. | Lt. Cdr. C.P. Talbot. |
| Commander: | 1914 -
1915 1915 |
Lt. Cdr.
C.P. Talbot. Lt. Cdr. W. J. Foster. |
| Complement: | 31 | 3 Officers, 28 Ratings. |
| Service Career: | 1914 - 8th Flotilla. | HMS Maidstone, Harwich. |
| Supported the British surface fleet at the 'Battle of Helgoland'. | ||
| Fate: | Sunk by mine in the North Sea with the loss of all hands, 26th December 1915. | |
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H.M. Submarine E7.
| Type: | E Class | Group One |
| Pennant No.: | I.87 | |
| Laid Down: | 30th March 1912. | HM Dockyard, Chatham. |
| Commissioned: | 14th March 1914. | Lt Cdr Feilmann. |
| Commander: | 1914 1915 |
Lt. Cdr.
Feilmann. Lt Cdr A.D. Cochrane. |
| Complement: | 31 | 3 Officers, 28 Ratings. |
| Service Career: | 1914 -
8th Flotilla. 1915 - Dardanelles Flotilla. |
HMS Maidstone,
Harwich. Hindu Kush at Mudros, Lemnos. |
| Supported
the British surface fleet at the 'Battle of Helgoland'. Carried out two patrols in the Marmara. While proceeding up the Narrows by Nagara Point, the submarine became entangled in a net and could not break free. The commotion on the surface caused by Cochrane's manoeuvring of his submarine did not go unnoticed. A spectator of events was Oberleutnant zur See Heino von Heimburg, commanding officer of a German U-boat under repair at Chanak. Heimburg himself visited the spot in a small skiff (rowed by his cook) and lowered a small explosive charge over the side. When he made contact with what he hoped was a submarine, he fired the charge and was rewarded with the sight of E.7 coming to the surface. Cochrane and his crew became prisoners of war (although Cochrane escaped in 1918) and Heimburg dined out on the story for the rest of his life. |
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| Fate: | Sunk by UB14 in the Dardanelles, 4th September 1915. | |
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| Type: | E Class | Group One |
| Pennant No.: | I.88 | |
| Laid Down: | 30th March 1912. | HM Dockyard, Chatham. |
| Commissioned: | 13th June 1914. | Lt.Cdr. Francis Goodhart. |
| Commander: | 1915 | Cdr. Francis Goodhart. |
| Complement: | 31 | 3 Officers, 28 Ratings. |
| Service Career: | 1914 -
8th Flotilla. 1915 - Baltic Flotilla. 1916 - Baltic Flotilla. 1917 - Baltic Flotilla. 1917 - Baltic Flotilla. |
HMS Maidstone,
Harwich. Dvina, Revel (Tallin), Estonia. Dvina, Revel (Tallin), Estonia. Dvina, Revel (Tallin), Estonia. Pamyat Azova, Helsingfors, Finland. |
| Supported
the British surface fleet at the 'Battle of Helgoland'. Entered the Baltic to join E.1 and E.9 to support the Russians in August 1915.. Sank the German cruiser Prinz Adalbert in the Baltic on 23rd October 1915. This vessel had previously been damaged by Horton in E.8 earlier in the year. |
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| Fate: | Scuttled in the Baltic to avoid capture, 4th April 1918. | |
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