The British U-class submarines (officially "War Emergency 1940 and 1941 programmes, short hull")[1] were a class of 49 small submarines built just before and during the Second World War. The class is sometimes known as the Undine class, after the first submarine built. A further development was the British V-class submarine of 1942.
At the start of the Second World War the U class was, with the British S and T-class submarines, the Dutch O 21 class and German Type VII one of the most advanced submarine classes in service.[2]
Background
The Royal Navy was limited to no more than 52,700 long tons (53,500t) of submarines by the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The tonnage limit led to proposals for smaller submarines which was also prompted by trials with larger submarines demonstrating that they were easier to find and lacked manoeuvrability. By coincidence the First World War-vintage H-class submarines used for training in anti-submarine warfare were reaching the end of their useful service. The Rear-Admiral Submarines, Noel Laurence, wanted a class of small, inexpensive boats for training, armed with torpedoes for short-range patrols.[3]
In March 1934 he approved a specification for a "Small, Simple, Submarine, for Anti-Submarine Training etc".[3] The three Unity-class boats, HMSUndine, Unity and Ursula were ordered on 5 November 1936 from Vickers-Armstrongs, to be built at their Naval Construction Yard in Barrow-in-Furness. According to the recommendation of the Hopwood Committee of 1926 the boats had names beginning with the same letter in the alphabet. [4] The new boats were the smallest built since the First World War.[5][a]
Design and development
The U-class boats had a hull of riveted steel, half-an-inch thick for dives to 200ft (61m), with the fuel tanks and ballast tanks on the inside. The superstructure and conning tower were built with free-flooding holes and storage for cables, anchors and sundry items. The hull was divided by five bulkheads with access from the conning tower; hatches in the torpedo-stowage compartment and in the engine room had drop-down canvas trunks for emergencies.[7][b] The boats had an 8in (200mm) bifocal periscope with high/low magnification for searching and a 6in (150mm) low magnification periscope for attack.[7]
The periscopes could rise 12ft (3.7m) but such a shallow periscope depth could allow the boat to be seen from the air. Hydrophones were fitted, one on each side near the bows facing outwards and one on the conning tower facing aft. Asdic Type 129 was installed forward of the keel from 1937 and two wireless aerials were carried, a jumping aerial on the conning tower for very low frequency signals at periscope depth and a WT mast which could be raised above the water spread the second aerial for conventional wireless signalling.[8]
The boats had six ordinary ballast tanks and a quick-diving, "Q tank", the ballast tanks, hydroplanes and the rudder being hydraulically operated; the forward hydroplanes were mounted high on the hull and folded upwards for docking. The submarines had two 400hp (300kW)Paxman diesel-electric engines generating 615bhp (459kW) and electric motors of 825shp (615kW) giving a surface speed of 11.25kn (20.84km/h; 12.95mph) and a submerged speed of 10kn (19km/h; 12mph). The diesels were linked to the propellers by two generators which kept charged the battery of 112 cells under the control room and crew accommodation.[9] Submarine propellers had been designed to perform best on the surface until the Unity class which was the first submarine design with propellers giving their best performance submerged to reduce propeller noise but "singing propellers" were a constant problem for the class.[10]
The boats had a fuel capacity of 38 long tons (39t) giving a range of 3,800nmi (7,000km; 4,400mi) at 10kn (19km/h; 12mph) on the surface and 120nmi (220km; 140mi) at 2kn (3.7km/h; 2.3mph) submerged; battery recharging required the submarine to surface; in 1944 dummy snorkels were fitted to some boats for anti-submarine warfare training[11] During construction the four internal bow torpedo tubes were supplemented by two external tubes in a bulged housing, four reloads being carried for the internal tubes. Ursula carried a 3in (76mm) gun but had no hatch for the gun crew, who had to use the conning tower; to compensate for the weight of the gun only eight torpedoes were carried. Just before the war, a second group of twelve vessels were ordered, HMSUnique, HMSUpholder, HMSUpright and HMSUtmost with the external tubes, the others without, because the bulge at the bow generated a large bow wave. Depth keeping was more difficult at periscope depth, a rather shallow 12ft (3.7m) which was more of a disadvantage than the six-torpedo salvo justified. The sudden loss of weight in the bows when the torpedoes were loosed in salvo made the boat porpoise and break the surface.[12]
Unity-class boats
Group one boats
The three Unity-class boats entered service in the latter half of 1938. Designed as training vessels, they were effective enough to persuade the Admiralty to build more and to improve their offensive capacity. Ursula was launched on 16 February 1938, was loaned to the Soviet Navy from 1944 to 1949 as V 4 and sold in May 1950 and broken up. Unity was launched on 16 February 1938 and sunk on 29 April 1940 in a collision with SS Atle Jarl off the Tyne. Undine was launched on 5 October 1937 and sunk by German minesweepers on 7 January 1940 off Heligoland.[13]
Unity-class boats [Data from Chesneau (1992), Colledge and Wardlow (2006)]
The experience gained with the U-class boats was incorporated into the Group two boats of the War Supplementary Emergency Programme, consisting of twelve submarines, of a similar design to the original three. The external torpedo tubes were omitted and the boats had a redesigned stern to reduce cavitation and on some of the boats a new bow shape was introduced to reduce the bow wave; the hydroplanes were enlarged for better submerged handling. The First World War-vintage 12-pounder was retained but replaced on Unbeaten and Unique by a 3-inch gun. The boats ordered in 1940 and 1941 carried the 3-inch gun and more fuel. Most of the boats were built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness. MI5 investigated the loss of Vandal and Untamed during training operations but the report was kept confidential.[17]
In June 1940 the Admiralty had stopped naming submarines and known them by their pennant numbers but on 4 November 1942 the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, questioned the policy. The First Lord of the Admiralty replied that naming had been dropped to avoid confusion with the big increase in the number of destroyers, which usually had names with the same initial letter. Numbering submarines had been the practise in the First World War but that because of Churchill's views, the Admiralty had decided that it was better to be right than consistent and that naming was to be resumed. After a delay Churchill was told that it was difficult to find sufficient names beginning with U and that the surplus were being named with words beginning with "V" and a list was sent to Churchill on 27 December 1942. Submarines lost before they could receive names kept their pennant number.[18]
The group included submarines that became well-known; Urchin was transferred to the Polish Navy as ORPSokół and sank 55,000 long tons (56,000t) of Axis shipping. In the 16-month operational career of Upholder (Lieutenant-CommanderMalcolm Wanklyn) in the Mediterranean, Upholder carried out 24 patrols and sank around 119,000 long tons (121,000t) of Axis ships, consisting of three U-boats, a destroyer, 15 merchant ships with possibly a cruiser and another destroyer also sunk before being lost in April 1942. Wanklyn was awarded the Victoria Cross for attacking a well-defended convoy and sinking the Italian linerConte Rosso on 25 May 1941. Losses in this group were high, only three out of the twelve survived the war.[19]
4 September 1939 batch
Group II boats [Data from Walters (2004), Colledge and Wardlow (2006)]
Data from McCartney, p. 17, British Submarines 1939–45, 2006, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN978-1-84603-007-9
The third group formed the largest group of U-class submarines, comprising 34 vessels ordered in three batches. Losses continued to be high. In June 1940 the decision was taken, in view of the anticipated high number of submarines to be ordered, to drop the practice of naming submarines and the vessels were called P31 to P39, P41 to P49. At the end of 1942 Winston Churchill ordered that all submarines were to receive names but eight of the U-class boats were lost before they could receive them, whilst on operations with the Royal Navy.[25]
11 March 1940 batch
Group III boats [Data from Walters (2004), Colledge and Wardlow (2006)]
The V-class boats were the final refinement of the U-class submarines, 34 were ordered and 21 were built by Vickers for the War Emergency Programmes of 1941 and 1942, the rest being cancelled. The hull was further lengthened to try to eliminate the singing propellers and the bows were more streamlined. Welding of the hull frames was introduced to use thicker steel for the pressure hull, giving a diving depth of 300ft (91m). None of the V-class boats were lost and some did not see service. The boats were named HMSUpshot, HMSUrtica, Vagabond, Variance, HMSVenturer, HMSVigorous, Viking, HMSVampire, Varne II, Veldt, HMSVineyard, Virtue, Visigoth, HMSVivid, Voracious, Votary, Vox II, HMSVirulent, Volatile, Vortex and Vulpine.[32]
↑ The weight of a submarine when under water must always equal the buoyancy. Extra weight has to be compensated for by removing an equal amount of ballast, which is near the keel causing the centre of gravity to rise. Buoyancy is also dependent on the density of the water around the boat. Before the Second World War submarines were designed to operate in waters with densities from fresh to highly saline.[6]
↑ After closing all water-tight doors, the trunks were lowered and connected to the deck. The hatch was opened slightly until the air–water pressure was equal, the crew breathing the trapped air until escaping. Each crewman had a Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus of a nose-clip and mouthpiece connected to an oxygen bag. The first man in the trunking opened the hatch and left the boat, followed by the others in turn. Escape from the conning tower was by two men entering the tower, closing the lower hatch then opening the upper one to flood the space then leaving.[7]
↑ 192ft (59m): Undaunted, Unon, Urchin and Urge; 197ft (60m) Umpire, Una after modification, Unbeaten and Unique[17]
↑ Unbeaten and Unique later received 3-inch guns, all boats ordered 1940–1941 had 3-inch guns[17]
↑ The wreck was discovered near the north end of the Flankensperre minefield in 1985. The field had been extended in mid-1942 unknown to the Admiralty.[30]
HMS Seraph was an S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1942, she carried out multiple intelligence and special operations activities during World War II, the most notable of which was Operation Mincemeat.
HMS Salmon was a second-batch S-class submarine built during the 1930s for the Royal Navy. Completed in 1935, the boat fought in the Second World War. Salmon is one of twelve boats named in the song "Twelve Little S-Boats".
The Rainbow-class submarine or R class was a quartet of patrol submarines built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s.
HMS Saga was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was sold to Portugal.
HMS Scotsman was a third-batch S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. After training exercises in Britain during which she ran aground, requiring repairs, she was transferred to the Pacific fleet as the war with Germany had ended. The submarine sank one junk en route to her submarine unit, but arrived after the end of the Pacific War and World War II. She was scrapped in November 1964.
HMS Sea Scout was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1965.
HMS Selene was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1961.
HMS Seneschal was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1965.
HMS Sentinel was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She was not completed until after the war and was sold for scrap in 1962.
HMS Solent was a S-class submarine built by Cammell Laird and launched on 8 June 1944 of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She spent most of her career in the Pacific Far East, often in company with her sister ship, HMS Sleuth. Together they sank fifteen Japanese sailing vessels and the Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Wa 3. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1961.
HMS Surf was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was scrapped in 1948.
HMS Sleuth was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1958.
HMS Spur was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was sold to Portugal in 1948.
HMS Spearhead was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was sold to Portugal. She was scrapped in 1967.
HMS Supreme was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1950.
HMS Stoic was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was scrapped in 1950.
HMS Sturdy was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was scrapped in 1958.
HMS Subtle was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was scrapped in 1959.
HMS Sealion was a second-batch S-class submarine built during the 1930s for the Royal Navy. Completed in 1934, the boat fought in the Second World War.
HMS G10 was a British G-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War I.
References
Brown, D. K. (2012) [2000]. Nelson to Vanguard (hbk. repr. Seaforth Publishing (Pen & Sword)ed.). Barnsley: Chatham Publishing. ISBN978-1-84832-149-6.
Colledge, J. J.; Wardlow, B. (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (2nd rev.ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN978-1-86176-281-8.
McCartney, I. (2006). British Submarines 1939–45. New Vanguard (No. 159). Oxford: Osprey. ISBN978-1-84603-007-9.
Pol, E. van den (1989). "Aspects of Submarines - Part I: Some Notes on Development" [Ship and Yard]. Schip en Werf (in Dutch). Vol.56, no.10. Rotterdam: Wyt & Zonen. pp.352–358. ISSN0036-6099.
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