HMS E34

History
United Kingdom
Name	E34
Builder	John Thornycroft, Woolston, Hampshire
Launched	27 January 1917
Commissioned	March 1917
Fate	Sunk by mine, 20 July 1918
General characteristics
Class & type	E-class submarine
Displacement	662 long tons (673 t) surfaced 807 long tons (820 t) submerged
Length	181 ft (55 m)
Beam	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion	2 × 800 hp (597 kW) diesel 2 × 420 hp (313 kW) electric 2 screws
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) surfaced 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) submerged
Range	3,000 nmi (5,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 65 nmi (120 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) surfaced
Complement	31
Armament	3 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (2 bow, 1 stern) 1 × 12-pounder gun

HMS E34 was a British E-class submarine built by John Thornycroft, Woolston, Hampshire. She was launched on 27 January 1917 and commissioned in March 1917. HMS E34 sank the U-boat UB-16 off Harwich in the North Sea on 10 May 1918. E34 was a mine-laying submarine. ^[1]

E34 was mined near the Eijerlandse Gronden, the sands between the Frisian islands Texel and Vlieland on 20 July 1918. There were no survivors.

Design

E34 leaving Harwich Harbor, England

Like all post-E8 British E-class submarines, E34 had a displacement of 662 long tons (673 t) at the surface and 807 long tons (820 t) while submerged. She had a total length of 180 feet (55 m) ^[2] and a beam of 22 feet 8.5 inches (6.922 m). She was powered by two 800 horsepower (600 kW) Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two 420 horsepower (310 kW) electric motors. ^{[3] [4]} The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) and a submerged speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of 50 long tons (51 t) of diesel and ranges of 3,255 miles (5,238 km; 2,829 nmi) when travelling at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). ^[2] E34 was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph).

E34 was armed with a 12-pounder 76 mm (3.0 in) QF gun mounted forward of the conning tower.

Like the other E-class minelaying submarines ( E24 , E41 , E45 , E46 and E51 ), E34 had three 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes instead of five: two in the bow and one in the stern. Six torpedoes were carried. ^[5] The two broadside torpedo tubes were replaced by mine tubes carrying a total of twenty mines. ^[6]

E-Class submarines had wireless systems with 1 kilowatt (1.3 hp) power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to 3 kilowatts (4.0 hp) systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was 100 feet (30 m) although in service some reached depths of below 200 feet (61 m). Some submarines contained Fessenden oscillator systems. ^[2]

Crew

Her complement was three officers and 28 men. ^[2]

References

1. "E34". Website of the Barrow Submariners Association.
2. Innes McCartney; Tony Bryan (20 February 2013). British Submarines of World War I. Osprey Publishing. pp. 11–12. ISBN   978-1-4728-0035-0.
3. Akerman, P. (1989). Encyclopaedia of British submarines 1901–1955. 149–150. Maritime Books. ISBN   1-904381-05-7
4. "E Class". Chatham Submarines. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
5. "Complement, armament, periscopes and HP air bottles" (PDF). Website of the Barrow Submariners Association.
6. "Minelayer type". Website of the Barrow Submariners Association.

Bibliography

• Hutchinson, Robert (2001). Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day . London: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-0-00-710558-8. OCLC   53783010.