HMS E8
|
|
|---|---|
 The British submarine HMS E8 in 1916 |
|
| Construction data | |
| Ship type | Submarine |
| Ship class | E class |
| Construction designation: | |
| Builder: | Chatham Dockyard in Chatham Construction No .:? |
| Keel laying : | March 30, 1912 |
| Launch : | October 30, 1913 |
| Completion: | June 18, 1914 |
| Building-costs: | £ 105,700 |
| Decommissioning: | April 4, 1918 (self-sunk) |
| Technical specifications | |
| Displacement : | 665 ts standard 796 ts submerged |
| Length: | 54.2 m |
| Width: | 6.86 m |
| Draft : | 3.81 m |
| Drive : | 2 × diesel engines with 1,750 HP 2 × electric motors 600 HP 2 propellers |
| Fuel supply: | 40 t |
| Speed : | 15.0 kn surfaced 9.5 kn submerged |
| Range : | 3,000 nm surfaced at 10 kn 65 nm submerged at 5 kn |
| maximum diving depth: | 200 ft (approx. 60 m) |
| Crew : | 30 men |
| Armament: | 4 × 18- inch - (457 mm) torpedo tubes 4 Reserve torpedoes 1 × 12-PDR (76.2 mm -) / QF-18ctw- Mk I - gun |
HMS E8 was an E-class submarine of the British Royal Navy , which was mainly used in the Baltic Sea during World War I.
history
Construction and commissioning
E8 was the last of the sub-group of E-class submarines built according to the original design, which at the beginning of the First World War represented the most powerful and newest medium-sized submarine type in the Royal Navy.
After its commissioning, the boat was under Lt. Cdr. Francis Goodhart was assigned to the 8th submarine flotilla in Harwich and used for patrol trips in the North Sea.
First World War
North Sea
At the beginning of the First World War, the boat undertook a reconnaissance trip to the German Bight together with the sister boat HMS E6 in order to clarify the distribution and organization of the German outpost forces. The knowledge gained was the basis for the British plan of attack for the first sea battle near Heligoland on August 28, 1914. In this battle, E8 belonged to the second submarine strip, which was supposed to destroy the German forces that had been lured out.
In May 1915, the boat patrolled the German coast, sighted the German naval airship L 9 and shelled it. The airship immediately attacked HMS E8 with several bombs and forced it to dive.
Baltic Sea
laying
In August 1915, HMS E8 moved together with its sister boat HMS E13 through the Öresund into the Baltic Sea to support the Russian Baltic fleet there and to combat German merchant shipping with the Scandinavian countries. On August 8, 1915, it left the base in Harwich together with its sister ship and passed the Sound on August 15, 1915.
Sinking of Prince Adalbert
The greatest success of the boat was the sinking of the German Great cruiser SMS Prinz Adalbert on October 23, 1915. To 8:34 was the Prince Adalbert after departure, about 20 nautical miles from the German-occupied Liepaja , HMS E8 with a Torpedo hit from a distance of about 1200 m. The torpedo hit the ammunition magazine in the fore part of the ship, the explosion tore the ship in two, which immediately sank. Only three of the 675 crew could be rescued. Lt. Cdr. Francis Goodhart was awarded the highest Russian order, the Order of St. George, 4th class, for this success . On May 2, 1916, Goodhart received the Distinguished Service Order from the British Admiralty for his successes with HMS E8 . On December 15, 1916, Lt. Cdr. Thomas Kerr.
A Russian liaison officer was always assigned to the boat during the Baltic Sea mission. The most famous of them was Aksel Berg , who was on board from July 1916 to May 1917. He was later, from 1953 to 1957, Deputy Soviet Defense Minister and is considered to be one of the founders of Soviet cybernetics .
Self-immersion
On April 4, 1918, after the occupation of Helsinki by the German Baltic Sea Division , HMS E8 together with three sister ships of the E class, E1 , E9 and E19 , and three submarines of the C class, C26 , C27 and C35 , Self- sunk 1.5 nm (2.8 km) south of the Harmaja lighthouse so as not to let it fall into German hands.
scrapping
The wreck was lifted in August 1953 and then demolished in Finland.
