HMS K17
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| Technical specifications | |
| Ship type : | Submarine ( submarine ) |
| Displacement : | 1,980 ts standard 2,566 tn.l. submerged |
| Length: | 103 m |
| Width: | 8.08 m |
| Draft : | 6.38 m |
| Drive : |
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| Fuel supply: | 197 tn.l. |
| Speed : | 24 kn (44 km / h ) surfaced 8 kn (15 km / h) surfaced |
| Range : | 800 nm (1,480 km) surfaced at 24 kn 12,500 nm (23,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn |
| maximum diving depth: | 50-60 m |
| Crew : | 59 men (6 officers, 53 crew ranks) |
| Armament: | 8 × 18 " (457 mm) torpedo tubes (originally 10) 8 reserve torpedoes 2 × 4" (101.6 mm) deck gun 1 × 3 "(76.2 mm) anti-aircraft gun |
HMS K17 was a K-class submarine of the British Royal Navy that was used in World War I and sank in a collision in 1918 .
The K17 belonged to a ship class comprising 18 boats, the most outstanding characteristic of which was a steam turbine drive . In the background was the planned deployment concept as a fleet submarine, which provided for operations together with the capital ships of the Grand Fleet and therefore made extremely high surface speeds necessary for the conditions at the time. The two steam turbines with an output of 10,500 HP (7800 KW ) allowed a top speed of 24 kn (44 km / h ), which made the K17 and its sister ships probably the fastest submarines of all time. Four electric motors served as drive under water , the armament originally comprised ten, later eight torpedo tubes of caliber 18 inches (457 mm) (four in the bow , four on the side). The artillery armament consisted of a 3-inch (76.2 mm) anti-aircraft gun and two 4-inch (101 mm) deck guns .
The submarines of the K-class suffered from a number of technical deficiencies and design weaknesses. a. heavy maneuverability was one of them. However, the deployment concept was even more problematic. Operations with surface units were associated with considerable risks, as the submarines were difficult to see due to their low silhouette, especially in poor visibility conditions, and the submarine commanders only had a small field of vision due to the low height of the command tower. The high speed and poor maneuverability of the K-class boats exacerbated this problem. The seamen of the Royal Navy called this class tellingly as “ calamity class ” (German: “difficulty class”) or “ killer class ” (German: “murderer class”).
The keel of the K17 was laid at Vickers in Barrow-in-Furness on June 1, 1916 , the launch took place on April 10, 1917 , the commissioning on September 20, 1917 . Thereafter, the submarine was assigned to the Royal Navy's 13th submarine flotilla.
On the evening of January 31, 1918 , the 13th submarine flotilla with K11 , K12 , K14 , K17 and K22 as well as the destroyer HMS Ithuriel serving as flotilla leader took off together with the 12th submarine, which also consisted of K-class boats -Flottille and its lead ship HMS Fearless took part in a large-scale and top-secret exercise of the Home Fleet , in which the 5th battle squadron and the 2nd battle cruiser squadron (together seven battleships and battle cruisers with escort destroyers ) and two other cruisers took part. After leaving the Firth of Forth, the entire association drove with dimmed position lights and absolute radio silence for fear of German submarine attacks . After an evasive maneuver due to oncoming minesweepers , the K14 belonging to the 13th Flotilla had a rudder error , which was rammed when attempting to return to the course of the fleet which was followed by the K22 . The latter was subsequently rammed by the battle cruiser HMS Inflexible and further damaged. When the remaining boats of the flotilla wanted to come to the aid of the distressed ships, they got into the course of the following, but not informed about the accident, 12th flotilla. The lead ship HMS Fearless collided with the K17 and damaged her so badly that she sank within eight minutes. Most of the men on board were able to get off the boat before it sank. Because of the radio silence, the following ships did not suspect the accident either. The entire 5th Battle Squadron drove through the sea area at full steam while K7 tried to take the survivors on board, killing many of the K17 men floating on the surface . Only nine seafarers could be rescued alive, one of whom died shortly after the rescue. 47 men died when the boat went down or in the water. In addition, the K4 , which belongs to the 12th Flotilla, sank after two collisions with sister ships, with the entire crew dying. A total of 105 men lost their lives in the debacle known as the Battle of the Isle of May , two submarines sank, four others and a light cruiser were badly damaged.
The wreck of the K17 lies at 56 ° 15 '26 " N , 2 ° 11' 33" W, at a depth of 58 m upright on the bottom . The submarine broke apart in front of the command tower, the bow is on the port side . Since 2006, the wreck, accessible to technical divers, has been protected as a “Protected Place” by the “ Protection of Military Remains Act ” of 1986. It may be viewed from the outside by divers, but entering, collecting souvenirs or performing salvage work is prohibited.