HMS M1
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| Technical specifications | |
| Ship type : | Submarine |
| Displacement : | 1,594 ts standard 1,946 ts submerged |
| Length: | 90.15 m |
| Width: | 6.20 m |
| Draft : | |
| Drive : | 2 × diesel engines with 2,400 PS (1.8 MW ) 2 × electric motors 1,600 PS (1.2 MW) 2 propellers |
| Fuel supply: | |
| Speed : | 15 kn (28 km / h) surfaced 8 kn (15 km / h) submerged |
| Range : | 4,500 nm (8,334 km) surfaced at 10 kn 80 nm (148 km) submerged at 2 kn |
| maximum diving depth: | 60 m |
| Crew : | 60 men |
| Armament: | 4 × 18 " (457 mm) torpedo tubes 4 reserve torpedoes 1 × 12" (305 mm) L / 40 Mark IX deck gun 1 × 3 "(76.2 mm) anti-aircraft gun |
HMS M1 was an M-class submarine ofthe British Royal Navy that was used in World War I and sank in a collision in 1925.
The M1 belonged to a four-ship class of submarines that the Royal Navy ordered in February 1916 instead of four K-class vehicles (K18-K21). However, it was not, as you can occasionally read, conversions from the steam turbine- powered K-Class, but an independent design. In contrast to this, the two-hulled boats of the M-Class had the typical hybrid drive consisting of diesel and electric motors .
In addition to an armament with four 18- inch - torpedo tubes leading M1 and its sister ships as the main armament a in a fixed structure in front of the conning tower accommodated, large-caliber warship cannon caliber 12 inches (305 mm). The idea for this concept resulted from the unreliability and insufficient range of the torpedoes used at the time . The weight of the gun superstructure, which weighs around 100 tons, enabled the submarine to dive in an astonishingly fast manner of under 90 seconds. Although the 12-inch gun improved the maneuverability of the boat under water, they resulted in up immersed drive problems because M1 by top-heavy was to control and difficult. The cannon had a range of around 15,000 yards (14,000 m), but a fire control system that would have allowed shooting over long distances was never installed. Instead, the operational concept stipulated that the submarine approached a target submerged, then surfaced, fired from a short distance and then submerged again. Up to about 1,000 meters away, a 12-inch shell had a completely flat trajectory, which is why a simple sighting device was sufficient to achieve a high probability of hits. A clearly visible front sight was therefore attached to the gun barrel, which also made it possible to aim with the periscope . The weapon could also be fired half submerged. The crew finally managed to carry out this maneuver in 75 seconds. To reload, however, had to be surfaced, which made the boat vulnerable to counterattacks. Another weak point of the concept was the small pivoting range of the gun carriage, which is why the entire boat had to be aimed. This is why a lot of time passed between the detection of a target and the first shot. There was also a construction problem. The huge guns were intended for use on large battleships. The dimensions of the barette required a very large opening in the pressure hull, which impaired its stability. A water ingress in the gun body inevitably meant the loss of the entire submarine.
The keel of the M1 was laid at Vickers on July 1, 1916 , launched on July 9, 1917, and commissioned on April 17, 1918. The first in command was Captain Max Kennedy Horton , DSO , a successful submarine commander who in World War II as an admiral of the "Western Approaches" successfully fought German submarines from 1942. M1 was no longer involved in combat missions worth mentioning, allegedly also because it was feared that the German opponents of the war might take up the concept and use it against its authors.
After the end of the war, the M1 was mainly used as a test vehicle. During artillery exercises, she sank two decommissioned submarines. Technical defects and problems remained a permanent symptom and led to dangerous incidents several times. The submarine disappeared with its crew of 69 men on November 12, 1925 during an exercise off the coast of Devon . The cause of the accident initially remained unknown until the captain of the Swedish freighter Vidar reported an "underwater explosion" in the submarine's area of operation and an examination of the ship by divers found damage in the bow area, which indicated a collision. During an investigation in the dry dock , it was then possible to use traces of paint to prove that the Vidar had rammed and sunk the submarine, which was probably submerged just below the surface of the water. A Royal Navy ship was able to locate the wreck with the help of sonar , but an investigation by divers was not carried out because of the great depth. The coordinates of the correct position were probably lost due to a transmission error.
The wreck of the M1 was rediscovered in 1999 by the wreck diving specialist Innes McCartney at a depth of 73 m in front of the Start Point at the position 49 ° 59 ′ N , 3 ° 56 ′ W, . The submarine is largely intact and lies on the seabed with a slight inclination to port . At the highest point it rises up to 62.5 m. The platform for the gun is still there, parts of the gun body are next to the starboard side, but the cannon itself is missing. The remains of the 69 crew members are believed to be inside the submarine, although two exit hatches are open in front of and behind the command tower. According to the divers' investigations, the Vidar's ram hit the gun, which was torn from its anchorage. The massive water ingress in the pressure hull led to the immediate sinking of the submarine. In March 2000 the BBC aired a documentary about M1 . Since 2006 the wreck , which is occasionally visited by 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.