HMS M2
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 M2 after the renovation with aircraft hangar |
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| Technical specifications | |
| Ship type : | Submarine ( 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 (before conversion): | 4 × 18 " (457 mm) torpedo tubes 4 reserve torpedoes 1 × 12" (305 mm) deck gun 1 × 3 "(76.2 mm) flak |
HMS M2 was an M-class submarine ofthe British Royal Navy that sank in an accident in 1932.
Background and description
The M2 belonged to a four-ship class of submarines that was ordered by the Royal Navy 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 of four 18- inch - torpedo tubes leading M2 and her sister ships as a main armament in a turret in front of the conning tower housed, large-caliber battleship cannon in the caliber of 12 inches (305 mm). The idea for this concept resulted from the unreliability and insufficient range of the torpedoes used at the time (for the armament concept, see the sister ship M1 ).
The keel for M2 was on 13 July 1916 the shipyard of Vickers in Barrow-in-Furness down from the deck ran the submarine on 19 October 1919 the commissioning took place only on 14 February 1920. Together with its sister ships In the following years the submarine was mainly used for test and trial purposes. In 1923, M2 conducted several experimental deep dives and in the same year took part in a sea-based poison gas attack . During one dive, the submarine lost its trim and dived 73 m deep, but was then able to surface again.
After the loss of M1 in 1925 through a collision and the stipulations of the Washington Naval Conference of 1922 , which limited the maximum caliber of submarine artillery to 8 inches (203 mm), the turrets of the two remaining M-Classes were removed. Submarines. From 1925 the M2 was converted into a submarine catapult ship. Here, the gun turret to put in place a small, watertight hangar in front of the conning tower of a specially developed for this purpose seaplane type Parnall Peto could take with detachable wings. The aircraft took off with the help of a hydraulic catapult and landed next to the submarine on the water, only to be hoisted back into its hangar with a crane. In this way, M2 and the associated aircraft were supposed to take on the role of a reconnaissance aircraft for the Royal Navy battle fleet.
Downfall
For their last exercise, M2 ran out of its Portland base on January 26, 1932 . In a final radio message at 10:11 a.m., the commander informed the submarine mother ship HMS Titania that he would conduct a diving exercise at 10:30 a.m. After that she disappeared, on January 29 the loss of the submarine and the entire crew of 60 men was officially announced. On February 3, the wreck was located. Elaborate attempts under the direction of the salvage expert Ernest Cox , who had lifted the wrecks of the German deep sea fleet in Scapa Flow , finally failed almost a year later on December 8, 1932, when the submarine, which was hanging just below the surface of the water, was hit again by a storm The seabed sank. Only the plane could be recovered.
While working on the wreck, divers had found that the hangar was open and the aircraft was still inside. Two theories have been developed as to the cause of the accident. On the one hand, it was suspected that the M2 crew - who had tried again and again to undercut the times from the surface to the take-off of the aircraft - opened the hangar doors too early and thus caused a water ingress that led to the sinking of the submarine. A second attempt at an explanation blames a failure of the down elevator at the stern for the loss. The background here was that the water-filled ballast tanks of the submarine were blown with compressed air to bring it to the surface of the water, but the remaining water was pressed out of the ballast tanks with the help of compressors to save compressed air. As long as this process, which lasted about 15 minutes, was not completed, the depth rudder was needed to keep the submarine safely on the surface of the water. If the aft down elevator had failed, M2 would have sunk with the stern first and the water would have run into the interior via the open hangar. The second theory is supported by the fact that the descent of a large submarine was observed by the captain of a merchant ship at the time in question.
After the loss of M2 , the Royal Navy abandoned the concept of the submarine catapult ship while it was further developed elsewhere. The last and largest ships of this type were developed in Japan . The Sen Toku- class boats were three times the size of M2 and carried three seaplanes each, but came too late for combat missions in World War II . So the two deployment concepts for M2 - arming with the heaviest artillery as well as that of the submarine catapult ship - can be seen as undesirable developments.
Accident site
Today the M2 is at the position 50 ° 34 ′ 36 ″ N , 2 ° 33 ′ 56 ″ W on a level keel at a depth of 35 m and protrudes to 20 m on. The submarine is largely intact and one of the most popular diving destinations in Lyme Bay . The wreck has a dense vegetation of anemones , hydrozoa , dead man's hands and the like. a. and is inhabited by conger eels and lobsters . In the vicinity of the hull there are sometimes large schools of fish , e.g. B. Cod . There are still periscopes and masts on the navigation bridge, the hangar is the only interior space that can be dived. All other entrances were probably closed in connection with the salvage work of 1932. The rails for the catapult for starting the aircraft and the torpedo tubes are also clearly visible . Since 2006 the wreck 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.
literature
- Terry C Treadwell: Strike from beneath the sea. A history of aircraft-carrying submarines . Tempus Pub., London 1999, ISBN 0-7524-1704-5 .
- Suzannah Hills: Remembering them at last. First-ever memorial to 60 crew who died on pioneering underwater aircraft carrier 80 years after HMS M2 sank in the English Channel . In: The Daily Mail . May 15, 2012 ( online, English ).
Web links
- UK - Forgotten logbook reveals bid to raise WWI submarine on sundodgers.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Remembering the M2 submarine disaster 80 years. In: BBC News. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
- ↑ A submarine aircraft carrier. on flightglobal.com
- ↑ HMS M-2 († 1932) on wrecksite.eu
- ↑ 6th January 1932, HM SUBMARINE M2 sunk in the Channel at coastalheritage.org.uk
- ^ Parnall Peto Submarine Launched Seaplane and the HMS M2. In: youtube.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015 (historical image).
- ↑ a b Innes McCartney: Lost patrols. Submarine wrecks of the English Channel . Periscope Pub., Penzance, Cornwall 2003, ISBN 1-904381-04-9 , pp. 82-84 .
- ↑ Designated vessels - HMS M2 on legislation.gov.uk (PDF, p. 2, English)