Submarine class R

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R-class
Royal Navy
R class submarine.svg
General data
Ship type :
Navy :
Builders :
Units:
  • 12
Boats of the class
R1 , R2 , R3 , R4 , R5 , R6 , R7 , R8 , R9 , R10 , R11 , R12
Technical specifications
Crew:
  • 22 men
    • 2 officers
    • 20 teams
Displacement :
  • over water: 420  ts
  • under water: 500 ts
Length :
  • 50 m
Width:
  • 4.9 m
Draft :
  • 3.5 m
Drive :
Speed :
  • over water: 9.5 kn (17.6 km / h )
  • under water: 14 kn (26 km / h)
Driving range:
  • submerged with batteries at 14 kn:
    • 14 nm (26.7 km)
Diving depth :
Armament
Torpedo tubes :
  • 6 * 18 ″ (457 mm)
  • 12 * reserve torpedoes

The R-Class was a class of British Royal Navy submarines that was designed and built during World War I. The intended mission was to hunt down enemy submarines , which is why the submarine type had a number of extremely advanced features.

history

HMS R3 underway

Development began in the fall of 1916, and the first units were laid down in February 1917 and entered service during 1918. The boats were to operate from Killybegs in Donegal . One of the R-class boats attacked a German submarine in October 1918 with a full volley of six torpedoes, but all of them failed or did not detonate.

After the end of the war, there was no longer any need for the submarines, so the construction of two as yet unfinished submarines was stopped and the rest of them, except for the R4 and R10, were gradually decommissioned and canceled until 1923. The R4 and R10 were then used for anti-submarine training on the Isle of Portland , with the R10 being sold in 1929, while the R4 was used for targeting until 1934.

construction

The concept for using the R-Class for submarine hunting was to track down and attack enemy submarines while submerged. Therefore, the entire construction of this type was geared towards this particular tactic. The hull was streamlined and dispensed with flow resistances such as a deck gun or external tanks. The machine system was also designed for underwater travel and, in addition to the diesel engine for surface travel, consisted of two coupled electric motors that acted together on a single propeller shaft. For the class also the consisting of 200 cells battery of the J-Class over who could only provide power for an hour drive but under full load. Since the charging process at sea could take up to a day and required half the power of the diesel engine, the R-class batteries were mostly precharged in port.

Crew in front of the tower

The construction measures taken for the underwater mileage resulted in a record speed of 14 kn (27.6 km / h) at the time, but the submarines proved difficult to control at high speeds. Likewise, the submarines were slow and not very seaworthy when sailing on the surface. R4 was later modified, which improved the driving characteristics, but reduced the underwater speed to 13 kn (24 km / h).

As a further technological novelty, the R-Class was equipped with five hydrophones , which were housed in the arched bow and with which the submarines to be attacked were to be tracked during submerged voyage. The armament consisted of six torpedo tubes of caliber 457 mm. This also shows the use of lighter torpedoes against underwater targets, which is still common today, while heavier torpedoes of calibers such as 533 mm or 650 mm are usually used for surface targets.

Units of class

boat Shipyard Keel laying Launch Commissioning comment
HMS R1 Chatham Dockyard February 4, 1917 April 25, 1918 October 14, 1918 Sold in 1923
HMS R2 Chatham Dockyard February 4, 1917 December 20, 1918 Sold in 1923
HMS R3 Chatham Dockyard February 4, 1917 June 8, 1918 March 17, 1919 Sold in 1923
HMS R4 Chatham Dockyard March 4, 1917 June 8, 1918 August 23, 1919 modified and used for anti-submarine training, sold in 1934
HMS R5 Pembroke Dock March 1918 Construction stopped on August 28, 1919
HMS R6 Pembroke Dock March 1918 Construction stopped on August 28, 1919
HMS R7 Vickers November 1, 1917 May 14, 1918 June 29, 1918 Stationed in Donegal in November 1918, sold in 1923
HMS R8 Vickers November 1, 1917 June 28, 1918 July 25, 1918 Stationed in Donegal in November 1918, sold in 1923
HMS R9 Armstrong Whitworth December 1, 1917 August 12, 1918 July 26, 1919 Sold in 1923
HMS R10 Armstrong Whitworth December 7, 1917 October 5, 1918 April 12, 1919 Further used for anti-submarine training, sold in 1929
HMS R11 Cammell Laird December 1, 1917 March 16, 1918 August 8, 1919 Sold in 1923
HMS R12 Cammell Laird December 1, 1917 April 9, 1918 October 29, 1919 Sold in 1923

See also

Web links

Commons : R class  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • Robert Hutchinson: KAMPF UNDER WASSER - Submarines from 1776 to today , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 1st edition 2006, ISBN 3-613-02585-X
  • Anthony Preston: The history of the submarines , Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen, German edition 1998, ISBN 3-86070-697-7