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RN Submarines

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H class boats

RN Submarines by Class

RN Submarine TimelineDistribution of RN Submarines WW1

The 1912-1920 Submarine Build Strategy

In November of 1910 Captain Roger J B Keyes succeeded Captain Sydney S Hall as Inspecting Captain of Submarines. Keyes was a destroyer man and knew nothing about submarines. He appointed a committee which advised him that future British submarines should be of two types, 'Coastals' for local defence and large 'Overseas' for operations off an enemy's coast.

Keys considered Vickers and Chatham Dockyard unable to meet his demands. So that additional submarines could be built in private yards, he caused the Admiralty-Vickers agreement to be terminated. As two years notice had to be given none of the excellent Admiralty-designed E boats could be ordered from other yards until 1913.

Keyes went abroad to obtain what he wanted in addition to encouraging British shipbuilding firms to propose their own designs. The results were catastrophic, unfortunately, as these efforts produced nothing else but a motley collection of what at best could be called experimental submarine types. These foreign designs were barely suitable for work in the North Sea as they had been developed for the Mediterranean and this caused the Royal Navy to lag behind the German Navy submarines of the overseas type.

There were a number of dismal failures, the Italian designed S Class and the French designed W Class which were both of double hull construction. These boats were finally ceded to the Italian Navy in 1915-1916. Keyes remained in charge of the submarines for four years. It is a fact that the British Navy never wanted more submarines, at least until the advent of the nuclear submarine.

Most flag officers and above all Admiral Fisher believed that the Battle Fleet should have its own flotillas of submarines capable of working with the surface ships. The obsession of the Admirals in their rigid Battle Fleet concept prevented them considering the submarine as the lone unsupported weapon it really was. This persuaded the British to waste a not inconsiderable portion of their submarine building effort through the construction of so-called Fleet Submarines. The resulting K Class steam driven submarines, intended as a new and powerful spearhead for the Battle Fleet, were to suffer more calamity than ever endured by any other class of warship in the Royal Navy.

1901 - 1913: Holland Class 1902 - 1920: A Class
1903 - 1906: B Class 1903 - 1906: C Class
1907 - 1919: D Class 1911 - 1924: E Class
1912 - 1919: V (early) Class 1912 - 1915: S Class
1913 - 1919: Nautilus Class 1914 - 1916: Swordfish Class
1914 - 1922: F Class 1914 - 1921: G Class
1914 - 1916: W Class 1915 - 1929: J Class
1915 - 1926: K Class 1916 - 1945: L Class
1916 - 1932: M Class 1917 - 1945: H Class
1917 - 1934: R Class 1918 - 1931: K26 Class
1921 - 1925: X1 Class 1924 - 1945: Oberon Class
1925 - 1946: Odin Class 1927 - 1946: Parthian Class
1929 - 1946: Rainbow Class 1929 - 1945: River Class
1930 - 1946: Grampus Class 1935 - 1970: Improved S Class
1935 - 1970: T Class 1936 - 1958: U Class
1940: Archimede Class 1940 - 1946: The 9th Foltilla
1940 - 1957: Turkish Class 1941 - 1944: VIIC Class
1941 - 1944: US S Class 1941 - 1945: US R Class
1941 - 1958: V Class 1942 - 1946: X Class
1943 - 1946: XT Class 1943 - 1977: Amphion Class
1944 - 1952: XE Class 1945 - 1949: XVIIB Class
1954 - 1958: Stickleback Class 1955 - 1970: Explorer Class
1956 - 1988: Porpoise Class 1959 - 1998: Oberon Class
1963 - 1980: Dreadnought Class 1966 - 1994: Valiant Class
1967 - 1996: Resolution Class 1970 - 1990: Churchill Class
1973 - 2010: Swiftsure Class 1983 - 2025: Trafalgar Class
1990 - 1994: Upholder Class 1993 - Present: Vanguard Class
2010 - Present: Astute Class Future: Dreadnought Class

The First Barrow Submarines Depot Ships