D 1 (I 71)
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | D |
| Fate: | Used as a target and sunk on 23rd October 1918. |
Commanders
| 1909: | Lieutenant Commander | C Little | |
| 1910: | Lieutenant | Noel F Lawrence | |
| 1914: | Lieutenant Commander | K Cochrane | |
| 1917: | Lieutenant | William McKinstry Maitland-Dougall (RCN) |
1914: 8th Flotilla Portsmouth, HMS Maidstone and Adamant
D1 was the first British submarine to be fitted with diesel instead of petrol engines.
The wreck of D1 has been given protected status. It was the forerunner to the Royal Navy's patrol submarines and was the secret prototype for the D class, the Royal Navy's first diesel-powered submarines.
D1 was assigned to protecting the coast of Dover from enemy invasion. In September 1917, joined the Portsmouth local defence flotilla and a year later it was relegated to training duties.
Weeks before the end of the war, it was decommissioned and scuttled off the Dartmouth coast. The submarine was later used as a target for Royal Navy training exercises involving the detection of enemy submarines.
The wreck, which sits upright and largely intact on the seabed, was identified by U-boat historian Michael Lowrey who was writing a book about First World War U-boat losses.
The submarine has now been granted protection by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England. Lead diver, Steve Mortimer, said:
This is a fascinating survival which deserves protection as an important part of our seafaring history. Every diver dreams of identifying a historically important wreck.
Expecting to find the remains of a German U-boat, we were thrilled to discover a ground-breaking British submarine instead. It's tremendous that D1 is now protected but divers can still visit.
Events
| 14-05-1907 | Laid Down |
| 16-05-1908 | Launched |
| 01-09-1909 | Completed |
| 23-10-1918 | Used as a target and sunk |
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