"B" Class Submarine (1904)

The Royal Navy's eleven "B" Class Submarines entered service between July 1903 and early 1906.

They were modest improvements on the preceding class, offering greater reserve buoyancy and enlarged casing to improve surface operations. There were ten in commission at the start of the war.^[1]

Submarine technology was advancing at such a rate that the "B" and "C" class submarines were considered coastal submarines by the time the Great War broke out.^[2]

Overview of 11 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
B 1	Vickers		25 Oct, 1904		Sold May, 1921
B 2	Vickers		30 Oct, 1905		Rammed 4 Oct, 1912
B 3	Vickers		31 Oct, 1905		Sold Dec, 1919
B 4	Vickers		14 Nov, 1905		Sold Apr, 1919
B 5	Vickers		14 Nov, 1905		Sold Aug, 1921
B 6	Vickers		30 Nov, 1905		Sold 1919
B 7	Vickers		30 Nov, 1905		Sold 1919
B 8	Vickers		23 Jan, 1906		Sold 1919
B 9	Vickers		24 Jan, 1906		Sold 1919
B 10	Vickers		23 Mar, 1906		Bombed 9 Aug, 1916
B 11	Vickers		21 Feb, 1906		Sold 1919

After the war, the "B" and "C" class submarines were described as "very good in their day", but with too small a radius to be able to truly operate on enemy coasts.^[3]

Service

At the commencement of the Great War, there were ten "B" class submarines in service, B 2 having been lost before the war. Only B 10 was lost in the war, to air attack.^[4]

B 6, B 7, B 8, B 9 and B 11 served with the British Adriatic Squadron until 30 October 1916 when they were withdrawn to Malta to be paid off. In August 1917 they were converted to surface patrol boats with a raised wheelhouse, and a 12-pdr gun and re-designated as "S" class patrol boats, e.g., S 6. They were returned to service with the Adriatic Squadron.

By war's end, the obsolescent boats were out of combat service.