"J" Class Submarine (1915)
Seven "J" Class Submarines were completed during the war. All served in the Royal Navy except J 7, which was in the Royal Australian Navy. The Royal Navy considered these to be "patrol" (as opposed to coastal or fleet) submarines, costing 25% more than the "G" class boats.[1] The five surviving units were transferred to the Australian service after the war.
| Overview of 7 vessels | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citations for this data available on individual ship pages | |||||
| Name | Builder | Laid Down | Launched | Completed | Fate |
| J 1 | Portsmouth Royal Dockyard | 6 Nov, 1915 | Apr, 1916 | to Australia 25 Mar, 1919 | |
| J 2 | Portsmouth Royal Dockyard | 6 Nov, 1915 | Jul, 1916 | to Australia 25 Mar, 1919 | |
| J 3 | Pembroke Royal Dockyard | 4 Dec, 1915 | Jun, 1916 | to Australia 25 Mar, 1919 | |
| J 4 | Pembroke Royal Dockyard | 2 Feb, 1916 | Jul, 1916 | to Australia 25 Mar, 1919 | |
| J 5 | Devonport Royal Dockyard | 9 Sep, 1915 | Jun, 1916 | to Australia 25 Mar, 1919 | |
| J 6 | Devonport Royal Dockyard | 9 Sep, 1915 | Aug, 1916 | Sunk 15 Oct, 1918 | |
| J 7 | Devonport Royal Dockyard | 21 Feb, 1917 | Sep, 1917 | Sold Nov, 1929 | |
Performance
The Grand Fleet Battle Orders specified that the top speed on the surface was 19.5 knots, but that a more realistic "sea-going speed" was 16 knots.[2]
Radio
By war's end, all boats of "E" class and later were given 3 kilowatt Poulsen wireless sets, affording ranges of 200 miles submarine-to-submarine, and 300-400 miles between shore stations and submarines. Reception of shore stations of 400 miles was common, and high power shore stations could be received over 500-600 miles.[3]
Torpedoes
- six 18-in tubes (four forward, two broadside), twelve torpedoes
Guns
Originally, all were to be provided a 12-pdr on an H.A. mounting and a 2-pdr Q.F. gun,[4] but as built the armament seemed to vary.[5]
J 1 - J 4 :
- one 12-pdr
- one 3-in H.A.
J 5 - J 7:
- one 12-pdr H.A.
- one 2-pdr
Later, all boats were rearmed with 4-in guns.
See Also
Footnotes
Bibliography
- Gray, Randal (editor) (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
| "J" Class Submarine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| J 1 | J 2 | J 3 | J 4 | J 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| J 6 | J 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| <– | "G" Class | Submarines (UK) | "K" Class | –> | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
