H.M.S. B 11 (1906)

H.M.S. B 11 (1906)
Pendant Number:	I.00 (1914) B.11 (mid 1915)^[1]
Builder:	Vickers^[2]
Launched:	21 Feb, 1906^[3]
Sold:	1919^[4]

H.M.S. B 11 was one of eleven "B" class coastal submarines completed for the Royal Navy.

While operating in the Mediterranean Submarine Flotilla,^[5] B 11 sank the Turkish ironclad Mesûdiye in the Dardanelles on 13 December, 1914.^[6]

Service

In the summer of 1914, B 11 went to Malta as one of three "B" class boats to initially constitute what would become the Mediterranean Submarine Flotilla.

On 13 December 1914, the submarine entered the Dardanelles and torpedoed the elderly Turkish ironclad Mesûdiye. The mission had been demanding, but the target was almost forty years in service. Nonetheless, Lt. Norman Douglas Holbrook was fittingly awarded the Victoria Cross for his success in reaching a powerful target in deeply defended waters.

Around November, 1915, B 11 was transferred to the British Adriatic Squadron, becoming one of a six "B" class boats in the formation. At a time when it coastal submarines were enjoying ever-less utility, the Adriatic was well-suited to operations by such handy craft.

After being attacked by an Austrian flying boat on 11 December, 1915, Lieutenant Gravener saw the plane set upon the waves with an engine problem. B 11's machine gun jammed and the enemy plane was able to take off again before a ramming attempt could be made.^[7]

By January, 1916, B 11 was designated as the "parent" submarine to the five other boats.

The submarine's opportunity to confront the aerial threat over the Adriatic would be repeated, as on 17 January, 1916 she captured a seaplane and crew who had set down with engine trouble.

B 11 was withdrawn from service around November 1916 and taken to Malta, where she would be reconfigured for surface-only operation as an "S" class patrol boat. She returned with three sisters to the Adriatic Squadron in August 1917.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Lieutenant & Commander Clyfford H. Warren, 25 February, 1908 – 12 January, 1911
Lieutenant & Commander Robert B. Ramsay, 7 August, 1908^[8] – 1 February, 1909^[9]
Lieutenant in Command Charles de Burgh, 12 January, 1911^[10] – 30 December, 1913^[11]
Lieutenant Norman D. Holbrook, 30 December, 1913^[12] – September, 1915 (invalided with dysentery)
Captain Wilfred Tomkinson, 5 October, 1915^[13] – late 1915 (and for duty with submarines)
Lieutenant in Command Samuel M. G. Gravener, 27 August, 1915^[14] – 15 January, 1916^[15]
Lieutenant & Commander Kenneth Michell, c. mid January, 1916 – 18 August, 1916