"K" Class Submarine (1916)

Eighteen "K" class steam-powered fleet submarines were completed for the Royal Navy.

They were not a successful design.

Overview of 18 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
K 1	Portsmouth Royal Dockyard		14 Nov, 1916		Collision 17 Nov, 1917
K 2	Portsmouth Royal Dockyard		14 Oct, 1916		Sold Jul, 1926
K 3	Vickers		20 May, 1916		Sold Oct, 1921
K 4	Vickers		15 Jul, 1916		Collision 31 Jan, 1918
K 5	Portsmouth Royal Dockyard		16 Dec, 1916		Lost 20 Jan, 1921
K 6	Devonport Royal Dockyard		31 May, 1916		Sold Jul, 1926
K 7	Devonport Royal Dockyard		31 May, 1916		Sold Sep, 1921
K 8	Vickers		10 Oct, 1916		Sold Oct, 1923
K 9	Vickers		8 Nov, 1916		Sold Jul, 1926
K 10	Vickers		27 Dec, 1916		Sold Nov, 1921
K 11	Armstrong		16 Aug, 1916		Sold Nov, 1921
K 12	Armstrong		23 Feb, 1917		Sold Jul, 1926
K 13	Fairfield		11 Nov, 1916		Sold Dec, 1926
K 14	Fairfield		8 Feb, 1917		Sold Dec, 1926
K 15	Scott		31 Oct, 1917		Sold Aug, 1924
K 16	Beardmore		5 Nov, 1917		Sold Aug, 1924
K 17	Vickers		10 Apr, 1917		Collision 31 Jan, 1918
K 26	Vickers		26 Aug, 1919	Jun, 1923	Sold Mar, 1931

History

The boats were seemingly cursed.

They were required to "steam at 23 knots, to dive in five minutes, to dive for six hours, and to be seaworthy on the high seas." An oddly rosy post-war appraisal indicated that they surpassed their requirements, achieving dives in 24 minutes and 15 seconds (K 8 managed 3 minutes, 25 seconds on one occasion). K 12 maintained 24.2 knots over 72 miles. Ten hours of submerged endurance was manageable in calm weather, and two of the boats overtook the Grand Fleet in a gale in September 1918.

Armament

Torpedoes

Original design Boats:

• ten 18-in tubes (four forward, four broadside, one twin revolving mount in superstructure) eighteen torpedoes

K 26:

• six 21-in tubes forward, twelve torpedoes
• four 18-in broadside tubes, eight torpedoes

Guns

Original design Boats:

• two 4-in Q.F. guns
• one 3-in H.A. mount

K 26:

• three 4-in Q.F. guns

See Also

• Wikipedia

Bibliography

"K" Class Submarine

Original Design

K 1

K 2

K 3

K 4

K 5

K 6

K 7

K 8

K 9

K 10

K 11

K 12

K 13

K 14

K 15

K 16

K 17

Improved Design

K 26

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"J" Class

Submarines (UK)

"L" Class

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