"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	Apr, 1917	Collision 17 Nov, 1917
K 2	Portsmouth Royal Dockyard		14 Oct, 1916	Feb, 1917	Sold Jul, 1926
K 3	Vickers		20 May, 1916	Sep, 1916	Sold Oct, 1921
K 4	Vickers		15 Jul, 1916	Jan, 1917	Collision 31 Jan, 1918
K 5	Portsmouth Royal Dockyard		16 Dec, 1916	May, 1917	Lost 20 Jan, 1921
K 6	Devonport Royal Dockyard		31 May, 1916	Jun, 1917	Sold Jul, 1926
K 7	Devonport Royal Dockyard		31 May, 1916	Jul, 1916	Sold Sep, 1921
K 8	Vickers		10 Oct, 1916	Mar, 1917	Sold Oct, 1923
K 9	Vickers		8 Nov, 1916	May, 1917	Sold Jul, 1926
K 10	Vickers		27 Dec, 1916	Jun, 1917	Sold Nov, 1921
K 11	Armstrong, Whitworth & Company		16 Aug, 1916	Feb, 1917	Sold Nov, 1921
K 12	Armstrong, Whitworth & Company		23 Feb, 1917	Aug, 1917	Sold Jul, 1926
K 13	Fairfield		11 Nov, 1916	Oct, 1917	Sold Dec, 1926
K 14	Fairfield		8 Feb, 1917	May, 1917	Sold Dec, 1926
K 15	Scott		31 Oct, 1917	Mar, 1918	Sold Aug, 1924
K 16	Beardmore		5 Nov, 1917	Mar, 1918	Sold Aug, 1924
K 17	Vickers		10 Apr, 1917	Mar, 1918	Collision 31 Jan, 1918
K 26	Vickers		26 Aug, 1919	Jun, 1923	Sold Mar, 1931

Service History

The boats were seemingly cursed, with four of eighteen units being lost to accidents.

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.^[1]

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.^[2]