H.M.S. C 34 (1910)

H.M.S. C 34 (1910)
Pendant Number:	I.64 (1914) C.34 (mid 1915)^[1]
Builder:	Chatham Royal Dockyard^[2]
Launched:	8 Jun, 1910^[3]
Torpedoed:	21 Jul, 1917^[4]
Fate:	by U 52

H.M.S. C 34 was one of thirty-eight "C" class coastal submarines completed for the Royal Navy.

Service

On 17 March, 1913 C 34 collided with the battlecruiser Invincible in Stokes Bay in the Solent. The battlecruiser suffered no damage in the process, but I have yet to read how the submarine fared.

In the Test Mobilization, she was one of seven "C" class boats comprising the Fourth Submarine Flotilla. As the war commenced, it would operate in Home and Atlantic Waters. In July 1915, she became part of the Harwich Force's Eighth Submarine Flotilla, a formation of over twenty submarines that was incredibly diverse in type: six different classes.

In August 1916 C 34 was transferred to the Fifth Submarine Flotilla.

In November 1916, she would leave with C 20 for the Sixth Submarine Flotilla, which was part of the Portsmouth Local Defence Flotilla. It contained a curious mix of coastal "C" boats and the tremendously large "K" class fleet submarines that were entering service.

In March 1917, she went to the Harwich Force as part of the Ninth Submarine Flotilla, being exchanged for C 4. In June, she went to the Tenth Submarine Flotilla.

She was lost to a torpedo fired by U 52 while she was cruising on the surface. Only one man of he crew of nineteen was rescued.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Lieutenant in Command John G. Bower, 1 March, 1910^[5] – 25 November, 1913^[6]
Lieutenant in Command John F. Hutchings, 25 November, 1913^[7]^[8] – 13 November, 1915^[9]
Lieutenant in Command Richard D. Sandford, 29 August, 1916^[10] – December, 1916^[11]
Lieutenant in Command Sydney T. Winn, December, 1916^[12] – 8 March, 1917^[13]
Lieutenant in Command George A. C. Sharp, 10 March, 1917^[14] – 1 May, 1917^[15] (temporary)
Lieutenant in Command Ingleby S. Jefferson, 19 March, 1917^[16] – 21 July, 1917^[17] (killed when submarine torpedoed under his command)