B Class Submarines Class Overview

Dimensions, machinery and performance

Length:
142' 2.5"

Engines:

1 sixteen cylinder Vickers gasoline
Beam:
13' 7"
Motors:
1
Draft:
11' 7"
Shafts:
1
Pressure Hull
Horsepower
Length:
N/A
Engines:
600
Diameter:
N/A
Motors:
290
Displacement
Speed
Surfaced:
287
Surfaced:
12 knots (design 13-13.5 knots)
Submerged:
316
Submerged:
6 knots (design 7 knots)
Diving Depth:
50'
Range
Surfaced:
1,000 NM @ 8.75 knots (design 1,300 NM @ 9)
Crew:
15
Submerged:
50 NM @ 4.5 knots / 22.5 NM @ 6.5 knots


Armament As Built
Number Carried
Type
Arrangement
Maximum Range / Ceiling
2
18" (450mm)
Torpedo tubes
Bow
800 yards @ 26.5 knots
118 lbs. wet gun-cotton warhead
2 reloads


Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-1 (I-21)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Oct. 25, 1904
Apr. 16, 1905
Fate
Sold May 1921 and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-2 (I-22)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Oct. 30, 1905
Dec. 9, 1905
Fate
Sunk Oct. 4, 1912 rammed by SS Amerika (1905) of the Hamburg-America Line.

Location: Strait of Dover, 5 miles east of Dover, England.
(51.08N - 01.24E)

14 crewmen killed, the only survivor was the commander Lt. R. Pulleyne.
(Roll of Honour)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-3 (I-23)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Oct. 31, 1905
Jan. 19, 1906
Fate
Sold Dec. 1919 and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-4 (I-24)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Nov. 14, 1905
Jan. 28, 1906
Fate
Sold Apr. 1919 and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-5 (I-25)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Oct. 14, 1905
Feb. 25, 1906
Fate
Sold Aug. 1921 and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-6 (I-26)
(Later S-6)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Nov. 30, 1905
Mar. 3, 1906
Fate
Sold at Malta in 1919 and scrapped.

(Aug. 1917, converted into a surface patrol craft at Arsenale Navalie, Venice, Italy
and renamed S-6)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-7 (I-27)
(Later S-7)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Nov. 30, 1905
Mar. 27, 1906
Fate
Sold at Malta in 1919 and scrapped.

(Aug. 1917, converted into a surface patrol craft at Arsenale Navalie, Venice, Italy
and renamed S-7)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-8 (I-28)
(Later S-8)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Jan. 23, 1906
Apr. 10, 1906
Fate
Sold at Malta in 1919 and scrapped.

(Aug. 1917, converted into a surface patrol craft at Arsenale Navalie, Venice, Italy
and renamed S-8)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-9 (I-29)
(Later S-9)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Jan. 24, 1906
Apr. 28, 1906
Fate
Sold at Malta in 1919 and scrapped.

(Aug. 1917, converted into a surface patrol craft at Arsenale Navalie, Venice, Italy
and renamed S-9)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B-10 (I-20)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Mar. 23, 1906
May 31, 1906
Fate
Sunk Aug. 9, 1916 by Austrian aircraft.
(First Royal Navy submarine sunk by aircraft)

Location: Venice, Italy.

Raised two weeks later but destroyed by fire while under repair. Sold to the
Italian Government and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
B- 11 (I-00)
(Later S-11)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England

Feb. 21, 1906
July 7, 1906
Fate
Sold at Malta in 1919 and scrapped.

(Aug. 1917, converted into a surface patrol craft at Arsenale Navalie, Venice, Italy
and renamed S-11)


Class Notes:
B-1 was laid down as A-14 of the A class however, modifications made during
construction were sufficient to create the B class from her design.

The B class was the only class of Royal Navy submarines fitted with hydroplanes on
the conning tower.

B-6 thru B-11 were sent to the Mediterranean and used in the Adriatic for coastal
patrols. In late 1917 the surviving boats (B-10 sunk in 1916) were converted at
the Arsenale Navalie, Venice, Italy into surface patrol craft and renamed S-6 thru S-11.
The electric motor and batteries were removed, a forecastle, wheelhouse and a small
platform were added. The boats were armed with a 3" (76mm) 12 pounder. It is
believed that the torpedo tubes were also removed during the conversion.


Page created June 7, 2007