sheer forward but, because of a tendency to dive into head seas, later boats were redesigned to overcome this alarming habit and were fitted with large clipper bows and buoyancy tanks. In order to allow this change, the armament and torpedo tubes were rearranged - the guns were removed to the superstructure and, where fitted, twin 18-inch deck tubes for use on the surface at night were removed.
The outline of the K boats was broken by two small funnels that were hinged to fold down into a watertight well. The large air-intakes for the two oil-fired boilers also required watertight seals. In the concise words of a contemporary submariner, the K Class had 'too many damned holes', and a minor obstruction or wire rope was sufficient to jam a vent open just as the submarine was ready to dive. An added disadvantage was that the highly
