100 YEARS OF BARROW-BUILT RN SUBMARINES, 1901-2001
K AND K26 CLASSES, 1915-1931
K Class Submarines
1915-1926
K Class submarines were the most bizarre and ill-fated submarines of the First World War period. Their conception, in the spring of 1915, arose from the demand for a submarine that could accompany the Grand Fleet at speeds of up to 24 knots. A 1913 Admiralty design using steam propulsion was adopted and, given the outline particulars, form and general arrangements, Vickers were requested to proceed with the detailed drawings.
The first-of-class, K3, was laid down by His Majesty the King in May 1915 and was completed at Vickers within 15 months of being ordered. As a result of her trials, additional fans were fitted in the turbine room to combat the very high temperature generated by the steam turbines.
Of the 17 of the class, six were built at Vickers, each at an estimated cost of £340 000. Originally, 28 K Class submarines were ordered, but of these several were later cancelled. K18 to K21 were redesigned and became the M Class and K26 was an experimental submarine, built in an attempt to overcome the defects of the earlier K boats. At the time, they were not only the largest submarines in the world, but also the fastest - their phenomenal speed being attained from 10 500shp oil-fired steam turbines. In addition to the steam turbines, the class had an auxiliary diesel generator for charging the batteries and powering the electric motors.
The pioneer vessels of the K Class had a flush deck with a slight 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 ingenious design of the class was so complex that it was vulnerable to minor defects.
K Class submarines could submerge faster than any previous steam submarines, but the delay was still impossibly long. Although the specified time to close down and secure the boiler room, funnel, etc was only 30 seconds, vessels of the K Class till took about five minutes to dive. Once submerged, the class could dive to a depth of 200 feet.
The K boats, being high-speed Fleet submarines, were fitted with a deckhouse built over and around the conning tower, forming, in fact, a fully-enclosed bridge, and giving, for the first time in Royal Navy submarines, protection to bridge personnel other than by canvas screens. K Class submarines began to enter service in 1916, but because of their role with the Fleet they were unduly exposed to the risk of collision, and a chapter of accidents befell the class. The worst accident occurred on the night of 31st January, 1918 when ten K boats were operating with battlecruisers on a night exercise off May Island.
During the night, the helm in K14 jammed to starboard and she swung round and collided with K22, which was actually the K13 renamed after she had drowned most of her crew on her maiden voyage. The two boats locked together and in a series of collisions K4 was sunk by K6 (losing all hands), and K7 was sunk by HMS Fearless (also losing all hands). Four other submarines were damaged. This incident added further to the suspicion of a hoodoo on the class, because just two months earlier K1 had been sunk by the gunfire of HMS Blonde off the Danish coast.
These disasters finally sealed the fate of the K Class submarines and most were taken out of service at the end of the war. The class never had an opportunity to prove themselves as Fleet submarines - only six of the 17 boats built were in commission for six years or more, and the maximum time in service was nine years. However, experience gained from the K Class led to the building of the experimental submarine K26.
K26 1918-1931
K26 was laid down in June 1918 and launched at Vickers 14 months later. In 1920 she was towed to Chatham for completion and was completed in June 1923.
Based on the K Class design, K26 was intended to eliminate or at least reduce the known defects of that class. Although the general layout in K26 was practically the same as the K Class, the introduction of six 21-inch bow torpedo tubes in lieu of four 18-inch bow tubes was responsible for an overall increase in length of 12 feet. A great advance was made in K26 by the introduction of battery compartments - which became standard in the designs of the 1920s.
The main machinery of K26 was the same as that fitted in the K Class, but her design surface speed of 23.5 knots was 0.5 knots slower. At the time, the loss in speed was blamed on the repositioned after hydroplanes being in the wake of the propellers and on the increased draught. The increase in displacement was actually the reason. The 24 knots for the K Class was achieved at 1980 tons displacement carrying the normal load of 197 tons of oil fuel whereas K26 had a displacement of 2140 tons with 300 tons of oil fuel.
K26 could submerge more rapidly than previous steam submarines, and her diving depth was increased to 250 feet - although there is no apparent reason for the 50 feet increase over that of the K Class.
In 1924, K26 undertook a world voyage which attracted considerable attention. She proceeded via Gibraltar, Malta and the Red Sea, to Columbo and Singapore and, after a short stay there, voyaged back again. She decommissioned in April 1931.
MAIN PARTICULARS K Class K26
Length overall 339 ft 351 ft
Beam 26 ft 6 3/4 in 28 ft
Depth, pressure hull 20 ft 11 1/4 in 19 ft 9 in
Displacement,
surface 1980 tons 2140 tons
submerged 2566 tons 2530 tons
Diving depth 200 ft 250 ft
No. of shafts 2 2
Propellers 3 blades, Details unknown
7 ft 6 in diameter
Speed, surface:
design 24 knots 23.5 knots
service 24 knots 23.5 knots
Speed, submerged:
design 9 knots 9 knots
service 8+ knots 8+ knots
Endurance, surface:
design 960 miles at full power 1200 miles at full power
service (i) 800 miles at full power 1200 miles at full power
(ii) 12 500 miles at 10 knots (iii) 12 670 miles at 10 knots
Endurance, submerged:
design 13.5 miles at 9 knots 13.5 miles at 9 knots
