The B class was a
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
of 11
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s, built by
Vickers
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
in
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...
for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, and launched in 1904–06. One boat was sunk by a collision in 1912, but the remainder served in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Three boats protected the transfer of the
British Expeditionary Force to France in 1914, but were soon relegated to local defence and training duties. Six submarines were in the Mediterranean when the war began and were quickly sent to the
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
to prevent a breakout by the German
battlecruiser
The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...
and the
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
into the Eastern Mediterranean. ''B11'' ventured into the Dardanelles in December 1914 and sank the elderly
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
ironclad
An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...
.
The arrival of more modern submarines to blockade the Dardanelles made the B-class boats redundant and they were mostly withdrawn to
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
in 1915. They were transferred to
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
after Italy entered the war, where ''B10'' became the first submarine to be sunk by air attack in 1916. The B-class submarines were transferred back to Malta in late 1916 as they were no longer deemed suitable for combat. In mid-1917 they were converted to surface patrol boats and sent to patrol the
Otranto Barrage
The Otranto Barrage was an Allied naval blockade of the Otranto Straits between Brindisi in Italy and Corfu on the Greek side of the Adriatic Sea in the First World War. The blockade was intended to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Navy from escapi ...
. They proved to be unreliable and were soon sent back to Malta where they were finally
paid off
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...
. Only ''B3'' was still in commission when the war ended and that was only because it was being used for experimental work and serving as a target to train anti-submarine forces. All surviving boats were sold for scrap in 1919–21.
Design and description
The B-class boats were similar in design to the
preceding A class and intended for coastal patrol work. The boats had a
petrol engine
A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...
for surface propulsion and batteries for underwater propulsion. The design was intended to overcome the limitations of speed, endurance and seakeeping that affected the boats of the A class, and the boats were substantially larger than the earlier class. The B-class submarines were long
overall
Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers".
Overalls were ...
. They had a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draught of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The boats were over longer, slightly wider, and displaced more than more than the older boats. Their additional size increased their
buoyancy
Buoyancy (), or upthrust, is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of a partially or fully immersed object. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus the p ...
and made them far less liable to unexpectedly plunge beneath the surface in bad weather. The addition of a
deck casing above the hull also improved their seakeeping abilities.
Diving plane
Diving planes, also known as hydroplanes, are control surfaces found on a submarine which allow the vessel to pitch its bow and stern up or down to assist in the process of submerging or surfacing the boat, as well as controlling depth when subm ...
s were initially only fitted at the stern, but additional planes were mounted on the
conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
during construction of ''B1'', ''B2'', and ''B3''; ''B4'' was not fitted with them and it is uncertain if the remaining boats received them during construction. These greatly improved the boats' depth-keeping, surfacing and diving abilities compared to the A-class boats. These were later exchanged for bow planes; the last boat to receive them was ''B6'', which did not get hers until January 1916. The B-class submarines lacked any internal
bulkheads which exposed the crew to the petrol engine's exhaust fumes. Mice were used to detect any concentrations of
carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
inside the hull. Ventilation was provided for the batteries, but none for the crew's living area. No accommodations were provided for the crew and they were forced to improvise while at sea. In recognition of this issue, the crew's endurance was only expected to be four days during the summer and three days during the winter.
[Akermann, p. 124]
The submarines' hulls were tested to a nominal depth of by filling the hull with water and subjecting it to a pressure of , but the maximum operational depth was considered to be . Nonetheless several boats safely dived to during World War I. It took about three minutes to dive the boat due to the shape of the boat and that it could dive out of control if water was pumped into the ballast tanks too quickly.
[Wilson, p. 40] Submerged endurance was officially considered to be 10 hours, but several boats were submerged for 16 hours during the war.
Propulsion
The B-class submarines had a single 16-cylinder
petrol engine
A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...
that had a designed output of and drove a single
propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
. This engine was developed by Vickers from the
Wolseley engine used in the ''A'' class. Submerged the submarine used an
electric motor
An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...
powered by 159
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
cells at a working
voltage
Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge to m ...
of only 100
volt
The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827).
Defi ...
s. This originally lasted only three hours and 45 minutes at full speed, but this time was continually increased over the career of the boats as more powerful batteries were fitted.
[
On the surface the petrol engine gave a top speed of while the maximum speed submerged was . This was about the same speed surfaced as the older submarines, but the B-class boats were about slower underwater. They carried a maximum of of ]petrol
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
that provided a range of at a speed of .
Armament
The B-class boats were armed with a pair of 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s side by side in the bow and angled slightly downwards. Space was provided for a pair of reloads, but the addition of extra equipment over the years meant that they could only be carried if an equivalent weight of fuel was discarded. By the start of World War I the boats could carry the 18-inch Mark VIII torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
which had two speed and range settings. At the torpedo had a range of , but a range of at . It had a warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
* Explosiv ...
that consisted of of TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
.
History
Each submarine was built by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard. ''B1'' was originally ordered as ''A14'' in the 1903–04 Naval Programme, but it was cancelled and reordered as the first boat of the new class. The remaining 10 boats were ordered as part of the 1904–05 Programme.[
In mid-1912 most of the B-class submarines were transferred to the Mediterranean. ''B6'', ''B7'', and ''B8'' were sent to Gibraltar while ''B9'', ''B10'' and ''B11'' sailed for Malta. ''B1'', ''B2'', ''B3'', ''B4'', and ''B5'' remained in the United Kingdom, the latter four assigned to the 3rd Submarine Flotilla. During exercises in October 1912 off ]Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
with the 6th and 7th Torpedo Boat Flotillas was rammed amidships by the German passenger liner
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...
SS ''Amerika'' on 4 October 1912. Cut nearly in half, she sank almost immediately and only one man was rescued by the submarine .[Wilson, pp. 74–75]
World War I
Home waters
By the beginning of World War I, ''B3'', ''B4'', and ''B5'' were at Dover and were deployed on a line between Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
and the Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands is a sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geologi ...
to protect the passage of the British Expeditionary Force to France. Each submarine would sail from Dover before dawn to be secured at the buoy
A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents.
Types
Navigational buoys
* Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...
marking their billet at dawn, the idea being that they would be able to slip from the buoy when they spotted an enemy ship and manoeuvre to attack. That this was not a good tactic was proved when ''B3'' narrowly avoided a torpedo from a German U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
on the morning of 2 October. Nonetheless the scheme was successful and the BEF crossed to France without loss.[Wilson, pp. 74–75]
''B1'' remained at Portsmouth for local defence and training duties through 1916 before being paid off
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...
. ''B3'' and ''B4'' were transferred to Ardrossan by the end of 1915 to relieve two even more obsolescent A-class boats on local defence duties in the Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...
. ''B3'' was transferred to Leith during mid-1916 where she was fitted with an experimental hull-mounted directional hydrophone
A hydrophone ( grc, ὕδωρ + φωνή, , water + sound) is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potenti ...
system and later sent to Rosyth
Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440.
The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...
in 1917 where she was used as either a target to train anti-submarine forces or experimental work for the rest of the war. ''B4'' was paid off before the end of 1916. ''B5'' moved to Portsmouth during 1915 where she too was paid off before the end of 1916.
Mediterranean waters
The three Malta-based boats were sent to the Dardanelles
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
in mid-September 1914 to prevent a sortie
A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. ...
by the German battlecruiser and the light cruiser into the Eastern Mediterranean. The entrance to the Dardanelles was patrolled from dawn to dusk by these boats as well as four French submarines which arrived later. Neither the British nor the French submarines had enough battery power or underwater speed to combat the south-flowing currents in the Dardanelles to reach the Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...
, but ''B11'' was selected for a sortie that would attempt to penetrate as far as the town of Chanak, halfway up the Dardanelles, because she had the newest, and thus most powerful, batteries. Special guards were fitted over the forward diving planes to make sure that any mooring wires of mines would not get entangled and dragged down to the boat.
On 13 December 1914, ''B11'', commanded by Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook
Commander Norman Douglas Holbrook VC (9 July 1888 – 3 July 1976) was a British naval recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award of the British honours system. Holbrook was the first submariner to be awarded the VC and it was the fi ...
, entered the Dardanelles in the early morning. Shortly after departure one of the guards broke and began banging against the hull, making a lot of noise and vibration. Lieutenant Holbrook ordered the boat to the surface in an attempt to cut the guard loose even though the boat was in full view of the Turkish guns defending the entrance. They succeeded before dawn revealed their presence to the Turks and proceeded up the Dardanelles at a depth of to avoid the Turkish minefield
A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...
s. Two and a half hours later ''B11'' came to periscope depth
A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position.
In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
and Holbrook spotted the elderly Turkish ironclad ''Mesudiye''. He fired one torpedo that struck the ship, which settled by the stern and then capsize
Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fro ...
d. Before sinking, ''Mesudiye'' spotted ''B11'' and fired on her periscope which revealed her position to the shore batteries. Attempting to leave the area, ''B11'' briefly grounded herself, breaking the surface, but was able to get herself off. ''B11''s compass became fogged and prevented the submarine from navigating at depth; instead Holbrook had to con the boat at periscope depth which meant he had to go through the minefields, not below them. Nevertheless, the boat made it back safely; Holbrook was awarded the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
, his First Lieutenant, the Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
and every enlisted man the Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation.
Examples include:
*Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action
* Distinguishe ...
.
''B6'' and ''B8'' arrived from Gibraltar in mid-February 1915 as did ''B7'' a month later. Other, more modern submarines followed, and several attempts were made to reach the Sea of Marmara. The British submarine ran aground in April during one of these attempts and had to be abandoned. ''B6'' was sent to destroy her with torpedoes to prevent the Turks from salvaging her. One of the torpedoes hit a barge alongside and the other torpedo missed. After running out of fuel it drifted down the Dardanelles and was recovered by the destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
which returned it to ''B6''. ''B11'' attempted again the following day, but was thwarted by fog.
The B-class boats were deemed redundant once more capable submarines arrived in early 1915 and most returned to Malta. ''B6'' and ''B11'', however, were sent to Alexandria where they conducted patrols along the Libyan coast to prevent arms deliveries to rebellious tribesmen. During one incident on 16 August 1915 a party of Arabs and officers in European uniforms were spotted displaying a flag of truce. The two submarines anchored and Lieutenant Holbrook was rowed ashore to talk to them. They opened fire, killing one man and wounding three, including Holbrook. The submarines were soon withdrawn from this task as they were totally unsuitable for this duty, lacking any deck armament at all.
Adriatic waters
In September 1915, after the Italian declaration of war on the Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
, the transfer of the B-class boats to the Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
was suggested by the Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
. Originally they were to be based at Brindisi, but this was changed to Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
as there were already 14 British and French submarines based at Brindisi. ''B4'', ''B7'', and ''B9'' were the first to arrive, but ''B4'' collided en route with the Italian tug escorting them and required immediate docking upon her arrival. ''B9'' made the first patrol on 18 October and a total of 81 patrols were made by the ''B''-class submarines before they ceased in October 1916. Nothing of note was directly accomplished by the submarines, but they fulfilled the ultimate goal of keeping the Austro-Hungarians
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
from attacking the Italian coast.
''B11'', now commanded by Lieutenant Gravener, encountered an Austro-Hungarian seaplane on 11 November that had been forced down by engine trouble. ''B11'' attempted to engage the seaplane with the one Maxim gun
The Maxim gun is a recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first fully automatic machine gun in the world.
The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most associated with imperial conquest" by historian M ...
she had aboard, but it jammed almost immediately and Gravener attempted to ram
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
the aircraft. The Austrians managed to restart their engine, however, and flew off, easily avoiding Gravener's ramming attempt. On 17 January ''B11'' encountered another seaplane with engine trouble. This time the Austrians were unable to repair their engine and were captured. ''B9'' was spotted by an Austrian seaplane on 29 March and eventually forced to dive after both sides failed to damage each other with machine gun fire. ''B7'' had a narrow escape off the Austrian naval base at Pola Pola or POLA may refer to:
People
*House of Pola, an Italian noble family
*Pola Alonso (1923–2004), Argentine actress
*Pola Brändle (born 1980), German artist and photographer
*Pola Gauguin (1883–1961), Danish painter
*Pola Gojawiczyńska (18 ...
three months later when she was damaged by another seaplane that jammed her diving planes in the "hard to rise" position which meant she could not submerge until they were repaired. Both ''B8'' and ''B11'' were missed by torpedoes fired by Austrian submarines in early 1916. On one patrol the gear teeth of ''B11''s steering mechanism were stripped which made the rudder loose and the boat unsteerable. Relieving tackles were rigged, despite the heavy seas, but they parted under the strain after 15 minutes. Slowly the boat began to drift towards the enemy coast, but a northwesterly breeze sprang up before dawn and the seas moderated which allowed her to make about by going astern. By this time she was overdue and the Italians began to search for her. She was towed back to Venice by an Italian destroyer that found her about mid-morning.[Wilson, pp. 78–79]
''B10'' became the first submarine sunk by air attack when she was sunk at her mooring in Venice on 9 August 1916 after a near-miss during an Austrian air raid. The bomb blew a hole about in diameter in her pressure hull. She was re-floated, but a fire gutted her while she was under repair and she was sold for scrap.[Wilson, p. 79]
The B-class boats had reached the limits of their usefulness and the survivors were withdrawn to Malta on 30 October where they were paid off pending a decision on their fate. In August 1917 the boats were converted at Malta to surface patrol boats with a raised wheelhouse, given a 12-pounder gun and renamed ''S6'' to ''S9'', and ''S11''. They were assigned to patrol the Otranto Barrage
The Otranto Barrage was an Allied naval blockade of the Otranto Straits between Brindisi in Italy and Corfu on the Greek side of the Adriatic Sea in the First World War. The blockade was intended to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Navy from escapi ...
, but their age and small size worked against them and they were soon paid off at Malta where they were sold after the war.[
]
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
External links
B-class subs on britsub.net
{{Good article
B class submarine, British
Vickers