British H class submarine under construction

The British H-class submarines were Holland 602 type submarines used by 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 ...

. The

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 constructed for the British Royal Navy between 1915 and 1919 were designed and built in response to German boats which mined British waters and sank coastal shipping with ease owing to their small size. The H class was created to perform similar operations in German waters, and to attack German submarines operating in British waters. Despite their cramped size and lack of a deck gun on some submarines, the class was popular amongst submariners, and saw action all around the

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, some being transferred as far as the

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. Owing to the late arrival of most of the class, they were unable to have much impact in service, only destroying two German submarines and for the loss of four of their own number. Post-war, many were retained in the Royal Navy for training purposes, while four more were lost in accidents during the 1920s. At the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the class was obsolete, but retained in training and coastal warfare roles to help the Royal Navy cope with heavy losses to the submarine fleet during the early stages of the war. Two were sunk in this role by German countermeasures. The

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

-built boats were equipped with Fessenden transducers, which were missing from the US-built boats.

Boats

Group 1

Group 1 was built in

at the Canadian Vickers Yards in

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before being transported across the Atlantic and deployed from Britain as British shipyards were too busy to construct submarines at this time. * – Launched May 1915 * – Launched June 1915 * – Launched June 1915. Mined and sunk July 1916 * – Launched June 1915 * – Launched June 1915. Rammed and sunk March 1918 * – Launched June 1915. Interned and purchased by the Dutch January 1916 * – Launched June 1915 * – Launched June 1915 * – Launched June 1915 * – Launched June 1915. Disappeared 1918

Group 2

The second group was constructed simultaneously with the first group, but at Fore River Yard at Quincy,

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in the then-neutral United States. When the

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discovered the construction, they impounded all the completed units, only releasing them following their own declaration of war two years later. To escape this difficulty, the British government gave six units to the Chilean Navy as partial payment for the appropriation of six Chilean ships for British service in 1914. * – Launched 1915. * – Launched 1915. * – Launched 1918, transferred to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

* – Launched 1919, transferred to Canada * – Launched 1918, transferred to Canada * – Launched 1918, transferred to Chile * – Launched 1918, transferred to Chile * – Launched 1918, transferred to Chile * – Launched 1918, transferred to Chile * – Launched 1918, transferred to Chile

Group 3

Group 3 was the largest group, and was constructed in 1917–1919 in Britain, shipyard space having been granted to the project and more boats needed following the seizure of those building in the United States. They were 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 ...

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

, Armstrong Whitworth and William Beardmore at several locations, and most of the boats enjoyed long careers in the Royal Navy. * – Launched 1918 * – Launched 1918 * – Launched 1918 * – Launched 1918 * – Launched 1918 * – Launched 1918 * – Launched 1918 * – Launched 1918. Sank in dockyard accident 1926 * – Launched 1918 * – Launched 1919. Mined and sunk 1941 * – Launched 1919 * – Launched 1919 * – Launched 1919 **Numbers ''H35-H40'' were ordered from Cammell Laird but cancelled in 1919 * – Launched 1918. Wrecked in collision 1920 * – Launched 1919. Wrecked in collision 1922 * – Launched 1919 * – Launched 1920 **Numbers ''H45'' and ''H46'' cancelled. * – Launched 1919. Wrecked in collision 1929 * – Launched 1919 * – Launched 1919. Sunk by German surface units 1940 * – Launched 1920 * – Launched 1919 * – Launched 1919 *''H53'' and ''H54'' cancelled.

Notes

Bibliography

External links

The Canadian built British H boats
{{Chilean submarines H Submarines of the Royal Canadian Navy