HMCS ''CH-15'' was a H-class

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 ...

originally ordered 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 ...

as ''H15'' during the

First World War 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 ...

. Constructed in the United States during their neutrality, the submarine was withheld from the Royal Navy until after the US entry into the war. Entering service at the very end of the war, the submarine saw no action and was laid up at

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

following the cessation of hostilities. The British government gave the submarine to Canada in 1919, and it was in service with the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

from 1921 to 1922 as ''CH-15''. The submarine was sold for scrap and

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sold for re-use, ...

in 1927.

Design and description

Ordered as part of the War Emergency Programme for the

from

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

of the United States, the H class were constructed at two shipyards,

Canadian Vickers Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated in Canada during the early part of the 20th century until 1944. A subsidiary of Vickers Limited, it built its own aircraft designs as well as others under licence. ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, and the

Fore River Yard Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901. In ...

in Quincy,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, United States, based on the US H-class design. The boats displaced while surfaced and submerged. They were

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

with 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 had a complement of 4 officers and 18 ratings. The submarines were powered by a twin-shift,

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 ...

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

and two electric motors. This gave the boats a maximum surfaced speed of and a submerged speed of . They had a fuel capacity of of diesel fuel. This gave them a range of at 10 knots while surfaced. They had a designed diving depth of . The submarines were armed with four 18-inch (450 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 in the bow for the six

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 ...

es they carried.

Service history

Royal Navy

In November 1914 the Royal Navy contracted Bethlehem Steel to construct a batch of H-class submarines at their Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. These ships were to be armed only in Montreal. This second batch was seized by the American government due to their neutrality at the time and were only released after the United States had entered the war in 1917. ''H15'' was one such boat and while under construction, the submarine was accidentally sunk at her berth in of water while fitting out in December 1917. This delayed her completion for six months, ''H15'' finally being declared completed on 14 August 1918. On 9 November 1918 ''H15'' left

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and sailed for

. However, while en route, the First World War ended and upon arriving at Bermuda, ''H15'' remained there in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

. In mid-December 1918 her crew left in ships for return to the United Kingdom.

Royal Canadian Navy

On 7 February 1919, the Royal Navy formally transferred ''H15'' and her

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

''H14'' to the Royal Canadian Navy. The two boats, both in Bermuda still, had lain unused since December. However, even though United Kingdom government had taken the decision to give the two submarines to Canada, they left it to Canada to find crews to move the boats from Bermuda. The Royal Canadian Navy did not want them and tried to get 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 ...

to take them back. The Royal Canadian Navy, forced to take the submarines, was in turn obligated to discontinue the use of the s as they could not equip all four boats. ''H15'' arrived at Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, in June 1919. Like the previous CC class, a "C" was placed in front of the name of the ship to denote it belonged to Canada. Commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 1 April 1921 at Halifax it took two months to make ''CH-15'' and her sister operational. By July 1921 both boats were functioning and exercised with the rest of the Canadian armed forces practising harbour defence. While in service the submarine was used primarily for training anti-submarine warfare. After arguing that remaining at Halifax during the winter months would be detrimental to the vessels' status, ''CH-15'' and her sister, accompanied by , wintered at Bermuda. The two submarines returned to Halifax in April 1922. Following the election of Mackenzie King government, the Naval Service was required to cut expenditures. Upon their return it was found that the government had refused to pay for the upkeep of the submarines and they were

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 ...

on 22 June 1922. Following their decommissioning, a report was commissioned that examined the cost of maintaining and re-activating the submarines. It was found too costly and the plan was abandoned. In February 1925 the Admiralty enquired into the condition of the two warships and the response was negative, questioning the two boats ability to return to service. In 1926 the two submarines were put for sale along with , the proceeds of the sale going to the Royal Navy. ''CH-15'' was sold on 9 March 1927 for scrap and

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

CH Type submarines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ch-15 Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy British H-class submarines Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1915 ships World War I submarines of the United Kingdom CH-class submarines