HMS ''A11'' was an

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 ...

built 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 ...

in the first decade of the 20th century. After surviving World War I, she was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

in 1920.

Design and description

''A11'' was a member of the first British class of submarines, although slightly larger, faster and more heavily armed than the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

, . The submarine had a length of

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 ...

, 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 mean draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The A-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 9 ratings.Gardiner & Gray, p. 86 For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder Wolseley

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 drove one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

. When submerged the propeller was driven by a

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 ...

. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, ''A11'' had a range of at ; submerged the boat had a range of at .Akermann, p. 120 The boats were armed with two 18-inch (45 cm)

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. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as doing so that they had to compensate for their weight by removing an equal weight of fuel.

Construction and career

''A11'' was ordered as part of the 1903–04 Naval Programme from

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 ...

. She was laid down at their

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

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 ...

in 1903, launched on 8 March 1905 and completed on 11 July 1905. On 7 September 1910 ''A11'' collided with a barge when leaving

Portsmouth Harbour Portsmouth Harbour is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Portsmouth and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area. It is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it i ...

. The barge was sunk, although her two crew were rescued, and ''A11''s bow was slightly damaged. In February 1913, ''A11'' was one of three submarines based at

Lamlash Lamlash ( gd, An t-Eilean Àrd) is a village on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It lies south of the island's main settlement and ferry port Brodick, in a sheltered bay on the island's east coast, facing the Holy Isle. Lam ...

on the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland.

Notes

References

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External links

MaritimeQuest HMS A-11 Pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:A11 A-class submarines (1903) World War I submarines of the United Kingdom Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness Royal Navy ship names 1905 ships Maritime incidents in 1910