HMS ''B7'' was one of 11 B-class submarines built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Completed in 1906, she was initially assigned to the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

, before the boat was transferred to the Mediterranean six years later. After the First World War began in 1914, ''B7'' played a minor role in the Dardanelles Campaign. The boat was transferred to the Adriatic Sea in 1916 to support Italian forces against the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

. She was converted into a patrol boat in 1917 and 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 1919.

Design and description

The B class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding A class. The submarines had a length of overall, 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 boats had could dive to a depth of . The B-class submarines had a crew of two officers and thirteen ratings.Gardiner & Gray, p. 87 For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder Vickers petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the B class had a range of at .Akermann, p. 123 The boats were armed with two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as they would have to remove an equal weight of fuel in compensation.

Construction and career

Ordered as part of the 1904–1905 Naval Programme, ''B7'' was built by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness

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 ...

. She was launched on 30 November 1905 and completed on 27 March 1906 at a cost of £47,000. The B-class submarines were initially assigned to the Third Division of the Home Fleet, based at Portsmouth and Devonport, and were tasked with coastal-defence duties and defending the

Straits of Dover The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...

in wartime. In 1912, HMS ''B7'', and were transferred to Malta. After the start of the First World War and the unsuccessful pursuit of the German ships ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau'' in August 1914, the B-class submarines were transferred to the Dardanelles area in mid-September to prevent any breakout attempt by the German ships. After the arrival of the larger and more modern E-class submarines in early 1915, the B-class boats began to return to Malta. After the Kingdom of Italy joined the Allies in May 1915, the B-class submarines in the Mediterranean 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 ...

to reinforce Italian forces in the northern Adriatic. ''B7'', ''B8'' and were the first to arrive in

on 11 October. The five British submarines made a total of 13 patrols off the Austro-Hungarian coast before the end of 1915, hampered by bad weather and drifting mines. ''B7'' was ordered to Malta for a refit at the beginning of 1916 that lasted until May when the boat made two patrols. On 4 June she was patrolling off Pola with only her

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 ...

above water when she was attacked by two Austro-Hungarian Lohner L

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s. As the boat crash dived a bomb blew in the glass portholes in the conning tower, flooding it and sending ''B7'' below 100 feet before she could recover and surface to drain the conning tower. The bomb had also jammed the

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 in the rise position. The jam was cleared as another flying boat dropped five small bombs near the submarine as she was diving, but failed to do any damage. As she was returning to Venice the following day, her engine broke down and ''B7'' had to be towed into Chioggia for repairs. They were not satisfactory and she had to be towed to Venice on the 6th. Replaced by more modern H-class submarines, the B-class boats returned to Malta on 9 November to be converted into surface patrol boats, armed with a 12-pounder () gun. Redesignated as ''S7'' in August 1917, the boat was assigned to patrol the Otranto Barrage that was intended to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Navy from breaking out of the Adriatic, although she proved to be very unreliable in service. Paid off at Malta, she was sold for scrap in 1919.Akkerman, p. 125; Kemp & Jung, pp. 18–19, 22, 25; Wilson, p. 79

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:B07 British B-class submarines World War I submarines of the United Kingdom Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness Royal Navy ship names 1905 ships