HMS ''D6'' was one of eight D-class submarine 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 ...

during the first decade of the 20th century.

Description

The D-class submarines were designed as improved and enlarged versions of the preceding C class, with

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s replacing the dangerous

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 ...

s used earlier. ''D3'' and subsequent boats were slightly larger than the earlier boats. They 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 draught of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The D-class submarines had a crew of 25 officers and ratings and were the first to adopt saddle tanks.Gardiner & Gray, p. 87 For surface running, the boats were powered by two diesels, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each 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, the D class had a range of at . The boats were armed with three 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, two in the bow and one in the stern. They carried one reload for each tube, a total of six torpedoes.

Construction and career

''D6'' was laid down on 24 February 1910 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 ...

at their

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

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 ...

, launched 23 October 1911 and was commissioned on 19 April 1912. She was the first British submarine to be equipped with a deck gun when built, a 12-pounder (3-inch/76mm) gun. ''D6'' was sunk by ''UB-73'' 73 miles north of

Inishtrahull Island Inishtrahull ( ga, Inis Trá Tholl, possibly "island of the empty beach" or "island of the yonder beach") is the Extreme points of Ireland, most northerly island of Ireland. It has an area of and lies about northeast of Malin Head, County Do ...

off the west coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 24 or 28 June 1918. There were two survivors who were taken prisoner. Their post-war report apparently led the British to conclude that the torpedo that sank her had employed a magnetic pistol.Admiralty. ''Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1919'', p. 22.

Notes

References

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External links

HMS D6 Roll of Honour
{{DEFAULTSORT:D06 British D-class submarines Royal Navy ship names Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I Lost submarines of the United Kingdom 1911 ships Maritime incidents in 1918