HMS ''G9'' was a British G class submarine, one of eight

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 ...

submarines known to have been lost to

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

World War I 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 ...

Construction

The second of her class 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 i ...

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of 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 B ...

, ''G9'' was laid down on 8 December 1914. She was launched on 15 June 1916, and commissioned on 22 August that year.

Description

The G-class submarines were designed by 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 ...

in response to a rumour that the Germans were building double-hulled submarines for overseas duties. The submarines 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 Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The G-class submarines had a crew of 30 officers and ratings. They had a partial double hull. For surface running, the boats were powered by two

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

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-ca ...

s, each driving 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 each propeller was driven by a

electric motor An electric motor is an 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 wire winding to generate for ...

. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the G class had a range of at . The boats were intended to be armed with one 21-inch (53.3 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 ...

in the bow and two 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes on the beam. This was revised, however, while they were under construction, the 21-inch tube was moved to the stern and two additional 18-inch tubes were added in the bow. They carried two 21-inch and eight 18-inch torpedoes. The G-class submarines were also armed with a single

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose ...

War service

The role of the ''G'' class was to patrol the

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and

German Bight The German Bight (german: Deutsche Bucht; da, tyske bugt; nl, Duitse bocht; fry, Dútske bocht; ; sometimes also the German Bay) is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and ...

in search of

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

Loss

''G9'' was sunk by the destroyer in foul weather on the night of 16 September 1917. ''G9'' had mistaken ''Pasley'' for a U-boat and fired two torpedoes at her. The first struck ''Pasley'' on her starboard quarter, but too acutely to detonate; the second passed astern. On seeing the submarine's wash, ''Pasley''s officer of the watch, Midshipman Frank Wallis, RNR, turned the boat hard to starboard and rammed ''G9'' just aft of amidships all but cutting her in two, and she sank less than one minute later with the loss of all but one of her crew, Stoker William Drake. Commanded by

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

The Hon. Byron Plantagenet Cary, Bt., ''G9'' had sailed Scapa Flow on 9 September 1917 to patrol an area between Shetland and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. On 15 September 1917, she was ordered north to between latitudes 60.30 N and 61.30 N to keep her clear of the fleet on exercises en route from

Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...

to Scapa. Meanwhile, ''Pasley'' was attempting to locate merchantmen detached from the convoy she was escorting in appalling weather from Russia via Aspö Fjord, 100 km north of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

, to Lerwick, and had resorted to displaying a white light halfway up the mast by night for guidance. Weathering the heavy seas and blinding rain squalls, Cary sighted ''Pasley''s light; forewarned a

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

was in the area, he gave the order to attack. Presumably realizing the error soon afterwards, Cary ordered the connection of the cruiser arc lamp to signal the destroyer. The signal was recognised aboard ''Pasley''; her captain, Commander Charles Ramsey, ordered 'Full Astern', but it was too late to prevent his ship ramming the submarine. After the collision, the crew on ''G9'' were ordered to assemble beneath the conning tower. Stoker William Drake saw one man climb the ladder above him, and followed. Although caught in the stomach by the lower conning tower door, which had probably been ordered shut in the hope of keeping the boat buoyant, Drake managed to struggle free and reach the bridge, only to be swept off as the boat sank beneath him. Of the five men in the water, Drake was the only one to reach ''Pasley'', which had stopped to rescue survivors. Weakened by the effort and numbed by the cold water, Drake was unable to pull himself up on the lifeline lowered, and was only rescued after Able Seaman Henry Old clambered over the side of the destroyer to secure a

running bowline The running bowline is a knot consisting of a bowline looped around its own standing end to create a noose. The running bowline is strong and secure. It slides easily and can be undone just as simply. Tying Tie a bowline The bowline ( ...

around him; he was then hauled aboard and taken below. Still unconvinced of his attacker's identity, Commander Ramsey went to question the survivor. Finding Drake laid on his stomach to help rid his lungs of seawater, Ramsey kicked the soles of his feet and demanded to know his nationality.Minutes of the Court of Inquiry held aboard HMS ''Indomitable'', obtained from the

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, Gosport.

Aftermath

A Court of Inquiry was held aboard at Scapa, four days after the sinking. The court decided no blame could be attached to ''Pasley'', concluding "that the process of reasoning which led the captain of HM Submarine ''G9'' to mistake HMS ''Pasley'' for a U-boat is, and must remain, unexplained". The findings were forwarded to the Commander in Chief,

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the F ...

, Admiral David Beatty, who remarked that the incident was "...one of those that are inseparable from war", but deplored the delay in introducing improved signalling facilities on submarines, particularly the substitution of the slow, unreliable and cumbersome cruiser arc lamp with

Aldis lamp Signal lamp training during World War II A signal lamp (sometimes called an Aldis lamp or a Morse lamp) is a semaphore system using a visual signaling device for optical communication, typically using Morse code. The idea of flashing dots and da ...

s. Their Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty later directed Commander Ramsey to inform Midshipman Wallis that in the opinion of the Court of Inquiry the action taken by him "was the right action to take under the circumstances, and that its result, so deeply to be regretted, is evidence that it was taken with commendable promptness and precision....". The captain of ''G9'', Lt. Commander Cary, was posthumously awarded the DSO in recognition of his 'arduous service in submarines'.

Wreck

The website 'Wrecksite' gives the final resting place of HMS ''G9'' as approximately 70 miles north west of

in position in 350 m of water. However, the wreck is not shown on the relevant UK hydrographic chart no. 299.

Epilogue

William Drake remained in the submarine service until the 1930s, and served aboard the frigate as Stoker Petty Officer in

World War II 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 opposing ...

; he died in 1974 aged 80. Commander Charles Gordon Ramsey rose to the rank of Admiral. After retiring in 1942, he was knighted, and served as aide-de-camp to King George VI; he died in 1966 aged 84. Photographic portraits of Ramsey by Bassano are held by the National Portrait Gallery, London.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:G09 British G-class submarines Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea World War I submarines of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names 1916 ships Maritime incidents in 1917 1917 disasters in the United Kingdom Friendly fire incidents of World War I Submarines sunk by British warships