HMS ''H5'' was a British 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 ...

of 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 ...

that served in 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 ...

. The boat, which was launched in June 1915, was lost after being rammed by a British merchant ship off

Caernarfon Bay Caernarfon Bay (occasionally Caernarvon Bay) is an inlet of the Irish Sea defined by the Llŷn peninsula and Anglesey. The gentle coastline surrounding it is home to villages including Nefyn, Pistyll, Trefor, Gwynedd, Trefor, Llithfaen , and ...

in March 1918. It had been mistaken as a German

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 role ...

and sank with the loss of all hands.

Design

Like all pre-''H11''

British H-class submarine The British H-class submarines were Holland 602 type submarines used by the Royal Navy. The submarines constructed for the British Royal Navy between 1915 and 1919 were designed and built in response to German boats which mined British wate ...

s, ''H5'' had a displacement of at the surface and while submerged. It had a total length of , a beam of , and a draught of . It contained a diesel engines providing a total power of and two electric motors each providing power. Retrieved fro
Naval-History
on 20 August 2015. The use of its electric motors made the submarine travel at . It would normally carry of fuel and had a maximum capacity of . The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . British H-class submarines had ranges of . ''H5'' was fitted with a Hotchkiss

quick-firing gun A quick-firing or rapid-firing gun is an artillery piece, typically a gun or howitzer, which has several characteristics which taken together mean the weapon can fire at a fast rate. Quick-firing was introduced worldwide in the 1880s and 1890s and ...

(6-pounder) and four

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. Its torpedo tubes were fitted to the bows and the submarine carried eight torpedoes. She is a

Holland 602 type submarine The Holland 602 type submarine, also known as the H-class submarine, was one of the most numerous submarines of World War I. The type was designed by the Electric Boat Co. of the United States, but most of the boats were built abroad: in Canada ...

but was designed to meet Royal Navy specifications. Her

complement A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...

was twenty-two crew members.

Service record

On 14 July 1916 ''H5'' spotted the leaving the Ems and torpedoed her. ''U-51'' sank with the loss of 34 of her crew; four men survived.

Sinking

HMS ''H5'' was sunk after being rammed by the British merchantman ''Rutherglen'' when mistaken for a German U-boat on 2 March 1918. All on board perished including a

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

observer, Lieutenant Earle Wayne Freed Childs from the American submarine '' AL-2''. He became the first US submariner to lose his life in the

. All on board are commemorated on Panel 29 at

Royal Navy Submarine Museum The Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport is a maritime museum tracing the international history of submarine development from the age of Alexander the Great to the present day, and particularly the history of the Royal Navy Submarine Service ...

. The wreck's site is designated as a controlled site under the

Protection of Military Remains Act Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

. In 2010, a plaque commemorating the 26 crew was dedicated on

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Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

References

MCA website: controlled sites under the Protection of Military Remains Act

SI 2008/950
Designation under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 {{DEFAULTSORT:H05 British H-class submarines Ships built in Montreal 1915 ships World War I submarines of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names Maritime incidents in 1918 World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Protected Wrecks of Wales Submarines sunk in collisions 1915 in Quebec 1918 in Wales Warships lost with all hands