HMS ''J6'' was a First World War J-class submarine built for the Royal Navy by HM Dockyard at Devonport in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. Commissioned in 1916, she was sunk in a friendly fire incident by the Q-ship'' Cymric'' in October 1918.

Career

Under her first commanding officer, Max Horton, ''J6'' was launched on 9 September 1915 and commissioned on 25 January 1916. She and the other Js were members of the 11th Submarine Flotilla. She served in the North Sea chiefly in operations against German destroyers and U-boats. The closest she got to sinking the enemy was firing a torpedo at ''U-61'', but it missed its target. On 1 December 1917 Horton was replaced as commanding officer of ''J6'' by Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Warburton. In April 1918, Warburton spotted the German High Seas Fleet which had put to sea in an attempt to hunt down an Allied convoy. Warburton did not identify the fleet as German and did not report his sighting to the Admiralty, had he done so it is possible that another full scale naval battle may have occurred.

Loss

On 15 October 1918 ''J6'' was on patrol off the Northumberland coast when she was spotted by the Q-ship ''Cymric''. The captain of the ''Cymric'' Lieutenant F Peterson RNR mistook the identity lettering on the conning tower of ''J6'' for ''U6''. Assuming ''U6'' to indicate a German U-boat, Peterson raised the White ensign and opened fire on ''J6''.''Cymric'' opened fire, ''J6'' tried to signal, but the

signalman A signalman is a person who historically made signals using flags and light. In modern times, the role of signalmen has evolved and now usually uses electronic communication equipment. Signalmen usually work in rail transport networks, armed for ...

was killed. ''J6'' fled into a fog bank, but ''Cymric'' located ''J6'' again, and sank her. After a number of direct hits, ''J6'' sank. It was only after the survivors were seen in the water that Peterson and the crew of ''Cymric'' realised their mistake and recovered the survivors. Of the crew of ''J6'', 15 were lost; a subsequent court of enquiry found that no action should be taken against Peterson. An order under the

Official Secrets Act An Official Secrets Act (OSA) is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security but in unrevised form (based on the UK Official Secrets Act 1911) can include all infor ...

prohibited mention of this incident until 1969. Late in 2011 it was announced that divers had discovered her wreck off

Seahouses Seahouses is a large village on the North Northumberland coast in England. It is about north of Alnwick, within the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Attraction Seahouses attracts many visitors, mainly from the north ea ...

. In the summer of 2013, the Polish Navy salvage ship ORP ''Lech'', searching for the wreck of the Polish submarine ORP ''Orzeł'', surveyed and officially confirmed an identity of ''J6''.

References

Bibliography

* British J-class submarines Ships built in Plymouth, Devon 1915 ships World War I submarines of the United Kingdom Friendly fire incidents of World War I Maritime incidents in 1918 World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea Royal Navy ship names Submarines sunk by British warships {{UK-mil-submarine-stub