HMS ''E20'' was a
British E-class submarine 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 in 18 ...
,
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, 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 Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...
. She was laid down on 25 November 1914 and was commissioned on 30 August 1915. She was sunk, torpedoed by , on 6 November 1915.
Design
Like all post-''E8''
British E-class submarines, ''E20'' had a displacement of at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of
and a beam of . She was powered by two Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two electric motors.
[Akerman, P. (1989). ''Encyclopaedia of British submarines 1901–1955''. p.150. Maritime Books. ] The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of of diesel and ranges of when travelling at .
''E20'' was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at .
''E20'' was fitted, possibly uniquely within her class, with a 6-inch
howitzer
A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
deck gun, forward of the
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 ...
. She had five
18-inch (450 mm) 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, one either side amidships, and one in the stern; a total of 10 torpedoes were carried.
[
E-class submarines had wireless systems with power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was although in service some reached depths of below . Some submarines contained ]Fessenden oscillator
A Fessenden oscillator is an electro-acoustic transducer invented by Reginald Fessenden, with development starting in 1912 at the Submarine Signal Company of Boston. It was the first successful acoustical echo ranging device. Similar in operating ...
systems.
Crew
Her complement was three officers and 28 men.
Loss
Operating in the eastern Mediterranean, ''E20'' was scheduled to rendez-vous with the on 6 November 1915. However, on 30 October, Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
forces sank the ''Turquoise'' off Nagara Point Nara Burnu ( Turkish "Cape Nara"), formerly Nağara Burnu, in English Nagara Point, and in older sources Point Pesquies, is a headland on the Anatolian side of the Dardanelles Straits, north of Çanakkale.
It is the narrowest and, with , the deepes ...
in the Dardanelles, refloating her shortly afterwards, her confidential papers retrieved intact. Unaware of her plight, ''E20'' attempted to keep the rendez-vous. The Imperial German Navy
The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
submarine ''UB-14'', which was at Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, was duly sent to intercept ''E20'',[Stern, p. 31.] reportedly going so far as to radio messages in the latest British code.[Grant, p. 33.] Upon arriving at the designated location, ''UB-14'' surfaced and fired a torpedo at ''E20'' from a distance of . ''E20''s crew saw the torpedo, but it was too late to avoid the weapon.[Stern, p. 32.] The torpedo hit ''E20''s conning tower and sank her with the loss of 21 men.[Stern, p. 34.]
References
*
*
External links
'Submarine losses 1904 to present day' - Royal Navy Submarine Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:E20
British E-class submarines of the Royal Navy
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
1915 ships
World War I submarines of the United Kingdom
Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I
Maritime incidents in Turkey
Shipwrecks in the Sea of Marmara
Royal Navy ship names
Maritime incidents in 1915