HMS B2
{{Short description|B-class submarine built for the Royal Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:HMS B2.JPG |Ship caption=HMS B2 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag=File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg |Ship name=HMS B2 |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Vickers |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=30 October 1905 |Ship christened= |Ship completed=9 December 1905 |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Lost, 4 October 1912 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=B-class submarine |Ship displacement=*{{convert|287|LT|t|abbr=on}} surfaced
|Ship length={{convert|142|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|12|ft|7|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|11|ft|2|in|1|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*{{convert|600|bhp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} petrol
|Ship propulsion=*1 × 16-cylinder Vickers petrol engine
|Ship speed=*{{convert|12|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship range={{convert|1000|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|8.7|kn|abbr=on}} on the surface |Ship test depth={{convert|100|ft|1}} |Ship complement=2 officers and 13 ratings |Ship armament=2 × 18 in (450 mm) bow torpedo tubes |Ship notes= }} |
HMS B2 was one of 11 B-class submarines built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.
Design and description
The B class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding A class. The submarines had a length of {{convert|142|ft|3|in|m|1}} overall, a beam of {{convert|12|ft|7|in|m|1}} and a mean draft of {{convert|11|ft|2|in|m|1}}. They displaced {{convert|287|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|316|LT|t}} submerged. The B-class submarines had a crew of two officers and thirteen ratings.Gardiner & Gray, p. 87
For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder {{convert|600|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} Vickers petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a {{convert|180|hp|0|adj=on}} electric motor. They could reach {{convert|12|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|6.5|kn}} underwater. On the surface, the B class had a range of {{convert|1000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|8.7|kn}}.Akermann, p. 123
The boats were armed with two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as they would have to remove an equal weight of fuel in compensation.Harrison, Chapter 27
Construction and career
B2 was built by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, launched on 30 October 1905 and completed on 9 December 1905. The boat was lost when she accidentally collided with SS Amerika {{convert|4|mi|km|abbr=on}} northeast of Dover in the early hours of 4 October 1912. She was commanded by Lieutenant P.B. O’Brien and was one of several submarines sent to Dover to take part in Channel exercises during the extended lead up to the First World War. B2 was surfaced and was struck just forward of the conning tower. The accident resulted in the deaths of 15 crew members. The only survivor was the boat's bridge officer, Lt. Pulleyne. The boat was not recovered in order to allow the bodies to remain undisturbed. In recent years the wreck was discovered by amateur divers.*{{cite book |last1=McCartney |first1=Innes |title=Lost patrols : submarine wrecks of the English Channel |date=2002 |publisher=Periscope |location=Penzance |isbn=978-1-90438-104-4}}
Notes
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References
- {{cite book|last=Akermann|first=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955|edition=reprint of the 1989|year=2002|publisher=Periscope Publishing|location=Penzance, Cornwall|isbn=1-904381-05-7}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite web|url=http://rnsubs.co.uk/dits-bits/br-3043.html|title=The Development of HM Submarines From Holland No. 1 (1901) to Porpoise (1930) (BR3043)|last=Harrison|first=A. N.|date=January 1979|publisher=United Kingdom Ministry of Defence|via=RN Subs|accessdate=16 September 2019}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Kemp |first1=Paul |last2=Jung |first2=Peter |title=Five Broken Down B Boats: British Submarine Operations in the Northern Adriatic 1915–1917 |journal=Warship International |date=1989 |volume=XXVI |issue=1 |pages=10–29 |issn=0043-0374|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Michael|editor=Roberts, John|title=Warship Volume V|year=1981|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-244-7|pages=38–44, 74–79|chapter=The British 'B' Class Submarine}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20180108023935/http://www.submarine-museum.co.uk/what-we-have/memorial-chapel/submarine-losses?start=2 'Submarine losses 1904 to present day' - Royal Navy Submarine Museum]
{{British B class submarine}}
{{1912 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:B02}}
Category:British B-class submarines
Category:World War I submarines of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
Category:Royal Navy ship names
Category:British submarine accidents
Category:Submarines sunk in collisions
Category:Maritime incidents in 1912