HMS E50
{{short description|Submarine of the Royal Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= File:E 50-2.jpg |Ship caption=The restored conning tower from HMS E50 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name= E50 |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=John Brown, Clydebank |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 13 November 1916 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=23 January 1917 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Sunk 1 February 1918 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= |Ship displacement=*{{convert|662|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} surfaced
|Ship length={{convert|181|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=*2 × {{convert|800|hp|0|abbr=on}} diesel
|Ship speed=*{{convert|15|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship range=*{{convert|3000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn|abbr=on}} surfaced
|Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship complement= 31 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=
|Ship armour= |Ship notes= }} |
HMS E50 was a British E-class submarine built by John Brown, Clydebank. She was launched on 13 November 1916 and was commissioned on 23 January 1917. E50 was damaged in a collision with the Imperial German Navy submarine UC-62 while submerged in the North Sea off the North Hinder Light Vessel on 19 March 1917.
E 50 was lost on 1 February 1918, and it was earlier believed that she struck a mine in the North Sea off the South Dogger Light Vessel. In 2011 the wreck was found by a Danish Expedition much closer to the Danish coast, 65 NM west of Nymindegab.Sea War Museum Jutland
Design
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File:Commemorative plaque HM E 50.jpg
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Like all post-E8 British E-class submarines, E50 had a displacement of {{convert|662|LT|t}} at the surface and {{convert|807|LT|t}} while submerged. She had a total length of {{convert|180|ft|m}}{{cite book|author1=Innes McCartney|author2=Tony Bryan|title=British Submarines of World War I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JWFapIxWZSUC&pg=PA11|date=20 February 2013|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-0035-0|pages=11–12}} and a beam of {{convert|22|ft|8.5|in}}. She was powered by two {{convert|800|hp}} Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two {{convert|420|hp}} electric motors.Akerman, P. (1989). Encyclopaedia of British submarines 1901–1955. 149–150. Maritime Books. {{ISBN|1-904381-05-7}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=boO7WGL21EQC&dq=British+submarines+deck+gun+1901%E2%80%931955.&pg=PA330]{{cite web|url=http://www.csubmarine.org/html/class/eclass.html|title=E Class|publisher=Chatham Submarines|access-date=20 August 2015|archive-date=13 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813023119/http://csubmarine.org/html/class/eclass.html|url-status=dead}} The submarine had a maximum surface speed of {{convert|16|kn|km/h mph}} and a submerged speed of {{convert|10|kn|km/h mph}}. British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of {{convert|50|LT|t}} of diesel and ranges of {{convert|3255|mi|km nmi}} when travelling at {{convert|10|kn|km/h mph}}. E50 was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at {{convert|5|kn|km/h mph}}.
E50 was armed with a QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun QF gun mounted forward of the conning tower. She had five 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, 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 {{convert|1|kW}} power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to {{convert|3|kW}} systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was {{convert|100|ft}} although in service some reached depths of below {{convert|200|ft}}. Some submarines contained Fessenden oscillator systems.
Salvage and commemoration
The conning tower from E 50 was in a very bad state, when it was rediscovered by a Danish expedition in 2011.The tower was already torn off the hull and was laying isolated on the seabed, seriously damaged by heavy fishing gear. The Danish team decided to raise the remnants in order to prevent complete destruction, and could do so in compliance with international law.
Afterwards the tower went through a very comprehensive restoration, and since 2015 it has been on display at Sea War Museum Jutland in Thyborøn, where also the 31 men, who lost their life in the submarine, are commemorated on a plaque in front of the tower.
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book | editor-last = Gardiner | editor-first = Robert | title = Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1906-1921| year = 1985 | location = Annapolis, Maryland | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn = 0-87021-907-3 }}
- {{cite book | last = Hutchinson | first = Robert | title = Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day | url = https://archive.org/details/janessubmarinesw0000hutc | url-access = registration | year = 2001 | location = London | publisher = HarperCollins | isbn = 978-0-00-710558-8 | oclc = 53783010 }}
{{British E class submarine}}
{{March 1917 shipwrecks}}
{{February 1918 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|North Sea}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:E50}}
Category:British E-class submarines of the Royal Navy
Category:Ships built on the River Clyde
Category:World War I submarines of the United Kingdom
Category:Maritime incidents in 1917
Category:Maritime incidents in 1918