HMS E52
{{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= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name= E52 |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=William Denny, Dumbarton |Ship yard number=1048 |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 25 January 1917 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=13 March 1917 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Sold, 3 January 1921 |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 E52 was a British E-class submarine built by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, entering service in 1917. She sank the U-boat {{ship|SM|UC-63||2}} near the Goodwin Sands on 1 November 1917. E52 was sold in 1921 and later hulked on the River Dart.
Design
Like all post-E8 British E-class submarines, E52 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}} Ruston & Proctor 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|accessdate=20 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209083802/http://www.csubmarine.org/html/class/eclass.html |archive-date=9 February 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Lyon |first1=David John |title=The Denny List - Part III |date=1975 |publisher=National Maritime Museum |location=Greenwich}} 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}}. E52 was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at {{convert|5|kn|km/h mph}}.
E52 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.
Construction
E52 was ordered from Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun but transferred on 3 March 1915 to William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton as Yard No.1048.{{cite book |last1=Colledge |first1=J. J. |title=Ships of the Royal Navy: An Historical Index - Vol.1 |date=1969 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |page=180}} She was launched on 25 January 1917 and delivered on 13 March.
Service
On 31 October 1917, E52 left her depot ship {{HMS|Arrogant|1896|6}} to patrol in the English Channel.{{cite journal |title=IWM Photographic Memories |journal=Navy News |date=November 2017 |issue=760 |page=12 |url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/images/navynews/archivepdfs/2010s/2017/navy-news-november-2017-issue-760.pdf |access-date=22 April 2023 |publisher=Ministry of Defence |location=Portsmouth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320214713/https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/images/navynews/archivepdfs/2010s/2017/navy-news-november-2017-issue-760.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2022}} Just after midnight she surprised the German U-boat {{ship|SM|UC-63||2}} on the surface near the Goodwin Sands, in the southern North Sea, returning to Zeebrugge after laying mines. E52 attacked UC-63 in {{coord|51|23|N|2|00|E}}, with torpedoes, and the German submarine sank with the loss of all-but-one of her 27 crew.{{cite Uboat.net|name=UC 63|id=UC+63|type=1sub|accessdate=22 April 2023}} As a result of this encounter, Lt. Cdr. Philip Esmonde Phillips of E52 was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for "services in action with enemy submarines".{{cite web |title=Naval officer 'solves' 90-year mystery of the 'submarine in the park' in Devon town |url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2022/october/13/20221013-naval-officer-solves-90year-mystery |website=Royal Navy |publisher=Ministry of Defence |access-date=22 April 2023 |date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131202709/https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2022/october/13/20221013-naval-officer-solves-90year-mystery |archive-date=31 January 2023}}
Fate
E52 was sold on 3 January 1921 to Brixham Marine & Engineering Company. The submarine was stripped and taken to the River Dart and lay on the shore with other vessels, below the Britannia Royal Naval College. They were believed to have been utilised to strengthen a bank in Coombe Mud, and then buried in the land reclamation to create Coronation Park. A team from the University of Winchester is investigating the site in April 2023, using ground-penetrating radar.{{cite news |last1=Truksa |first1=Joshua |title=University of Winchester experts hunt for submarine beneath park |url=https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/23457893.university-winchester-experts-hunt-submarine-beneath-park/ |access-date=22 April 2023 |work=Hampshire Chronicle |date=15 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416082650/https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/23457893.university-winchester-experts-hunt-submarine-beneath-park/ |archive-date=16 April 2023 |location=Winchester}} In June 2023, it was announced that the team had found remains of what they believed was E52 and the German torpedo boat {{SMS|S24|1913|2}}.{{cite news |title=Scientists 'find' WW1 Royal Navy submarine in Dartmouth park |date=30 June 2023 |publisher=Royal Navy |url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2023/june/30/20230630-submarine-found-in-park |access-date=30 June 2023}}{{cite news |last=Minchin |first=Rod |title=Scientists 'unearth' submarine buried under naval town's park |date=30 June 2023 |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/scientists-dartmouth-experts-university-of-winchester-royal-navy-b2367225.html |access-date=30 June 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{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}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:E52}}
Category:British E-class submarines of the Royal Navy
Category:Ships built on the River Clyde