HMS H5
{{short description|Submarine of the Royal Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS H5 view from bridge.gif |Ship caption=A view from the bridge of HMS H5. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name= H5 |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Canadian Vickers, Montreal |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=11th January 1915 |Ship launched=1 April 1915 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=10 June 1915 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Sunk, 2 March 1918 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship displacement=*{{convert|364|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} surfaced
|Ship length={{convert|150|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|15|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=*1 × {{convert|480|hp|0|abbr=on}} diesel engine
|Ship speed=*{{convert|13|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship range=*{{convert|1600|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn|abbr=on}} surfaced
|Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship complement=22 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=
|Ship armour= |Ship notes= }} |
HMS H5 was a British H-class submarine of the Royal Navy that served in the First World War. The boat, which was launched on 1 April 1915, was lost after being rammed by a British merchant ship off Caernarfon Bay in March 1918. It had been mistaken as a German U-boat and sank with the loss of all hands.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45676923|title=WW1 shipwrecks pictured by sonar off Welsh coast|publisher=BBC News|date=7 October 2018}}
Design
Like all pre-H11 British H-class submarines, H5 had a displacement of {{convert|364|LT|t}} at the surface and {{convert|434|LT|t}} while submerged.{{cite web|url=http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/h_class1.htm|title=H-class|publisher=Battleships-Cruisers, Cranston Fine Arts|access-date=20 August 2015}} It had a total length of {{convert|150|ft|3|in|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|15|ft|4|in}}, and a draught of {{convert|12|ft|m}}. It contained a diesel engines providing a total power of {{convert|480|hp}} and two electric motors each providing {{convert|320|hp}} power.{{Cite Colledge2006}} Retrieved from [http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishShips-Dittmar3WarshipsA.htm#10 Naval-History] on 20 August 2015. The use of its electric motors made the submarine travel at {{convert|11|kn|km/h mph}}. It would normally carry {{convert|16.4|LT|t}} of fuel and had a maximum capacity of {{convert|18|LT|t}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.gwpda.org/naval/hpatsubs.htm|title=Building History and Technical Details for Canadian CC-Boats and the Original H-CLASS|publisher=Electric Boat Company Holland Patent Submarines|author=J. D. Perkins|year=1999|access-date=20 August 2015}}
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of {{convert|13|kn|km/h mph}} and a submerged speed of {{convert|11|kn|km/h mph}}. British H-class submarines had ranges of {{convert|1600|nmi|km mi}}. H5 was fitted with a {{convert|6|lb}} Hotchkiss quick-firing gun (6-pounder) and four {{convert|18|in}} torpedo tubes. Its torpedo tubes were fitted to the bows and the submarine carried eight {{convert|18|in}} torpedoes. She is a Holland 602 type submarine but was designed to meet Royal Navy specifications. Her complement was twenty-two crew members.
Service record
On 14 July 1916 H5 spotted the {{SMU|U-51}} leaving the Ems and torpedoed her. U-51 sank with the loss of 34 of her crew; four men survived.[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=6&CATID=3981615&j=1 National Archives, Kew: HW 7/3, Room 40, History of German Naval Warfare 1914–1918]
Sinking
HMS H5 was sunk after being rammed by the British merchantman Rutherglen when mistaken for a German U-boat on 2 March 1918. All on board perished including a US Navy observer, Lieutenant Earle Wayne Freed Childs from the American submarine AL-2. He became the first US submariner to lose his life in the First World War. All on board are commemorated on Panel 29 at Royal Navy Submarine Museum. The wreck's site is designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act. In 2010, a plaque commemorating the 26 crew was dedicated on Armed Forces Day in Holyhead.{{cite news|title=Ceremony for Armed Forces Day marks submarine tragedy|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/wales/north_west_wales/10354060.stm|work=BBCNews|publisher=BBC|access-date=1 July 2010 | date=19 June 2010}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- [http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-environmental/mcga-dops_row_receiver_of_wreck/mcga-dops-row-protected-wrecks/mcga-dops-sar-row.htm MCA website: controlled sites under the Protection of Military Remains Act] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516031259/http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-environmental/mcga-dops_row_receiver_of_wreck/mcga-dops-row-protected-wrecks/mcga-dops-sar-row.htm |date=16 May 2010 }}
- [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080950_en_1 SI 2008/950] Designation under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
{{Holland 602 type submarine}}
{{March 1918 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:H05}}
Category:British H-class submarines
Category:Ships built in Montreal
Category:World War I submarines of the United Kingdom
Category:Royal Navy ship names
Category:Maritime incidents in 1918
Category:World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Category:Protected wrecks of Wales
Category:Submarines sunk in collisions