HMS L10
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
| {{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= HMS L10 |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=24 January 1918 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=June 1918 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship fate= Sunk, 3 October 1918 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=L-class submarine |Ship displacement=*{{convert|914|LT|t|abbr=on}} surfaced
|Ship length={{convert|238|ft|7|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|23|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|13|ft|3|in|1|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*{{convert|2400|bhp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} (diesel)
|Ship propulsion=*2 × diesel engines
|Ship speed=*{{convert|17|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship range={{convert|3800|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn|abbr=on}} on the surface |Ship test depth={{convert|150|ft|1}} |Ship complement=38 |Ship armament=*4 × bow British 21-inch torpedo torpedo tubes
|Ship notes= }} |
HMS L10 was a L-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War I. The boat was sunk in 1918 by German torpedo boats.
Design and description
L9 and its successors were enlarged to accommodate 21-inch (53.3 cm) torpedoes and more fuel. The submarine had a length of {{convert|238|ft|7|in|m|1}} overall, a beam of {{convert|23|ft|6|in|m|1}} and a mean draft of {{convert|13|ft|3|in|m|1}}.Gardiner & Gray, p. 93 They displaced {{convert|914|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|1089|LT|t}} submerged. The L-class submarines had a crew of 38 officers and ratings.Akermann, p. 165
For surface running, the boats were powered by two 12-cylinder VickersHarrison, Chapter 25 {{convert|1200|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a {{convert|600|hp|0|adj=on}} electric motor. They could reach {{convert|17|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|10.5|kn}} underwater. On the surface, the L class had a range of {{convert|3800|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.Harrison, Chapters 3
The boats were armed with four 21-inch torpedo tubes in the bow and two 18-inch (45 cm) in broadside mounts. They carried four reload torpedoes for the 21-inch tubes for a grand total of ten torpedoes of all sizes.Harrison, Chapter 27 They were also armed with a {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0}} deck gun.
Construction and career
HMS L10 was built at Dumbarton by William Denny. She was assigned to serve in the North Sea against German surface units counteracting German efforts to sow mines in British waters. Her greatest success led to her destruction, when on the morning of 3 October 1918, aged just under four months, the L10 surfaced in the Heligoland Bight with the mission of intercepting a German raiding party. This group, consisting of the torpedo boats {{SMS|S34|1914|2}}, {{SMS|S33|1914|2}}, {{SMS|V28||2}} and {{SMS|V79||2}}, had been delayed in the Bight because the S34 had detonated a mine. The other torpedo boats were crowded round their damaged comrade, and so it was easy for L10{{'}}s commander, Alfred Edward Whitehouse to sneak into position and put a torpedo into the S33, which began to sink. However, as she fired, the L10 rose suddenly to the surface and was seen instantly by the V28, S33, S 60 and V79. Although she turned and tried to flee, L10 was not fast enough to escape her pursuers and was rapidly chased down and sunk at 11:03 (CET) with all hands. S33 was scuttling by a torpedo from S52. L10 was the only L-class boat to be lost during the First World War.
Discovery
On 5 March 2020, it was announced that the wreck of L10 had been found near the island of Terschelling. The discovery was made by the Danish company JD-Contractor, who were searching for the Polish Submarine {{ORP|Orzeł|1938|6}}.{{cite news |last1=Ettinger-Erichsen |first1=Robin |title=Jysk virksomhed gør sensationelt fund af ubåd fra 1. Verdenskrig |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/lokalt/2020-03-05-jysk-virksomhed-goer-sensationelt-fund-af-ubaad-fra-1-verdenskrig |access-date=9 March 2020 |work=nyheder.tv2.dk |agency=TV Midtvest |date=5 March 2020 |language=da}}
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 Colledge2006}}
- {{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=RN Subs|access-date=27 September 2022}}
{{British L class submarine}}
{{October 1918 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|North Sea}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:L10}}
Category:British L-class submarines
Category:Ships built on the River Clyde
Category:World War I submarines of the United Kingdom
Category:Lost submarines of the United Kingdom
Category:World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea
Category:Royal Navy ship names