HMS L27

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 35 officers and ratings.Akermann, p. 165 They had a diving depth of {{convert|150|ft|1}}.

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, Chapter 11

The boats were armed with four {{convert|21|in|mm|adj=on|0}} torpedo tubes in the bow and two British 18 inch torpedo 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.

HMS L27 was built by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, launched on 14 June 1919. She was then towed and completed at HM Dockyard, Sheerness and commissioned on an unknown date.

At the onset of the Second World War, L27 was a member of the 6th Submarine Flotilla. From 26–29 August 1939, the flotilla deployed to its war bases at Dundee and Blyth.Rohwer, p.1 From 20 September 1939 to 15 January 1940, the 6th Submarine Flotilla was deployed off Skagerrak, Jutland and Horns Reef.Rohwer, p.5 On 15 October 1940 L27 attacked a German convoy unsuccessfully in the English Channel.Rohwer, p.45

Beginning on 22 March 1941, the Royal Navy and Allies began deploying submarines off Brest, France to prevent the German battleships {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} from leaving port. L27 was among the submarines assigned to the patrol.Rohwer, p.65 On 15 October 1941, the submarine unsuccessfully attacked a merchant vessel off Cherbourg.Rohwer, p.108

L27 was converted into a training boat at Portsmouth before being broken up in Canada in 1944.Colledge, p.350Gardiner and Gray claim the submarine was broken up in 1946.

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{{reflist|30em}}

• {{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}}
• {{cite book |last=Rohwer |first=Jürgen |date=2005 |title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |edition=Revised & Expanded |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-59114-119-2}}

{{British L class submarine}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:L27}}

Category:British L-class submarines

Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness

Category:1919 ships

Category:World War I submarines of the United Kingdom

Category:Royal Navy ship names