HMS R4
{{short description|Submarine of the Royal Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:R class submarine.svg |Ship caption=R-class submarine }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=HMS R4 |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Chatham Dockyard, Kent |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=4 March 1917 |Ship launched=8 June 1918 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=23 August 1919 |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="The Slug" |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= Sold, 26 May 1934 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=R-class submarine |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement=*{{convert|410|LT|t|0}} surfaced
|Ship length={{convert|163|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|15|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|11|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*{{convert|240|bhp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} (diesel)
|Ship propulsion=*1 × diesel engine
|Ship speed=*{{convert|9.5|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship range={{convert|2400|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|9|kn |
|Ship test depth={{convert|150|ft|1}}
|Ship complement=2 officers and 20 ratings
|Ship sensors=Bow hydrophone array
|Ship armament=6 × bow 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
HMS R4 was one of 10 R-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. The boat was not completed before the end of the war and was sold for scrap in 1934.
Design and description
The R-class submarine was designed to meet an Admiralty requirement for a specialised hunter-killer submarine with an emphasis on submerged performance. The boats had a length of {{convert|163|ft|9|in|m|1}} overall, a beam of {{convert|15|ft|3|in|m|1}} and a mean draft of {{convert|11|ft|6|in|m|1}}. They displaced {{convert|410|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|503|LT|t}} submerged. The R-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 20 ratings.Gardiner & Gray, p. 93 They had a diving depth of {{convert|150|ft|1}}.Harrison, Chapter 19
For surface running, the boats were powered by a single eight-cylinder Harrison, Chapter 25 {{convert|240|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} diesel engine that drove the single propeller shaft. When submerged it was driven by a {{convert|1200|hp|0|adj=on}} electric motor. They could reach {{convert|9.5|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|15|kn}} underwater. On the surface, the R class had a range of {{convert|2400|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|9|kn|}} and {{convert|60|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|5|kn|}} submerged.Harrison, Chapter 10
The boats were armed with six 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried six reload torpedoes for a grand total of a dozen torpedoes. They were equipped with an array of five hydrophones in the bow to allow them to locate and engage targets while submerged.
Construction and career
HMS R4 was laid down on 4 March 1917 at Chatham Dockyard, launched on 8 June 1918 and commissioned on 23 August 1919. She came too late to see any combat in World War I, like most of the other R-class submarines. Her shape resulted in her being nicknamed "The Slug".{{cite book |title=HM Submarines in Camera An Illustrated History of British Submarines |last=Tall |first=J.J |author2=Paul Kemp |year=1996 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |isbn=0-7509-0875-0 |page=71}}
On 1 November 1926, R4 ran aground at Exmouth, Devon, England. She was refloated 10½ hours later.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Submarine aground |date=5 November 1926 |page=16 |issue=44421 |column=A }}
R4 was the only boat to survive through to the 1930s. Additions to her casing produced slightly better sea keeping at the cost of a reduced speed from 15 knots submerged to 13 knots. She was used as a fast underwater target at the Portland anti-submarine school until 1934, then sold on 26 May 1934 to Young, Sunderland.
Notes
{{reflist|30em}}
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 R-class submarine}}
{{1926 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:R04}}
Category:British R-class submarines