A Class (1902) Submarines Class Overview

Group 1: A-4 thru A-4
Group 2: A-5 thru A-13

Dimensions, machinery and performance

Length:
105' 5" (a)

Engines:
1 Wolseley sixteen cylinder gasoline (c)
Beam:
12' 9" (a)
Motors:
1
Draft:
10' 8" (a)
Shafts:
1
Pressure Hull
Horsepower
Length:
N/A
Engines:
350 - 600 (d)
Diameter:
N/A
Motors:
125 - 150 (e)
Displacement
Speed
Surfaced:
192 (b)
Surfaced:
10 - 11 knots (design 11.5 knots)
Submerged:
207 (b)
Submerged:
6 knots (design 7 knots)
Diving Depth:
50'
Range
Surfaced:
320 NM @ 7 knots (design 600 NM @ 11 knots)
Crew:
Group 1: 11
Group 2: 14
Submerged:
20 NM @ 6 knots
Construction notes:
(a):
A-1 was a modified Holland class boat and was smaller than the rest of the class.
L: 103' 3" / B: 11' 10" / D: 10' 1"

(b):
A-1 displacement, Surfaced: 190 / Submerged: 205.
(c):
A-13 was fitted with a six cylinder Hornsby-Ackroyd diesel.
(d):
Engine HP, A-1: 350, A-2 thru A-4: 450, A-5 thru A-7: 550, A-8 thru A-12: 600, A-13: 500.
(e):
Motor HP, A-1: 125, A-2 thru A-13: 150.


Armament As Built
Number Carried
Type
Arrangement
Maximum Range / Ceiling
Group 1
1
18" (450mm)
Torpedo tube
Bow
800 yards @ 26.5 knots
118 lbs. wet gun-cotton warhead
3 torpedoes

Group 2
2
18" (450mm)
Torpedo tubes
Bow
800 yards @ 26.5 knots
118 lbs. wet gun-cotton warhead
4 torpedoes


Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
July 9, 1902
July 27, 1903
Fate
Sunk while on unmanned training exercise Aug. 1911.

Location: English Channel, 9 miles SE of Portsmouth, England.
(50.44.52N - 00.55.19W)

(Sunk Mar. 18, 1904 after being rammed by SS Berwick Castle (Union-Castle Line)
while conducting a mock torpedo attack against the HMS Juno off the Isle of Wight.
All 11 crewmen were lost. Raised Apr. 18, 1904 and repaired)
(Roll of Honour)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-2
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Apr. 15, 1903
June 21, 1904
Fate
Sank Jan. 1920 after grounding at Bomb Ketch Lake, Portsmouth, England
Raised and sold Oct. 22, 1925 to H. J. Pounds, Portsmouth, England and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Mar. 9, 1903
July 13, 1904
Fate

Sunk Feb. 2, 1912 after being rammed by HMS Hazard (sub depot ship)
off the Isle of Wight near East Princess Buoy.

14 crewmen killed, no survivors.

Raised and sunk as target May 17, 1912 by HMS St. Vincent.

Location: English Channel, 12 miles east of Portland, England.
(50.31.40N - 02.11.25W)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
June 9, 1903
Apr. 17, 1904
Fate
Sold Jan. 16, 1920 to J. H. Lee, Bembridge, Isle of Wight and scrapped.

(Sank Oct. 16, 1905 off Portsmouth during sound tests when water came through
an open vent being used to signal. She sank to 90' before the tanks were blown
and the boat surfaced. All the crew escaped however, an explosion on board
while under tow back to port sent her to the bottom)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-5 (I-15)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Mar. 3, 1904
Feb. 11, 1905
Fate
Scrapped at the Portsmouth Dockyard in 1920.

(Feb. 16, 1905 a gasoline explosion while moored at Queenstown, Ireland
killed six crewmen)
(Roll of Honour)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-6 (I-16)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Mar. 3, 1904
Mar. 23, 1905
Fate
Sold Jan. 16, 1920 to J. H. Lee, Bembridge, Isle of Wight and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-7 (I-17)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Jan. 21, 1905
Apr. 13, 1905
Fate
Sunk Jan. 16, 1914 for unknown reasons during a mock torpedo attack against
HMS Onyx and HMS Pygmy.

Location: English Channel, 9 miles SW of Plymouth, England.
(50.19.45N - 04.18.25W)

11 crewmen killed, no survivors.
(Roll of Honour)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-8 (I-18)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Jan. 23, 1905
May 8, 1905
Fate
Sold Oct. 18, 1920 to Phillips, Dartmouth, England and scrapped.

(Sunk June 8, 1905 due to a loose rivet in the bow during exercises in
Plymouth Sound, off Plymouth, England. Raised and repaired.
15 crewmen killed, 4 survivors picked up by the trawler Chanticleer)
(Roll of Honour)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-9 (I-19)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Mar. 8, 1905
May 8, 1905
Fate
Sold Jan. 1920 and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-10 (I-10)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Feb. 8, 1905
June 3, 1905
Fate
Sold April 1, 1919 to Ardrossan Drydock Co., Ardrossan, Scotland and scrapped.

(Sunk Mar. 17, 1917 while tied up at HMS Pactolus, Eglington Dock, Ardrossan,
Scotland. No casualties. Raised but never returned to service.)
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-11 (I-01)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Mar. 8, 1905
July 11, 1905
Fate
Sold May 1920 and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-12 (I-02)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Mar. 8, 1905
Sept. 23, 1905
Fate
Sold Jan. 16, 1920 to J. H. Lee, Bembridge, Isle of Wight and scrapped.
Name
Builder
Launched
Commissioned
A-13 (I-03)
Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd.
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Apr. 18, 1905
June 22, 1908
Fate
Sold in 1920 and scrapped.


Class Notes:
A-7 had experimental hydroplanes fitted to the conning tower, the only boat in the class
so fitted.
A-13 was the first diesel submarine in the Royal Navy.
A-1 was the first Royal Navy submarine lost in active service.
A-1 and A-7 were both lost during mock torpedo attacks.
Seven of the A class sank during their career, three with their entire crews.
All but one (A-7) were raised. A-1 sank a second time.


Page created June 2, 2007