- Author
- A.N. Other
- Subjects
- Biographies and personal histories, History - WW1
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- September 2011 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
From this base I had my first experience of submarines while on exercise in an ‘L’ Boat, considered to be the finest class of patrol submarines then built. On returning to harbour after being out on these exercises and seeing all the complicated instruments and machinery in the boat, my impressions were that these submariners were not so much sailors as engineers. When not receiving instructions or not on exercises, I had normal duty periods in the depot ship.
During one of these periods when I was officer-of-the-day I was given a despatch to deliver to Admiral Tyrwhitt, Admiral-in-Charge of the Harwich Striking Force, which was composed of light cruisers and destroyers; he flew his flag on the light cruiser HMS Curacoa. The despatch came from the Admiralty and was brought to Harwich by King’s Courier, one of a band of men who wear the badge of the racing greyhound, but owing to the fact that the flagship was still at sea and the Courier had to return to London, it was left on the Maidstone, from whence it had to be delivered to the Admiral, personally, by a commissioned officer. As officer-of-the-day I had the duty of going in the picket-boat to the Curacoa when she arrived in harbour. Of all the senior officers I saw or with whom I came in contact, Admiral Tyrwhitt appeared to me to have the most outstanding personality. He was of striking appearance, very tall, with almost black hair and balding slightly. He talked to me for several minutes in a pleasant and tolerant manner and spoke highly of the work being done by the RNR men, which I thought was kind of him as I had come merely as a messenger with the despatch.
In June I was appointed to HMS MH-12, attached to the submarine depot ship HMS Vulcan of the 14th Flotilla. Under the command of Captain S. Archdale, Vulcan was based at this time at Kingstown, the pretty little seaport for Dublin, on the south bank of the estuary of the River Liffey in Ireland. I travelled by train to Holyhead on Anglesey in North Wales and then by Irish mail-boat to take up this appointment on 14 June 1918.
The early boats of the ‘H’ class, of which H-12 was one, were Canadian built and, although small, they were very efficient. They were engaged in anti-submarine work. Armament consisted of four torpedo-tubes forward in pairs, superimposed, each carrying a torpedo and spares; when the torpedos were fired, the port upper and starboard lower were released or vice versa. The boat was driven, when on the surface, by diesel engines, and when submerged by electric motors. Surface speed was approximately ten knots in good weather; when the boat was submerged it varied according to the need, or not, to conserve batteries, but it averaged about two knots. The boat was very cold at all times when submerged, but naturally more so in winter. While patrolling in high latitudes during the summer months, we remained submerged for periods of up to 18 hours because of the long hours of daylight and under those conditions the air became very foul; a safety match would not strike after 14 hours below. Every movement caused shortness of breath. The sailor serving the tea would be panting for breath while we, at the same time, could not prolong a conversation, let alone an argument however friendly – once started, we had to wait until we surfaced to finish it. The main objective in the boat, while on a submerged patrol, was to keep activities to a minimum as the more energy displayed by the crew the more oxygen was used up, therefore, those men not on duty slept or read. Smoking was not allowed when beneath the surface. When we did come to the surface, the fan was started to ventilate the boat and the batteries were recharged.
The filling and the blowing of the water-ballast tanks and the use of hydroplanes was the method by which the taking down or diving and the bringing back of the boat to the surface was based. The ‘H’ class under normal war conditions, could dive and be in position to meet any situation in from one-and-a-half to two minutes which was the equal of and better than the performance of most classes. On diving patrol, with two feet of periscope showing, the boat was submerged about 27 feet. The periscope would become crystallized with salt in a choppy sea and bright sunlight and it had to be lowered frequently to wash the salt off.