Weaknesses: Dangerous diving characteristics and underwater handling, extreme boiler-room heat issues Strengths: High surface speed, heavy armament According to one commentator, it combined the ‘speed of a destroyer, the turning circle of a battlecruiser, and the bridge-control facilities of a picket boat.’ The worst fiasco was an exercise in the Firth of Forth on 31 January 1918, which degenerated into a series of accidents involving 5th Battle Squadron, 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron, two cruisers, and two flotillas of K-class submarines. (None of the class was sunk by the enemy, but six were lost in accidents.) The May Island fiascoĪttempts to use the type in its intended role were thwarted by its technical limitations. This forced several K-class boats to crawl back to port under auxiliary diesel power. Seaworthiness on the surface was another issue – the low freeboard and short funnels meant that in rough weather there was a constant risk of seawater pouring down the funnels and extinguishing the boiler fires. Despite the fitting of larger cooling fans, this problem was never fully fixed. Sea trials showed that she met all the performance requirements, but revealed a series of problems, including unbearable heat in the boiler room. The first of these was K3, completed in May 1916. Image: Wikimedia Commonsĭespite such misgivings, the failure of the diesel-powered J-class fleet submarines to reach the required surface speed led to the design of the 18-strong steam-powered K-class. For an underwater vessel, the class had ‘too many damned holes’, as one submariner observed. A K-class submarine, probably K3, pictured during the First World War.
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