RN Submarines: M Class 1918

Submarines of the fleet
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jbryce1437
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RN Submarines: M Class 1918

Unread post by jbryce1437 »

The M Class were a class of four submarines, although the fourth was broken up before completion.
The boats of this class were intended to by Monitors, fitted with 12 inch guns.
M1 was sunk in a collision in 1925.
M2 was converted to a Seaplane carrier in 1927 but was wrecked in Lyme Bay, Dorset in 1932 with the loss of her 60 crew.
M3 was converted to an experimental Minelayer in 1927 but the result was largely unsuccesful and she was scrapped in 1932.
Some photos of the M Class:

M1
submarine-m1.jpg
M1 1921.jpg
m1.jpg
M1 INTERIOR OF GUN TOWER.jpg
m-class-sub.jpg

M2
HMS M2-1918-1932.jpg
HMS M2-3L-1918-1932.jpg
HMS M2-4L-1918-1932.jpg
M.2 1918.jpg
M2 ALONGSIDE GANGES PIER 1930'S.jpg
submarine-m2-recovers-parna.jpg

M3
BRITAIN-M3-1918-1932....jpg
HMS M3-1918-1932.jpg
M.3 1929.jpg
M.3 as a minelayer.jpg



A YouTube video of the class here
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HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
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Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
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Brian James
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Re: RN Submarines: M Class 1918

Unread post by Brian James »

M Class Submarine HMS M3 pictured with RMS Aquitania ...1920's.
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Brian James
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Re: RN Submarines: M Class 1918

Unread post by Brian James »

M Class Submarine HMS M1,one of four boats completed between 1917 to 1918. Each carried a single 12 inch gun that could elevate but the Submarine had to turn to change the direction of fire. Pictured in company with H Class Submarines H31, H48 and H43,at Anvers,Antwerp in 1925. In November of the same year, M1 was rammed by SS Vidar and sank with all hands. The wreck was located in 1999 and this is possibly the last photograph of M1.
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jbryce1437
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Re: RN Submarines: M Class 1918

Unread post by jbryce1437 »

Lovely photo Brian, looks like another M class, with its gun barrel elevated, on the extreme left of the photo.

Jim
HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
JEM, EM, OEM, LOEM, POOEL
Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
Retired since 2002
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Pelican
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Re: RN Submarines: M Class 1918

Unread post by Pelican »

HMS M2 retrieving her Parnall Peto seaplane.

She was submarine monitor completed in 1919, converted in 1927 into a submarine aircraft carrier.
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
Brian James
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Re: RN Submarines: M Class 1918

Unread post by Brian James »

M Class Submarine HMS M1 pictured c1918 with a sectioned model of her armament...One of four vessels of her class ordered towards the end of the First World War. She sank with the loss of her entire crew in 1925. The vessels were originally intended as "Submarine Monitors", but their purpose had been changed before detailed design began. M1 was fitted with a 12-inch gun which was intended for use against surface ships in preference to torpedoes, the argument being that, "No case is known of a ship-of-war being torpedoed when under way at a range outside of 1000 yards. Although the gun had an effective range of 15,000 yards, it was normally fired using a simple bead sight at periscope depth with only the barrel above the water. It was important for the Submarine's gun to sink or disable the target with the first shot, because the gun could only be loaded on the surface. She was 295 feet 9 inches long, displaced 1,950 long tons, submerged and operated out of Portsmouth. She was launched on July 9th 1917, but was not involved in active service in the First World War. In 1923, water leaking into the barrel of the gun resulted in extensive damage to the muzzle when it was fired. She sank with all 69 hands in 230 ft of water on November 12th 1925 while on an exercise in the English Channel when a Swedish ship, SS Vidar, struck her while she was submerged. The collision tore the gun from the hull and water flooded the interior through the open loading hole. The crew members appear to have tried to escape by flooding the interior and opening the escape hatch, but their bodies were never found. A diving team led by Innes McCartney discovered her wreck in 1999 at a depth of 240 ft. Later that year, Richard Larn and a BBC TV documentary crew visited the wreck, and the resulting film was broadcast in March 2000. The wreck is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
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