NAVYPEDIA

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
AE1	1		Vickers, Barrow, UK	1912	18.6.1913	2.1914	lost 14.9.1914
AE2	2		Vickers, Barrow, UK	1912	22.5.1913	2.1914	scuttled 30.4.1915

Technical data

Displacement standard, t
Displacement normal, t	655 / 796
Length, m	54.2
Breadth, m	6.92
Draught, m	3.83
No of shafts	2
Machinery	2 8-cyl Vickers diesels / electric motors
Power, h. p.	1600 / 840
Max speed, kts	15 / 9
Fuel, t	diesel oil
Endurance, nm(kts)	3000(10) /
Armament	4 - 450 TT (1 bow, 2 beam, 1 stern, 8)
Complement	30
Diving depth operational, m	30

Project history

For the 1910-11 Programme the Admiralty ordered six enlarged and improved versions of the 'D's. There was link fundamental change for the 'D' class had proved most successful, but in response to requests from the Submarine Service the hull was enlarged to accommodate a pair of beam TT. It was felt that long-range attacks with bow tubes were not sufficiently accurate, whereas beam tubes permitted more accurate short-range shooting. For that reason the 'E' class were to be given single bow and stern tubes, and a pair of tubes amidships, firing p&s. The diesels were the standard Vickers 4-stroke type but E3 was given 2-stroke Card diesels of Belgian manufacture. They were not successful, and after trials they were replaced by the standard type. An important innovation was the provision for the first time of two watertight bulkheads. When war broke out in August 1914 two boats of the 1911-12 Programme, E7 and E8, were ordered to be built to the E1 design, rather than to the 'Improved E' design which was to follow. The design proved highly successful, and production continued right through to 1917. With their later successors they bore the brunt of the Allies' submarine offensive, losing nearly 50% and scoring some of the outstanding successes of the war in the Sea of Marmora and the Baltic.

Modernizations

None.

Naval service

AE1 was lost 14.9.1914 from unknown cause (probably struck underwater obstruction) off Bismarck Archipelago. AE2 was sent to the Mediterranean in March 1915 and had to be scuttled in Sea of Marmora 30.4.1915 after sustaining severe damage from Turkish torpedo-boat Sultan Hissar.