NAVYPEDIA

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
H1			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	1/1915	4.1915	5.1915	sold 3.1921
H2			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	1.1915	1915	6.1915	sold 3.1921
H3			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	1.1915	1915	6.1915	sunk 15.7.1916
H4			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	1.1915	1915	5.1915	sold 11.1921
H5			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	1.1915	1915	6.1915	collision 3.6.1918
H6			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	1.1915	1915	6.1915	stranded 8.1.1916, to Netherlands 2.1916 (O8)
H7			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	1915	19.5.1915	6.1915	sold 11.1921
H8			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	1915	19.5.1915	6.1915	sold 11.1921
H9			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	1915	22.5.1915	6.1915	sold 11.1921
H10			Canadian Vickers, Montreal, Canada	2.1915	1915	6.1915	lost 19.1.1918
H11			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	12.6.1915	12.1915 (4/1917)	sold 10.1920
H12			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	26.6.1915	12.1915 (4/1917)	sold 4.1922
H13			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	2.7.1915	12.1915 (4/1917)	to Chile 7.1917 (H1)
H14, 6.1919- CH14 (6/1919- RCN)			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	3.7.1915	12.1915 (4/1917)	sold 1925
H15, 6.1919- CH15 (6/1919- RCN)			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	16.7.1915	12.1915 (4/1917)	sold 1925
H16			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	26.7.1915	12.1915 (4/1917)	to Chile 7.1917 (H2)
H17			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	26.7.1915	12.1915 (4/1917)	to Chile 7.1917 (H3)
H18			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	14.8.1915	1.1916 (4/1917)	to Chile 7.1917 (H4)
H19			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	25.8.1915	1.1916 (4/1917)	to Chile 7.1917 (H5)
H20			Fore River, Quincy, USA	1915	27.8.1915	1.1916 (4/1917)	to Chile 7.1917 (H6)

Technical data

Displacement standard, t
Displacement normal, t	364 / 434
Length, m	45.8
Breadth, m	4.68
Draught, m	3.81
No of shafts	2
Machinery	2 NLSE diesels / 2 electric motors
Power, h. p.	480 / 620
Max speed, kts	13 / 11
Fuel, t	diesel oil 16
Endurance, nm(kts)	1600(10) / 130(2)
Armament	4 - 450 TT (bow, 6)
Complement	22
Diving depth operational, m	30

Standard scale images

Project history

In addition to the purchase of guns and armour for monitors, in November 1914 the Admiralty gave a contract to Bethlehem Steel to supply material for ten submarines similar to the US Navy's 'H' class. To get around the neutrality laws the boats were to be assembled by Canadian Vickers in Montreal, and a further ten were to be delivered 'after the war'. In fact the second batch were built at Bethlehem's Fore River yard, and were to be delivered unarmed to Canadian Vickers. The first ten boats were completed in May-June 1915, and their crossing of the Atlantic established a new record for submarines. The second batch was, however, subject to close scrutiny by the US Government, and it was made clear to the British that the boats could not be delivered, and they were held up until the United States entered the War in April 1917. In the meantime Bethlehem Steel had managed to send their engines, motors and other fittings to England for installation in the Vickers-built H 21 class, so completion lagged far behind the first batch. As the entire batch were built in secrecy, launch dates were not logged in Admiralty records, and many details remain obscure. They were single-hulled, and had a small reserve of surface stability as a result, much like the 'B' and 'C class. Nevertheless they gave good service. After America's entry into the war H11-20 were released but the Admiralty wished to compensate Chile for the ships requisitioned in 1914-15, and instructed the builders to deliver six of them to Chile. Operational diving depth was 30m, maximal 90m.

Modernizations

None.

Naval service

Some subs were lost: Н3 (mined 15.7.1916 off Cattaro, Adriatic Sea), Н5 (collision 3.6.1918 in Irish Sea) and Н10 (lost 19.1.1918 by unknown cause in the North Sea). Н6 8.1.1916 ran ashore at the Dutch coast, interned and soon bought by Government of the Netherlands.