NAVYPEDIA

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
W1	I6A		Armstrong, Elswick	10.1913	19.11.1914	1.1915	to Italy 8.1916 (W1)
W2	I7A		Armstrong, Elswick	1.1913	15.2.1915	5.1915	to Italy 8.1916 (W2)
W3	I8A		Armstrong, Elswick	3.1914	28.7.1915	2.1916	to Italy 8.1916 (W3)
W4	I9A		Armstrong, Elswick	3.1914	11.9.1915	6.1916	to Italy 8.1916 (W4)

Technical data

Displacement standard, t
Displacement normal, t	W1, 2: 331 / 499 W3, 4: 321 / 479
Length, m	W1, 2: 52.4 W3, 4: 45.7
Breadth, m	W1, 2: 4.69 W3, 4: 5.44
Draught, m	W1, 2: 2.71 W3, 4: 2.85
No of shafts	2
Machinery	W1, 2: 2 8-cyl Schneider-Laubeuf diesels / 2 electric motors W3, 4: 2 6-cyl Schneider-Laubeuf diesels / 2 electric motors
Power, h. p.	W1, 2: 710 / 480 W3, 4: 760 / 480
Max speed, kts	13 / 8.5
Fuel, t	diesel oil
Endurance, nm(kts)	2500(9) /
Armament	W1, 2: 2 - 450 TT (bow, 2), 4 - 450 TC (external drop-collars, 4) W3, 4: 2 - 450 TT (bow, 4)
Complement	18
Diving depth operational, m	30

Project history

The same Admiralty team which visited FIAT-San Giorgio in 1911 also visited the Schneider yard at Toulon to inspect the French Navy's submarine Pluviose and various Schneider-Laubeuf designs. They concluded that the French boats were too long and too slow, and in particular they did not like the Drzwiecki drop-collars carried outside the casing. In spite of this adverse report two were ordered from Armstrong Whitworth, for no better reason than keeping a promise to the firm to order two submarines per year (however, there was great enthusiasm for foreign double-hulled designs in the Submarine Service). Two were therefore ordered under the 1912-13 Estimates, and keels of W1 and W2 were laid in October and December 1913 (order placed January 1913). Seven months later W3 and W4 were ordered from the same builders, but considerably modified by M Laubeuf to meet RN requirements.

In spite of delays in redrawing and redesign the first pair were built remarkably quickly, 15 and 17 months respectively. The principal difference between the two groups was the omission of the drop-collars in W3 and W4. The engines were Schneider-Laubeuf diesels, but 8-cyl type in the first two and 6-cyl in the later pair. The chief complaint in service was poor habitability, caused mainly by the small diameter of the pressure hull, but somewhat mitigated by the lack of internal framing. In their defence, however, the DNC commented that that they had unusually good control when diving, while the detailed design of flooding, venting and other subsidiary installations was practical and efficient.

Modernizations

None.

Naval service

As the RN had a surplus of submarines and because these four boats, like the 'S' class, were non-standard, they were handed over to the Italian Navy in 1916, retaining their original numbers.